www.iva.co.uk

Hi,

I currently have a good credit history because so far I haven't defaulted on any debt. I do have quite a bit of debt as you have probably read elsewhere. I am going to try and reclaim banking charges and someone suggested that I should set up another account just in case my bank try and close my own. Problem is I have already been rejected by First Direct and Smile are telling me they cannot give an answer for a few days. The Smile decision is normally instantaneous apparently! Does anyone know of any good banks to approach that I am likely to be accepted to open a basic account???

Many thanks
David

Hi David, I recently opened a cashminder account with the coop over the phone....They were great!!! It's only a BASIC account, but you get an Electron card and internet banking. Hope this helps

Hi
You could try Nationwide,but go into the branch and do this.
Regards

Andy Davie
IVA.co.uk Spokesperson

About me:
http://www.iva.co.uk/andy_davie_profile.asp

IVA Helpline: 0800 197 4838
http://www.iva.co.uk/iva_helpline.asp

Hi David

I am with Alliance & Leicester. I applied online and got a decision emailed to me within an hour.

Abbey have a basic accont you just neeed proof of id.

hi the natwest help me when the other banks said no i told them i was looking for a iva [:D]

Hi we dont have good credit rating, but we are with teh Alliance and Leicester and with Nationwide, I think that you can do this on line, if you say that you dont want an overdraft they seem to be more lenient - Good luck

one month at a time!

Hi David
I had a very similiar problem when I started my IVA. I now bank with Nat West - they were very helpful and their basic account is ideal.

regards

Hello David

As others have mentioned the Nationwide Flex Account and Natwest Step account are quite good basic accounts. You could also try Lloyds Classic Account and Halifax Easy Cash account.

I think the best approach is to go into a branch and open an account, this way you can be up front and honest about your current situation.

Best Regards. IVA Experts

AVOID ALLIANCE AND LEICESTER!!!!!
We used to be with Alliance and Leicester - they were the breaking point that made us go into our IVA - in a 6 month period we had over £3,500 worth of bank charges, due to them charging for every item and every single day that we were overdrawn - we begged them for help and advise cos there was a 3 month waiting list for a meeting at the CAB in our area and A/L said there was nothing they could do. We obviously know now that we should have cancelled the direct debits and made other arrangements - however, because we didn't A/L charged us when each d/debit didn't go out and then when 3 days later they all tried to take it out again (which we weren't aware they did) - so we paid for it twice over! We were on the phone daily to them begging and pleading for help and they said there was nothing they could do.

Slightly contradicting what I have just said, if it wasn't for these charges we would probably still now be struggling on, as we were clearly struggling at that stage if we were regularly going overdrawn and I wish we had entered into the IVA about 2 years earlier.

We have looked into getting the bank charges back - but were advised that A/L won't get all their money back anyway so we shouldn't pursue it.

We are now with Barclays who are fantastic, and not that we plan to, but if you do go overdrawn, the maximum they can charge you is x3 £30.00 payments in a 30 day period - we used to get this in just half a day!

SO BEWARE!

Just so you know
lloyds let me have a basic account
abbey turned me down