HSBC want me to close account - t&c's

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  • Hello,

    Thanks all.

    Just a few responses,

    The Parkinson's gives me very severe tremors in my hands, hence not being able to count coins very easily into bankable amounts in bank bags.

    I seem to get a lot of coins as it is difficult for me to count them out in shops etc when paying for things. Hence I usually pay with notes and trouser the change which builds up quite quickly.

    I could open a deposit account, but the visa debit card is handy with this account. With the deposit account one only gets a cashpoint card.

    I can't really use this account as my main current account due to its basic limitations. It is really just a 'gash' extra account to deposit the coins into. It builds up quite quickly and I had over £400 saved up to help with the Christmas shopping last December.

    Also I have two normal current accounts already - I have been with Natwest for years, and I opened the TSB current account as a 'standby' after Natwest's computers all crashed a few years back and I couldn't access any money or use the debit card for four or five days.

    When I opened this basic account at the HSBC ten years ago, there was no condition/rule about not having an account elsewhere. Anyone could open one. The rule that the Basic account must be your only account has been slipped in since then.

    I will pop in and speak with them again tomorrow anyway. I just wish more banks had these coin counting machines, but at the rate all the banks seem to be shutting branches down, I suppoose that is too much to ask.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    Peter6268 wrote: »

    I will pop in and speak with them again tomorrow anyway. I just wish more banks had these coin counting machines, but at the rate all the banks seem to be shutting branches down, I suppoose that is too much to ask.

    Banks are in business. Not just on the High Street to provide the public with free services. Relationships need to be 2 way. Of benefit to both parties. Much in the same way that the traditional High Street is slowly dying. If you don't use
    it then it it will be gone.
  • EarthBoy
    EarthBoy Posts: 3,031
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    Anthorn wrote: »
    How has branch closures come into it?

    It was an example of how the banks take no notice of MPs.
    Anthorn wrote: »
    What I highlighted is the possibility of discrimination against disability and illness itself a hot topic these days.

    Branch closures are also a hot topic. As I said, there's no evidence of discrimination against disability. The OP says they have difficulty counting and sorting coins, but that's nothing to do with why they want to close their account. They want to close it because it's only a basic account and, under their terms and conditions, you shouldn't have a basic account if you've got a full current account elsewhere. Several banks have a similar condition, HSBS isn't alone in this. The OP could open a full current account with HSBC and continue to use the coin counting machine. In what way are HSBC discriminating because of disability?
  • eskbanker
    eskbanker Posts: 30,401
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    Peter6268 wrote: »
    I seem to get a lot of coins as it is difficult for me to count them out in shops etc when paying for things. Hence I usually pay with notes and trouser the change which builds up quite quickly.

    I could open a deposit account, but the visa debit card is handy with this account. With the deposit account one only gets a cashpoint card.
    Far be it from me to tell you how to operate your finances but I'd just observe that (in the context of some form of compromise being necessary) if you already have two other current accounts with debit cards (and pension funding, etc), surely there shouldn't be much need to use the HSBC one, especially if you're effectively using the account for saving?

    Also, without knowing your shopping habits, if you're typically paying with notes, is using your debit card (contactless perhaps?) more regularly viable instead of cash, you might even earn some cashback if it's the right TSB version?
  • Kim_13
    Kim_13 Posts: 2,314
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    edited 13 February 2018 at 9:43PM
    Given that HSBC do not allow a customer to have anything other than a basic account unless they pay in £500 per month, it does seem a little overzealous to then close basic accounts for this reason. But, as others have said, they are free to change the terms as they like. Customers are then free either accept them or bank elsewhere.

    I suspect that they won't back down on closing your account due to your disability, especially since they haven't refused you a standard current account yet, and so would argue that you still have a way to use the machines.

    Once your credit cards are sorted out it might be worth getting the standard current account (though you'd need to cycle £500 through each month but doing so would satisfy both HSBC and the minimum pay in on the TSB Classic Plus to earn interest, if you have that account.)

    In the meantime, I'd try to cut down coinage by paying using cards (it would also mean you don't accidentally lose any change when trying to put it away and can be sure that you haven't been accidentally short changed.) If the savings account makes things difficult in terms of inability to use or difficulty using the machines, I'd try banking the coinage in smaller amounts and asking a cashier if they could bag it for you. If you could separate each denomination of coin into say a larger food bag, then they'd only need to transfer the sorted coins into the more fiddly coin bags and weigh them.
  • kazwookie
    kazwookie Posts: 13,810
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    Are there any other cash counting machines in your area?

    My local tesco's for example has one.
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  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239
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    kazwookie wrote: »
    Are there any other cash counting machines in your area?

    My local tesco's for example has one.
    The machines in supermarkets usually charge a significant fee for use. The ones in banks are free.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • System
    System Posts: 178,077
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    kazwookie wrote: »
    Are there any other cash counting machines in your area?

    My local tesco's for example has one.

    Coinstar? They aren't free of charge.
  • gt94sss2
    gt94sss2 Posts: 5,614
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    Peter6268 wrote: »
    I could open a deposit account, but the visa debit card is handy with this account. With the deposit account one only gets a cashpoint card.

    I can't really use this account as my main current account due to its basic limitations. It is really just a 'gash' extra account to deposit the coins into. It builds up quite quickly and I had over £400 saved up to help with the Christmas shopping last December.

    Also I have two normal current accounts already - I have been with Natwest for years, and I opened the TSB current account as a 'standby' after Natwest's computers all crashed a few years back and I couldn't access any money or use the debit card for four or five days.

    If you really value the coin counting facility at HSBC, why not upgrade your account to a normal current account with them - perhaps closing one of your two other accounts, if you don't want to keep 3 current accounts going.

    Then it won't have the limitations which make it a basic account.
    However, I don't really see why I should change accounts. It was within their t&cs when the account was opened. I haven't used the account for any other purpose than what it was intended for and I have never been anywhere near going overdrawn etc.

    Can they just close my account because they have changed their t&c's (and the current t&c's are not what I signed up to back in 2007)?

    Yes, they can. The rules governing basic accounts have changed and you don't meet their criteria. Such accounts are designed for individuals who can't open normal accounts.

    Even if the T&C had not changed, a bank is still entitled to close an account if they want to do so.
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