£16k bargaining tool

immortalpirate

Hi,

I do have quite a bit of debt. £35k to be exact (18k of which is natwest).

I have just sold my house as i couldnt afford to pay the mortgage. I am now going to rent somewhere but have a question as I will have £16k going into my bank next week.

Currently i have a flex account with nationwide that i opened years ago(but only started using it recently) and only has a hole in the wall card. When my house sale money goes into the bank do you think i would be able to use the lump sum as a bargaining tool to get a debit card?

If not do you think if i went to a diferent bank and asked for a debit card with a bankers draft of £16k to open the account that it would sway them to offer me the card (even though i would definitely fail for a debit card normally?

Regards

Matt

Night-owl_6

immortalpirate wrote: »

Hi,

I do have quite a bit of debt. £35k to be exact (18k of which is natwest).

I have just sold my house as i couldnt afford to pay the mortgage. I am now going to rent somewhere but have a question as I will have £16k going into my bank next week.

Currently i have a flex account with nationwide that i opened years ago(but only started using it recently) and only has a hole in the wall card. When my house sale money goes into the bank do you think i would be able to use the lump sum as a bargaining tool to get a debit card?

If not do you think if i went to a diferent bank and asked for a debit card with a bankers draft of £16k to open the account that it would sway them to offer me the card (even though i would definitely fail for a debit card normally?

Regards

Matt

The honest answer, No.
All banks credit check applications for debit card/current accounts as you can go overdrawn with them.
However if you pay in £16k it looks better than opening with £1, so you may have a little better chance but dont count to much on it, your likely to be refused still, they may recommend that you open a cash card account, pay the sum into that and then so long as you keep the account operating correctly for at least 6 months then they would offer you a debit card with no other credit check.
One last thing, banks dont offer bargaining at all, the credit check is put in place to make it fair, because if for example you opened an account with £16k and got one with 5 CCJs and defaults and then I went to the bank with £1 and the same amount of CCJs and defaults and you got accepted and I was refused that wouldnt be very fair really, just because you paid in more doesnt mean you are more credit worthy.
Hope it helps:D

immortalpirate

Hi ,

Thanks for the reply. I have been silly in the past and was ripped off by a past partner. I am wanting a fresh start with money but feel i cant without a debit card as i want the things normal people get.

Matt

Night-owl_6

immortalpirate wrote: »

Hi ,

Thanks for the reply. I have been silly in the past and was ripped off by a past partner. I am wanting a fresh start with money but feel i cant without a debit card as i want the things normal people get.

Matt

Go to Natwest and apply for a step account, you can apply online.
Open the account, youll get a solo card, operate it correctly for at leat 6 months, go back to Natwest and you should be able to upgrade to a debit card.
Otherwise, try TSB and apply for a Visa card with them, you might get lucky if you pay that sum in but dont get your hopes up as my other post, credit checks are there not only to protect the bank and customer but to make it fair for everyone to obtain credit.

immortalpirate

Hi,

Cant go to Natwest as i owe them £18k (was 8k but with all the charges on charges it climbed to 18k)

I did try to pay it off at £250 per month but they said unlessi paid £300 they wouldnt stop the interest and the interst per month was £350. So in effect i would have been £50 more in debt every month whilst struggling to pay it. Im not a fool

Matt

Night-owl_6

immortalpirate wrote: »

Hi,

Cant go to Natwest as i owe them £18k (was 8k but with all the charges on charges it climbed to 18k)

I did try to pay it off at £250 per month but they said unlessi paid £300 they wouldnt stop the interest and the interst per month was £350. So in effect i would have been £50 more in debt every month whilst struggling to pay it. Im not a fool

Matt

I see, you may want to try TSB or Barclays then.
So long as you get a cashcard, most banks will upgrade you to a current account/debit card after 6 months so long as the account is operated correctly and funded at least monthly.
To aply for a cashcard account youll need to go to the bank however.
Do you have any credit cards with any banks?!
If so, go to them first

immortalpirate

Hi,

Have no credit cards no. I had a cash card with abbey for 3yrs up until a month ago and never went overdrawn. I asked for an upgrade 3 times and was told no due to credit history. So they must recheck.

Matt

PROLIANT

Hey immortal, sorry to hear about your spell of bad luck, get your credit files from all three credit reference agencies and find out what information is on their, if you have at least one credit file that is clear of any defaults and ccj's then find a bank that only checks your credit with that agency, you might get lucky, failing that go to Lloyds TSB who do a basic account that comes with a full Visa debit card and reports account conduct to all three CRA's, which is a good thing. Good luck and I hope that you get sorted out.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

immortalpirate wrote: »

Hi,

Cant go to Natwest as i owe them £18k (was 8k but with all the charges on charges it climbed to 18k)

I did try to pay it off at £250 per month but they said unlessi paid £300 they wouldnt stop the interest and the interst per month was £350. So in effect i would have been £50 more in debt every month whilst struggling to pay it. Im not a fool

Matt

Clearly not.

So for £50 a month more, Natwest were prepared to stop the interest and you didn't go for it?

In your situation I'd tend to try and use the 16K to come to a settlement with Natwest and your other creditor - I wouldn't want the knocks on the door and the worry, as they will get you in the end, £35K is not small change, and you may end up losing the 16K all for nothing.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

PROLIANT wrote: »

Hey immortal, sorry to hear about your spell of bad luck, get your credit files from all three credit reference agencies and find out what information is on their, if you have at least one credit file that is clear of any defaults and ccj's then find a bank that only checks your credit with that agency, you might get lucky, failing that go to Lloyds TSB who do a basic account that comes with a full Visa debit card and reports account conduct to all three CRA's, which is a good thing. Good luck and I hope that you get sorted out.

Are banks allowed to make periodic credit checks? and if so would they see a new account being opened at another bank?

storminbalder

I don't mean to be argumentative. But much of the advice given to the original poster is wrong.

Many current accounts (basic ones as a rule) are not credit scored.

Infact you can even have a debit card as a bankrupt (Co-Op).

My credit rating could not be worse and I'm with Yorkshire Bank (a Maestro card). I know they don't credit check. They will run an identity check and make sure you are not curently bankrupy or in cases of fraud, but that's it.

On the other hand Nationwide are notoriously on the cautious side mind you.

My advice is make sure you're on the electoral roll, and you will have an abundance of choice.