I've banked with HSBC for six years (current acc). What's the best way to change banks and clear my overfraft/credit debt and switch banks?
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I'd like to clear my overdraft (£1500) and small credit card (£500) and move to another bank, ideally Natwest. In the past I've incurred a lot of overdraft extention charges but for the last two months have avoided these. What's the best way of clearing this debt quickly and is it likely that I'll be accepted by another bank? My monthly income is: £1900.
MoneyPenguin
1 year ago
Expert Financial Adviser Answer
Darren Smith
answered 1 year ago
The crucial thing to determine is in relation to your charges. if they were authorised charges you should be able to move relatively easily but if they were charges applied to retrospectively increase an overdraft after you exceeded your limit, you will find it almost impossible to move with such recent bad history.
i would suggest that you take a look at your credit file and see what it shows for the period concerned.
www.creditexpert.co.uk will give new members 30 days free access to their credit file, after that there is a monthly cost but you can legitimately avoid paying by ringing them before the 30 days is up to cancel.
it might also be worth having a chat with natwest if they are your preferred provider, let them know what has happened and they should be able to tell you if their system will accept you without spending your time on the application process and of course you can avoid an unnecessary search on your credit file.
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i would suggest that you take a look at your credit file and see what it shows for the period concerned.
www.creditexpert.co.uk will give new members 30 days free access to their credit file, after that there is a monthly cost but you can legitimately avoid paying by ringing them before the 30 days is up to cancel.
it might also be worth having a chat with natwest if they are your preferred provider, let them know what has happened and they should be able to tell you if their system will accept you without spending your time on the application process and of course you can avoid an unnecessary search on your credit file.
