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As advised we are changing bank accounts, but we signed up for an account called Switch where you get £100 cashback! I found out today after getting the account agreed and opened that the switch could take 2 months - my concern is that we owe most of our debt to the bank and we have direct debits for mortgage, utility etc that will be with them until the switch happens - can we have our salary paid into the new account and transfer enough into our old bank to cover the DD's without the bank taking that money to pay our debt?? Sorry if that doesnt make enough sense xx

You should not open a new account with a bank you currently owe money to, as they will likely use the money you deposit in the new account to set against your existing debts.

hi claire once your salary is paid into your new account or you have funds available,you can set up direct debits instantly with a phone call to your new bank.its best to cancel direct debits from your old bank and set up new ones with your new switch account.

You should go for an account where the DD's etc can be set up straight away.

When I changed mine, I opened the account, immediately set up the details with my payroll department and then phoned all of my DD companies to get them swapped over and it was done in a couple of weeks.

Melanie is right though - if this account is with the bank to whom you owe money, you should change to another one. Try the Co-op.

thanks for your replies. It is a separate bank to the one we owe money to - the new bank have said in order to apply for the £100 cashback THEY have to "switch" the direct debits from our bank to theirs (even though i could do it quicker)so if i cancel with our old bank we wouldnt qualify for the cashback. Is it worth forgetting about the cashback??

Actually i suppose the main question is, IF i put money into my old bank (the one we owe money to) to cover the direct debits - would they leave it to cover them or take it to pay our debts??

They can take the money towards their debts.

I had a savings account with Halifax, to whom I owed money. This account used to have my child benefit paid into it.

I went in one day to withdraw the £30+ that was in there and to close the account. To my embarrassment there was no money in there as they had taken it to offset against my £20k+ debt!

It can, and does, happen.

Wonder why it takes up to two months to complete the switch when it's a pretty straightforward thing to do via phone or online?

I would probably sort yourself out a bank account Clair of your own to be safe as you may find you lose more than a £100 in the process if they take money to offset against debts.

£100 would be nice but I would be tempted to forego it and just switch your DD's yourself. Two months it a long time to wait for someone else to do it for you. When i opened my new account I managed to get all my essentials DD's switched over in a couple of days, so I am a bit surprised it will take your bank 2 months to do it for you. You are better off getting your new account up and running as soon as.

I too would forget about the cash back as it is more important to get your DDs set up and your regular bills paid. x

Personally I preferred to change the DDs over myself as I don't trust the banks to do it properly!

Thanks everyone, I am changing them all today - take the bull by the horn, do it myself then i know it will be done right - cheers

The best way to do it! At least you know it's all sorted.

All the best Clare hope it goes smoothly for you x

Have done the switch of the priority debts and even though we cancelled all direct debits to our creditors we have only had one chasing us - my husband was getting daily calls at work and one call got through to a director which was highly embarrassing - so i called them and said if they want any moeny at all from us getting him sacked is not the way to do it and could they please delete his work number - I cant believe it but they agreed and he has not had another call at work so far.
I still have up and down days about the situation we are in - today is a down say - i don't know how to explain how i am feeling but I dont feel good about the situation we have got ourselves in and I find i have this deep gut feeling that it's all going to get horrible. My husband and I seem very strong and rarely argue - well until recently when we have snapped a bit (mostly me) - but i do read on here and notice it is capable of splitting a marriage - i only hope we can get through all of this together!
sorry - rant rant rant