Au pair bank account problem

[citykat]

All well with new au pair except inability to open a bank account. As she lives in she has no utility bills. She has EU ID card and passport only- and a Spanish bank account. Does anyone have any bright ideas? It wasn't like this with previous au pairs so I think the rules must have changed.
Thanks for any help.

Won’t or can’t? If she is having trouble can you find out what else it is she needs to enable her to open it? Does she maybe need proof she is working in the UK? Or can you pay her into her Spanish bank account? I have no idea about any of this - just speculating. Sorry if i isn’t helpful.

There are ways round it and is usually easiest to accomplish with your own bank and you going with the AP to open the account and providing a letter on recommendation.

Thanks. No branch very near to me so was trying to use one that is local. Problem is not enough ID. Will try going with her to local Barclays armed with multiple forms of my id. I don't want to travel to NatWest to be told we still don't have enough ID.

My mother tried to open a British account last year when she came to see me and was told she could not because she was not a UK resident . Thankfully I had opened a bank account into thousand 10 when residency was not a requirement as I was not living in the UK . Can you register her at your address so she can at least sell that or bring a contract that you both signed when she became your au pair ?

We had a similar problem recently, moving back to the U.K. after a long time abroad. Accommodation is provided with our job so we had no utility bills and eventually we had to get HMRC to send us a letter confirming our NI numbers. We are with Natwest and it was a real PITA, they wouldn't accept a letter from our employer or even our work contracts where it is stipulated that we have to live on site.
Does your AP have a NI number?

I think my cousin had a similar problem a few years ago and managed to get an account with HSBC. I agree it'd be s good idea for you to enquire at your local back + provide a letter to say that she lives with you and is your au pair.

Can you add her to your utility or council tax bills?

What about a driving licence?

I'd recommend trying a different bank too. First Direct/HSBC always seem more competent than NW. I was recently trying to convert my teenage DDs child NW Acs into regular acs (and they're uk citizens) and called NW 'helpline' to see what docs we needed to take to the appt. As they are teenagers obviously like you we struggled with acceptable ID though of course I offered their passports only to be told no, but we will accept a letter from their school! Right, so, a meaningless letter from an unidentifiable person from a school that may or may not exist or an official document issued by th UK government? Hmm. Good luck!

We've had the same problem with ours.

We just pay them cash, but I warn in advance that they won't be able to get one. If they do want to order something online, I tend to buy it for them and then they pay me back.

With our last au pair, we added her to a utility bill. Whatever you add her to you'd need to be sure they sent you a bill fairly sharpish after.

We also went into our own bank which we used anyway to see if they'd be more flexible and could use the fact that we vouched for her or not (not sure if it helped!).

Haven't been able to here. I wasn't prepared to put her on the utility bill (not here long enough) just paid cash and she doesn't seem worried.

We book theatre tickets on our credit cards if ever the need arises.

Try Halifax or Lloyds. Done this for previous au pairs and as long as I go in with them, no issues.

It is getting really hard. I had a client who found it almost impossible!

Thought occurred to me this morning - what about a prepaid debit card? Do these even exist? Are you allowed to get one for someone else? starts to google

If she has a NI from HMRC, and her ID and passport, us that not enough?

Possibly something of proof of address will be needed, and the HMRC letter with your address on it should suffice?

What about half on a pre paid credit card (I had these for my kids for pocket money) for telephone and internet purchases and half in cash (because it is expensive to withdraw cash from a PPCC) for general spending?

That should cover any eventuality.

LLoyds bank is usually laxer on terms. She will still need proof of address. Can you do up some sort of short-term tenancy agreement for her?

Thanks.No NI number, but have sent her the link to investigate. I think that involves going to a tax office in person, which sounds like it could take ages. It's things like gym wanting a DD. I could just pay for it for her but tbh prefer to be a bit more removed. Pre pay cards not a bad idea. I don't really want her on utilities either as that seems wrong - she isn't paying the bills. We will go to Lloyds and try again there. I have typed up a contract of employment for her, will take utility bills, my passport etc. We will carry on with cash til we crack this

I've found this which seems as if it may work. You would need to pay some fees though. www.mycashplus.co.uk/products/uk-prepaid-cards/pricing.aspx (it took me a good few clicks to find the charges page so I'm sending you straight there!)

If she's getting paid, she'd need a NI number surely?

You don't 'pay' an au pair, you give them pocket money. The DWP don't want to know, and they generally 'earn' under the NI threshold anyway.

www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/au-pairs

Local credit union? Often more understanding

So am in Lloyds with au pair and they still say no.
It is madness that she will need to waste government time getting a pointless NI number . Or provisional driving licence she will never use.
Grrrrrrr