Best joint account for house of students (Best overdraft?)

unreal_3

Hey,
Can I ask which accounts are currently recommended for students (there are 7 of us living together next year).

Basically, whats the best overdraft?

Cheers!

melancholly

is this for a joint account for you all? i was very strongly recommended not to get one of them as you can be tarred by the credit ratings others if you have an account together. instead you can get the bills in multiple names. joint accounts like that won't be anything like student accounts and you won't find it easy to get big/any overdrafts!

if it's for separate student accounts, then wait a few weeks until nearer a level exam results as the banks haven't all started advertising what their offers will be. there is always an article by martin on the best student account so keep a check on the main site for when that is updated.

unreal_3

The problem individually though is that we cannot possibly maintain a fair payments as all the bills will be from different things and for different amounts.

From everything I have read in searches, all advise seems to be for massively insular people who are purely looking after number uno. We are living as a house, cooking as a house, and I would never live with people I didn't trust so the credit thing isn't really an issue.

NickiM

I would be interested to hear advice for this too as I am facing the same situation, but with 6 people in total.

Gingernutmeg

I'd second melancholly's advice - it's really not a good idea to financially link yourself to someone you don't really know, regardless of how good a friend you think they are. It's not selfish to look after your finances, it's going to be hard enough to find somewhere to live after graduation without the hassle added when you have a poor credit score. It only takes a couple of defaults on bills or a few late payments for a score to be affected and seriously, save yourself the bother. I don't know of a single houseshare where there haven't been problems at some point and tbh I'd try to keep a joint bank account out of it.

You might also find that a joint bank account is pretty much useless anyway. OH and I were students together and we do have a joint account as we thought it'd be easier for rent etc, but we found that as we were students all we could have was a 'basic' bank account and we couldn't set up standing orders or direct debits from it, which is the way most places want you to pay bills and rent. It's really just become a 'storage' account and it's more hassle that it's worth transferring money into and out of it. Also, when we opened it the woman at the bank was very disparaging about the fact that it's a 'basic' account. Apparently it doesn't look good credit wise. You also won't be able to have an overdraft with a basic bank account.

If you don't want to set up joint bills (which you can do) then it might be fairer to all take one bill in each of your names. That way everyone is responsible for something and everyone has the bother of chasing each other up for their share. This has worked well in the houses that I've known who've used it, as it seems to make everyone realise that they have to pay a share.

melancholly

unreal wrote: »

The problem individually though is that we cannot possibly maintain a fair payments as all the bills will be from different things and for different amounts.

From everything I have read in searches, all advise seems to be for massively insular people who are purely looking after number uno. We are living as a house, cooking as a house, and I would never live with people I didn't trust so the credit thing isn't really an issue.

if it's people that you trust, then it doesn't matter how you do it (although they do say that you never really know someone til you've lived with them!). there are different solutions - all the bills in my house (which doesn't have any undergrad students, so may be a bit different) come in quarterly bills. now this means that we don't get all the discounts for doing things by direct debit but it also means that no-one has to worry about their account being used for it. we all pay our share by cheque and post it off. other people take on a different direct debit each, and make sure that they end up getting paid back by eachother.

there are people that i trust 100% but just don't have the same attitude to money as me. that's fine, but i wouldn't want to link myself to them with a bank account. a bad credit score can come from stupid things like not updating the address for a mobile phone bill and missing payments - so just be very careful if you do get an account together as it isn't all about intentional non payment.

Feanor

I would STRONGLY recommend you do not get a joint account with anyone else. This effects you in so many ways, not just in your immediate future but even way down the line.

In a year maybe one of your friends will go through a hard time, they can't afford to pay their phone bill as an example...if they stopped making their payments on anything, no matter how small...you are then linked with that person for the next 6 years, possibly even longer. It is really not a good idea.

CLAPTON

unreal wrote: »

The problem individually though is that we cannot possibly maintain a fair payments as all the bills will be from different things and for different amounts.

From everything I have read in searches, all advise seems to be for massively insular people who are purely looking after number uno. We are living as a house, cooking as a house, and I would never live with people I didn't trust so the credit thing isn't really an issue.

a fair system is really simple ...
each bill in one person's name
each bill when it comes in is divided by 7 and each pays their share

why is that so difficult ... as you say you trust everyone.

Blacksheep1979

as others have said, it's not rocket science to work out how much each person owes - just the same as trying to work out how much each person should put into the joint account - what if someone never puts money in there?

If you trust them it's not an issue no matter how you do it but you're far far safer if you don't have a joint account, especially one with credit facilities such as an overdraft.

poet123

Honestly,dont do it. The system outlined above is much simpler and safer and will be less hassle in the long term.

fox82

Following on from the "don't get a joint account" advice I'd add another thing. Closing a joint account is a nightmare you need to get all people on the account to sign a form before the bank will close it. If you lose touch with someone or can't get hold of them to sign it this could cause problems.

When I was a student we just had a sheet of paper stuck up in the kitchen. On it was Bill Total, Date, Reason and all our names. You put how much each person owed you in the box then crossed it off when paid. If a few bills are due round the same time we let a few add up then just worked out the differences. It was a good way as the sheet meant everyone could see who hadn't paid which could add to the presure to pay. After all who wants to be known as the one that doesn't pay their way.