Santander changed my (former) Bradford and Bingley Account number without telling me!

[LizzyA123]

Has anyone, with a Bradford and Bingley bank account, recently received letters from most of their Direct Debit recipients thanking them for notifying them of the change of bank details but not having the faintest idea that they had been changed? This happened to me this week.

The first letter came from BT, quoting an unfamiliar sort code and account number, but not the bank's name. I rang BT and they said that there must have been an admin' error at their end and not to worry as everything was in order.

Today, three more letters arrived thanking me and providing the same strange bank details. At this point I was concerned about possible bank fraud so I rang the B&B customer service number and was told that B&B branch based account numbers were being changed and that customers would not be made aware unless they happened to go into a branch.

I went to my local branch, there was no customer notice displayed advising customers of this. The lady I spoke to didn't seem to grasp that it was remiss of the company not to inform customers and said that I was the first one to complain. I pointed out that a simple note in with my last postal statement (no extra postage costs) would have saved me and probably many others the worry. AIBU to expect to be given prior warning of this?

Yes and no. There has been an awful lot in the press about Santander were getting rid of the Abbey, A&L, and B&B names, so I suppose that logically this would be their next move. However, it would not have been beyond them to send a mailshot to all such customers to explain what was going on.

I think you were right to check it out when something funny came through. Most B&B customers can't set up direct debits on their accounts. I expect Santander forgot about customers like you because there are so few of you. This is of course no excuse and they should have written to you so you as for your account this is a big change. I don't think they need to let all of their customers know as most won't notice any difference.

I was a bit sad to find when I sent DH in with my B&B passbook it had come back as a red Abbey one. That was until the boiler packed up and we had to raid that account and it saved me having to go to my local B&B (which is a bit of a trek with baby on the bus) and I just went into the Abbey.

I wouldn't worry too much. At least you have lots of extra places you can get money out now if you have an emergency.