Reply to: Desperate for business bank account

[darrenb]

marcoloco:

Halifax finally let me have a Treasurer's account for the ltd when they realized I had a lucrative contract. After pretending to lose my documents.

I've been round to a few, and they all seem to want to extract the maximum sadistic satisfaction in silly buggers games.

D.

[MarillionFan]

Cater Allen were very good until bought out by Abbey. They used to offer good interest on all balances but no longer do so.

[Contractor UK]

Cater Allen

Hi everyone

Just thought we would mention we do offer free banking (so long as you remain in credit) with Cater Allen for anyone who hasn't seen this on CUK: http://www.contractoruk.com/money/fr...k_account.html

No minimum balance required
Funds may be held in sterling, euro or US dollar
30 free transactions per month
Monthly statements
Full cheque book and banking facilities - bill payments, standing orders and direct debits

Depends on their backlog and any further info they require, but usually an account is opened within 10-14 days. They also do the usual credit checks however.

Hope that's helpful.
CUK

[Not So Wise]

Darren/Marco, question, did you appeal any of the initial rejections? The first line "account opening" personnel are generally useless drones that can only action what their system tells them to do, where appeals departments are people who can make decisions for themselves

Known a few people with your problem (no credit history) who got refused on first try, appealed and sent in 3 months worth of personal bank statements (is what they normally ask for) and were then given the account. Time consuming but it does get you were you want.

If that takes to long (marcoloco is sounding desperate) then I suggest a umbrella/managed company service like Churchill Knight, they can set you a company and bank account which they will manage for you in a day or so,it's pricey but if in a bind useful then go back to the agency and get them to just reissue the contracts (they should be willing) and pay the other company instead.

[oraclesmith]

Yep, certainly will. You might be able to swing it through a Directors Loan Account within your company account but only up to £5k. The HMRC will probably still be able to have a look at your bank account though - although they're unlikely to find much in there

Seriously, one way to break the deadlock is to invoice the agency for the fee in any case and make them pay you a cheque instead of by BACS. That way at least you have a valid cheque for quite a bit of money to take to the bank and pay into your new business bank account. Make it clear to the bank that you don't want an overdraft facility. You can always invoice without having bank details, you just need to give them another way of paying you - some small businesses for example only take cash or cheques. If they won't allow you to have a cheque for a large amount, then invoice for several small amounts instead. Work it out with the agency.

[Ardesco]

One reason you don't want to do that is because the IR will be allowed to root about in all your personal accounts (or whoever owns the account the money is paid into) if they investigate you.

Secondly your accountant is bound to have a fit and you will probably be breaking your banks T&C's

[marcoloco]

Why would you want to do that ? I dare say it would work, simply because company bank account names can vary wildly from the company's name. They'd probably pay your granny if you asked them, but you'd still have to show it in your accounts.

why would I want to do that? Because I don't have money even to buy a travelcard and yet agency wants to pay me 6000 by now, but I can't write out an invoice without bank account. Natwest, Abbey and Lloyds have rejected me because of my bad personal credit history. I now got appointment with a HSBC business account manager, hopefully it will work out when I explain the situation and show them my contract. After all, I don't want any overdraft or loan.

[oraclesmith]

Does anyone know if BACS transfers do name check as well? I mean if I write out invoice with my Ltd name, but with another companys account nr. Will the transfer go through still?

Why would you want to do that ? I dare say it would work, simply because company bank account names can vary wildly from the company's name. They'd probably pay your granny if you asked them, but you'd still have to show it in your accounts.

[marcoloco]

darren have you had any luck with bank account? I'm in similar situation - before I secured my first contract, I were unemployed for some time and now my credit rating sucks big time and Natwest (where I have personal account) and HSBC have rejected me, even I can show them 400 p/d contract and I don't want any overdraft/loans :S

Does anyone know if BACS transfers do name check as well? I mean if I write out invoice with my Ltd name, but with another companys account nr. Will the transfer go through still?

[oraclesmith]

My accountant does this sort of thing as well. I don't know much they charge, but it may be more than the one you found. http://www.carltonbakerclarke.co.uk/...g-services.htm

Basically, a lot of accountancy/secretarial firms will help figure out which bank account will suit your style of working, business needs etc and arrange it for a fee. It should be possible for you to get some sort of business bank account, even if it a telephone-only account. The downside may be that you end up with a business account which costs you more or is more restrictive than if you had good credentials or it may take you a little while to acquire one as they may need to see lots of documentation etc and maybe get a guarantor. If the agency has corresponded with you about money they need to pay you (and how much), that should convince them that you're going to run your account in credit. In my opinion.

I don't know the one you found can guarantee to get you an account - for example if you were a convicted fraudster with several liquidated companies in your background I wouldn't give you a smile, let alone a bank account !

[darrenb]

update

Hi. I'm still trying to get paid. I'm getting quite worried now. I have thousands of pounds owing to me but no way of getting at it.

I did a test online credit check. I don't have CCJs but I'm newly back in the country so I get rated worse than if I did have CCJs. Kind of a guilty-before-innocent principle enforced by the credit rating judiciary.

So I started to look at "guaranteed bank accounts" like this:

https://secretariatservices.net/services/bank/bus-1.asp

Does anybody know if this works? Is there a catch that is not apparent (besides the fact that they charge you lots of money)?

Somebody also mentioned the Swiss. Do they do company accounts? If so, which bank? Or should I pay an intermediary to set it up?

D.

[TheMonkey]

I have an HSBC business account with free banking for life (HSBC Direct). It just works (tm). Got a £1k charge card which covers all my needs adequately and no overdraft facility (because I don't need it).

Again, I went with HSBC because Abbey fecked up and didn't give me a reason why.

My personal account is with HSBC as well so I get paid approximately 5 seconds after I make the transfer from the business account.

[Thom77]

I opened an A&L account last month, they did say it could take a few weeks but in actual fact it was very quick. Perhaps it was because I explained to the woman in the branch that I was in a bit of a hurry, but I took the application forms in on 29th July (if I remember correctly), I have a letter dated august 3rd acknowledging receipt of the application, and another letter dated august 4th with my new account details and a new account pack. The cards and pin numbers came through every few days afterwards.

So far it all seems to work quite well, although the internet banking doesnt seem to update as quickly as the telephone banking - I received some money into the account on august 31st, but internet banking didnt show it until at least a day after even though phone banking said it was there.

[expat]

Trying to do anything which is out of the norm is impossible due to the poor quality of the lines to India and the inability of their staff based out there to speak English.

Get a Swiss bank account. The phone number printed on your statement rings in your branch, and they speak English.

[BoredBloke]

For what it is worth, I'm planning on closing my HSBC account due to the poor levels of service they offer. You are supposed to have a business manager assigned to your account, but you can't get to speak to them because the call centres won't put you through. Even when the pass on messages for your business manager to call you, quite often they don't.

This week I wanted to set up a small overdraft to cover a cockup I had made on my timesheets which delayed their payment by a week. They wanted to go through a complete credit check (both my wife and myself), even though I have banked with HSBC both with my business and personal accounts since 1997 and then charge me for the pleasure. Previously it was a simple call to the business person at the bank and it was authorised over the phone, presumably on the basis of how the account has performed over the past. But now 'procedures have changed'

I have had numerous calls for me to 'pop in' to discuss how the bank can offer to help my business in the future - basically this is just a means to get you in and for them to try and sell you a load of extra services. I know, because I did it a few years ago. Because my bank is being refurbished, this cannot be done on a weekend and would have to be done at my expense. Even had the branch been open on Saturday, it is staffed by people from other branches, so your business manager may not even be available. They have no concept of people working a long distance from the branch. The culture at 'the worlds local branch' is that you can simply pop into your branch whenever. That isn't possible when you are working x hundred miles from home.

Trying to do anything which is out of the norm is impossible due to the poor quality of the lines to India and the inability of their staff based out there to speak English.

HSBC - I wouldn't touch them.