OFF TO ATTEMPT TO UPGRADE MY BANK ACOUNT-GULP!

[ladybird321]

Will be off in a couple of hours to my local Santander Branch to see if they will upgrade my basic bank account to a full current. I've been with them since Oct 06 a month before my IVA was agreed.
I am armed with payslips (although they can see my salary), various forms of id and even a I&E.
Crapping myself, feel soo nervous. My plan of attack is to admit to my IVA (hard for me to do as I have never spoken to anyone about it other than GT), tell them it was completed over a year ago, CRs are all green and nothing adverse on them, I don't want an overdraft or CC, all I want is an account with a Debit Card and I will take whatever they are willing to give me be it a 123 or a lesser account. Before the do a credit check (if they do) I want them to tell me in principal providing my CR is ok (which it is) they will upgrade me. If the answer is no then I will see about moving to Nationwide. Santander were not a creditor however RSB (Mint)Credit Card were and I know RSB credit cards have been taken over by Santander...that is one of my worries I give myself headache worrying about all these things.

[Niobe]

Good luck! If not you can try Nationwide or Barclays.

[TheArtist]

Ladybird, you should be ok. However, a word of warning. They will not commit themselves to offer anything "in principle". They will do a credit check, if you wish to proceed and they will put you on the spot to make that decision. They will not offer you an account out of compassion or congratulations on a completed IVA. They will make a black and white decision based only on your credit score. You could have millions in the bank but if your credit score rejects you, you will not get a current account. That would go against bank policy. Anyway, I wish you luck and you should still be ok.

[ladybird321]

Thanks, it would have to be Nationwide, Barclay Card were a creditor.

[Shining]

Good luck and let us know how you get on as will be helpful to others I'm sure. x

[ladybird321]

My credit score is Excellent with Experian 999...and the upper end of Good with Equifax and Call Credit.....I know they do take other factors into consideration though.

[ladybird321]

Oh meant o say that Mark1882 posted on here a day or so ago and got upgraded with no credit check apparently!

[Shining]

Firstly I hope I'm not going to upset anyone but I applied for this account online the 123 Current Account and I've received an email to say my application is successful. I'm still in an IVA so how do they sort their criteria for acceptance of account!

Worth mentioning this to them if your's still conversing with them.

[UpToMyNeck]

Santander do seem a bit haphazard with their decisions - I chose them as my bank account provider in 2009 when I knew I was going into the IVA so at the time my credit score was OK so they let me have the account no problem. I asked them about a credit card about 18 months ago when I was struggling to pay work related expenses out of my own money, and unsurprisingly, they told me "no, but I can look to see if we can give you an overdraft facility instead". Thinking I had nothing to lose, I agreed, and over the phone they gave me a £3500 overdraft facility! This was only 2 and a bit years after my IVA, and of course its still on my credit file! I dont use the overdraft, as I dont like seeing my account overdrawn, but its nice to know its there in an emergency if I need it, and if they were prepared to give it to me, lets face it with credit so hard to come by post IVA, I wasnt going to turn it down!

[in-a-mess-indeed]

wow UpTo thats one hell of an OD to be offered! even in the days of my having 8 credit cards some with 22K limits (none of them full) and the banks giving credit away like sweets I did not even have half of that so well done you

[UpToMyNeck]

Yeah I was astonished to be honest, and the weird thing was the same guy when he took me through the credit card application had asked me how much limit I was looking for and I told him I only needed it for work expenses, so £1000 would be plenty - he then said I had been turned down for the card, mentioned the overdraft, put me on hold for 5 mins, then came back and said they could let me have £3500!! Once I had picked myself up off the floor, I still thought they would realise it was a mistake, but when I logged onto my account later that day, the available credit had swelled by £3500. Bizarre.

[Shining]

Crazy! but handy for you should you need to dip into it for expenses.