Which bank do you use and would you reccommend?

[Upsadaisy]

Seperating from h and will need a soul bank account once house sells. I have a few bank accounts but have never used them really for bill paying and organising overdrafts etc.. all the stuff you generally do with a current account....any reccommendations?

I'm currently with lloyds with h and they have more negatives than positives in my opinion...will not be staying with them.

Savings account reccommendations to please?

LLoyds are poo poo. Customer service Poo poo.

I recommed the co-operative. I use telephone banking and the ladies and gentleman who answer the phone are ALWAYS blummin brilliant.

I asked for all my statements ( to claim bank charges) and one lady said to me, do you know where to get the pro-forma letters

yes helpful indeed. Ethical too which is trez important to moi.

Bloomin eck they are helpful offering to give you that info When you say ethical how do you mean?

first direct are really great - they usually offer incentives to change your current account, think it's about £50

have a look at moneysavingexpert.com to get the low down on all sorts of money things, including best saving accounts

First Direct are pretty good.
My accountant wanted "all" my old statements for some reason, and I got a really apologetic call from FD saying they could "only" do 6 years, was that OK ?

I expect Barclays or LLoyds would have refused and/or charged me a lot.

Ethical as in they do not use thie money to fund unethical stuff - like wars.

I use HSBC - have been with them for years and years and very rarely had a problem. There phone service is probably the worst aspect as it's all foreigners BUT having said that I never actually call them because I do all my banking online.

Cater Allen are good for current a/c

Also Barclays Premier banking seems good (dh has it) you pay a fee of £10 a month or something but you get free AA type thing which is brilliant, you get free annual worldwide travel insurance for the family (worth about £100) and lots of other bits

yes v happy with barclays premier banking

I would be wary of paying a monthly fee for these extras, you can often get them cheaper elsewhere

I think he has Additions Plus

Hana I shopped around and I couldn't!

i don't pay

HBOS.

They're a bunch of robbing bastards.

Avoid them.

look

Ooo FFF see what you mean about ethical just been checking out there web site....they sound alright!

Cheers for other reccomendations too just off to have a nosey at there websites.

I guess I'm thinking of using your clubcard points for aa memebership etc etc - I did the maths (we were paying I think £15/month for the honour) and so we've stopped it

aren't hsbc the bank who - after people have successfully claimed back unfair charges - have closed accounts? I thkn it was them

Another vote for First Direct here.

Also, although they are part of HSBC, the service is much better; HSBC have helpline in India or somewhere ridiculous, First Direct have UK based helpline which is very efficient.

yes, but A LOT FO oops a lot of those things are covered elsewhere, like mobile insurance, and gadget insurance?? that's jus a fancy thing! made up

additions different from premier

wouldn't bother with addiitons

I'm with Lloys but i wouldn't recommend them, they're SHITE. When I can get off my apathetic arse I'll be moving to another bank.

Expatinscotland gotcha giving hbos a wide birth/berth

thats a weird saying it must be berth as in boats it can't be birth surely (ignore me I'm sure I'm going mad.....but I am single/seperated and mad which is okay...I can live with that)

First direct are coming off well. How do access money at a direct level?

You know know one I speak to seems to like LLoyds either.
I can literally imagine at bunch of old men like off mary poppins you know, covered with cob webs and dust ......the miserly so and so's.
customer service has been abismal even refusing me access to the account over the phone not because of not being able to identify me but because they just said certain transacrions couldn't be done but when h tried no problem what so ever and there charges Ohg my word!!!grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

i like alliance and leister (sp?).

if you go into your overdraft you have 3 days to make good before you get fined.

i use them on-line.

expensive overdraft compared to Abbey though.

check with moneysavingexpert.com for your particular cicumstances.

We used to be with Barclays, and frankly that was only because I knew how to wind them up,
and enjoyed doing so.
When we got married I made DW a director of my company and a signatory on all my accounts.
Turns out that on the main company account, she was the only signatory. Barclays had lost my signature and had happily simply taken any scribble as valid, except one day when I tried to withdraw cash...

Final straw was when DW turned up at a branch and they flatly refused to believe this pretty young blonde girl was a director. Refused to tell her the balance or let her move money out of the deposit into the check account.

Be clear here, she had various ID on her, and they didn't doubt her identity, just a girl being a director.

Don't bank with Barclays, just say no.

Thats disgraceful!!! they must of been so embarassed when they realised they were wrong and had been completely judgemental miserable gits!!