Am I the First one!!!!!!

I completed my paper claim form 3 weeks ago, and just checked my post and there is a cheque for £32000 from the FSCS. I am amazed but also a very happy bunny.

Let’s keep this forum going until all the paper form claimants are all paid.

Celebration time for me, but still thinking of those that are still waiting.

Hi there

I would counsel caution at this present time. Abbey have just upgraded their systems which means, of course, that it now doesnt work as well as it did.

I have my business account AND a reserve account - which I use for Tax and VAT. Following their upgrade, I cannot now move money between my reserve account and bank account. I am "not authorised". Therefore, I now have NO WAY to get at MY OWN MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also cannot make any NEW payments - set them up and pay them - so I cannot also use my bank account for its main purpose - to conduct my business!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is only telephone help available [on an 0845 number - so they make money out of making me wait] and sure enough - they cannot cope. Their telephone service states that they have extended their opening hours - well great - but that just means longer hours for those already there - not that calls will be answered any faster.

I wonder how the VAT man will react when I tell him that Abbey has prevented me from accessing the account with his money in it!? Guess who will get the fine???

As you might have gathered - i am very fed up with trying to get through and have this issue resolved.

I'm off to search for a better account - even if I have to pay for it - at least I will have access to my own money!

As a contractor I will be working outside IR35. Umbrella companies are something I looked into but I would only be taking away around 65% of contract earnings after tax and NI, whereas through a limited company it would be more like 80% of the contract value. Call me greedy but the way I see it the main incentive to work as a contractor rather than staff are the higher earnings and lower tax. But if it all goes *** up I may have to go down that route (fingers crossed!)

Cheers

Graham

Hi, I am a contractor, but choose to operate through an umbrella company (one thats compliant with the legislation which came in in April),  I pay them a monthly fee and they then deal with invoicing the client for payment and sort out my tax and NI payments. They then pay the remainder into my personal account.

Would this be a possibility for you, rather than setting up your own Ltd company and bank account.

Also if you Google 'Contractors' there are some informative sites out there which are worth reading.

Ta, I'll give em a shout

Cheers

Graham

Thanks for that, I'll give 'em a shout and see what the crack is....

Cheers

Graham

Give the Abbey a ring on 0845 607 0666 and talk to them direct before attempting to open the account. They normally are relatively knowedgeable. Explain the situation and then go from there

Abbey and Alliance & Leicester are 2 of the banks I had in mind, all this information should come in handy.

Finding a suitable bank is not the issue here, I'm just worried about being turned down by one and then having to apply again and making a mess of my already less than perfect rating, therefore getting it right first time would be best as not being able to open a business account would throw a huge spanner in the works for me!

Cheers

Graham

Hello,

You could try the Alliance & Leicester. I use them for my business account, they don't charge for business banking, and if you are close to a Post Office you can pay in/cash cheques etc there. Its quite basic, and I find the on-line banking is not always up-to-the-minute correct, but for the few transactions I have it works ok for me. It would probably suit a contractor with few business transactions.

Sarah

Hi

I dont know about the credit scoring issues but I would suggest that for business purposes you seriously look at the Abbey Business banking. No charges for paying in cheques (upto 100 per month) or up to £3000 cash per month. All contact with the bank is via post/ cashmachine or UK call center. No charges for online banking or transactions. They also have a reasonable interest rate on current a/c balances. Dont know much about the overdraft situation though, or charges if you are overdrawn. ( I dont do overdrafts!!!)

The big 4 really know how to charge small businesses .Whilst  running a business a/c with Barclays  the charges were £15 pa for online banking plus about £15 per quarter, with barely any interest. With the Abbey  Ive no charges and get around £7 per month in interest.

I have used  them for 3 years and am very happy with the service.

A friend uses the co-op business bank and I believe that they have a similar service.

Really? When you say you have a poor credit rating what do you mean ie the odd missed payment, CCJ's, default?

I checked my credit report on the same website and it wasn't too bad, just the odd late payment here and there. One thing Experian have told me is if you put a "Note of Correction" on to your report banks cannot use an automated credit scoring system as they have an obligation to read that note.

I think I will be waiting till my name is on the electoral register from the 1st August just to be sure anyway...

Cheers

Graham

Hi,
At the beggening of the month i opened business account for my new Ltd company.
I did that with HSBC. I recently found out thru raport by CreditExpert that i have poor credit history. When I did opened the account i wasn't aware of that. Never the less they did all credit check on me and didn't say nothing. The give me maestro debt cart to this account.
I'm not registered on elector list, i'm living under my current address less then a year.
Telling the truth, now afther reading all this about credit history, i'm suprised that they opened this account for me without any questions.

HI I know someone who has recently in the last 4 months opened a business account with the Coventry Building Society and his Credit score is awful ( no Its not me)

hope this helps

Thanks anyway...

think it's just gonna be a case of hope for the best or put my plans on hold for a while and go with Barclays. I'll probably steer clear of the 3 you mentioned as I've heard they can be quite picky.

Other ideas or suggestions welcome!

Graham

 

Nightmare! Have you spoken to them about it? They're usually approachable and think quite logically for a bank I've found and it would be easier when it comes to proving who you are and stuff. I've no other (good) experiences to share about opening business accounts.

Good luck

JJ