Changing Bank Accounts

RedDino308

Hi Everyone,

Although my SOA is pretty darned good (mainly thanks to all the good advice here) I have been reviewing it and there is one think that is really niggling me - paying for having a bank account

I currently pay £17/month for the privilege of a Lloyds Bank Account. The only "benefits" I utilize from it are an overdraft rate of 10.4% and standard AA cover. I make that £204/year which seems like quite a lot.

Now I reckon I could get standard breakdown cover quite cheaply - I think £11 is the going rate!!! and although I do dip into my overdraft occassionally I no longer need to depend on it to survive.

So it seems like a no-brainer - kick Lloyds into touch and get a decent account with some sort of introductory offer.

My small problem is that I have only ever had one current account so have never changed before. Can anyone advise me about what the practicalities are? For instance, how do I make sure that all my bills go through and that I'm not going to be bouncing anyone.

Any experiences or help are much appreciated.

RD308

CLAPTON

you could ask Lloyds to simply change your account to one without fees.

if you change to a new bank you need to be very careful about the DDs and your general cash flow. Most banks will claim they will manage the DD transfer for you but I would not trust them to do it properly. So its best to do it yourself. But this means you will need to keep a float in both a/cs for a while as it takes time to set up the new DDs.

GirlRacer_2

Hi RedDino,

I recently changed my current account to A&L. I went via Quidco and had £65 cashback was told immediately by e-mail that I'd been accepted and had all the cards, cheque book and pay in books very quickly.

I didn't opt for their transfer of direct debit service though, I decided to do it myself. I kept the DD's going in my old account and the day after every one was paid I cancelled it and phoned the receiver and gave them my new bank details iyswim.

Eg Paid House insurance on 18th April from old account. Cancelled that direct debit on the 19th April, phoned up house insurance company and asked for them to take May's payment from my new account. It was slightly long-winded but at least I knew where I was.

I had the both accounts running for 2 months then I closed my old one.

HTH

GR x

SunderlandBlackCat

RedDino308 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Although my SOA is pretty darned good (mainly thanks to all the good advice here) I have been reviewing it and there is one think that is really niggling me - paying for having a bank account

I currently pay £17/month for the privilege of a Lloyds Bank Account. The only "benefits" I utilize from it are an overdraft rate of 10.4% and standard AA cover. I make that £204/year which seems like quite a lot.

Now I reckon I could get standard breakdown cover quite cheaply - I think £11 is the going rate!!! and although I do dip into my overdraft occassionally I no longer need to depend on it to survive.

So it seems like a no-brainer - kick Lloyds into touch and get a decent account with some sort of introductory offer.

My small problem is that I have only ever had one current account so have never changed before. Can anyone advise me about what the practicalities are? For instance, how do I make sure that all my bills go through and that I'm not going to be bouncing anyone.

Any experiences or help are much appreciated.

RD308

I switched from a Barclays (Fee Paying) Additions account to the Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct Account.

A&L contacted Barclays for a full list of all the Direct Debits & Standing orders etc & arranged them to be switched to the new account.

They would have arranged for my wages to be paid in to the new one as well but I chose to manually transfer money across until I was happy all the DDs & SOs were coming out of thenew account.

Couldn't have been easier.

RedDino308

Hi Everyone,

Wow - excellent advice already. :):)

I'm going to have to think on this one.

RD308

jak

I'm planning on changing from Lloyds too as they are Carp! I'll be changing to A&L I think. So i'll be using this advice too. THanks
J
X

babyharry5

i have just changed my bank account from the rbos to hsbc - to be honest I naively let them do everything and touch wood they have been fantastic!
all dd's sorted and they have all claimed from the new acct without any problems!
I think i've just been very lucky though
I think what girlracer did - even though as she said was long winded - is the best way to go about it.
you've got a clear month then to sort the new dd and most companies would be able to comply within that time scale
good luck

RedDino308

Hi Guys,

Thanks for this.

RD308