How to withdraw cash from bank without questions

[ThatBeachLyfe]

Need to withdraw cash for some building work. Went into NatWest to ask how to do this and they said id need to fill out some paperwork and state what the money was to be used for. I said at the time it was to buy a second hand car and was told I’d need to bring photos of the car, and any email correspondence. I had my toddler with me so said I’d pop back another time when I had my hands free. I need to withdraw cash £7k. Is there a way I can do this without having to supply any proof or explanation of what it’s for? It’s my money so I don’t feel I should need to tell the bank and obviously don’t want to name my builder in the process.

it’s very unusual to pay a builder such a huge amount in cash. Are you sure it’s legit? Most would accept a cash deposit & the rest by bank transfer.

No it isn’t unusual, it’s standard with builders.

I’ve renovated numerous houses for a living and trades have asked for cash nine times out of ten. I’ve regularly withdrawn £10K plus over the counter, and when they ask me what it’s for I tell them it’s to pay for building work and they’ve always been happy with that.

It’s your money, OP. You’re not HMRC and you’re in no way responsible for making sure that trades pay their tax. That’s on them.

Of course some people pay cash for building work. We’ve paid similar amounts to builders in the past.

It’s really common to pay cash for building work. I just took 500 quid out daily for a week or so.

But in the past I withdrew 5k for a car. The cashier asked what it was for….i said ‘a car’, she said ‘how lovely, well done, enjoy it!’ But that was about 20 odd years ago.

I work for a construction firm, it's not common for legit builders.

So people just walk around with the infamous briefcase of cash, do they? Or a brown paper bag? I don't think so.

Even stores employ armoured security vehicles to transport that amount of cash.

Not only is having that amount of cash on you a serious burgling/hold up risk, but it's dodgy as fuck.

Yup, just tell the truth. If your builder is dodging tax, that's not your problem. And, to be fair, with our builder, we paid the bulk in bank transfer but he did ask for some in cash - without a doubt part of that was so that he could avoid tax, part was so that we didn't pay VAT on all of all of the build but a really big part was practical - we'd pay him in cash and he used that cash to pay a lot o fhis part time guys. From what I could tell, about half his team were salaried employees and half were more ad hoc temp types and he paid them cash. And yes, they may well have beena voiding tax too. But that's not my problem.

The teller at Natwest clearly knew exactly what was going on but it' snot illegal so it was fine.

The rules are stricter now the banks are forced to pay up for scams so they are being extra diligent in making sure it is a genuine purchase. And for large transactions they are obliged to ask questions but the photos seem a bit extreme.

Did they log the reason the first time? If not just go in again and tell the truth.

You must really trust this guy because if he does shit work or fucks off with your money there's going to be bugger all you csn do about it

People paying cash for cars that dont exist or at least dont belong to the person selling is a very common scam. Withdrawing cash for that rings alarm bells.

@ThatBeachLyfe no one tells me how much and when I can take my own money out of a bank. I also usually try to keep cash in the house.!!

I hope you’re suitably insured.

My EX gets a chunk of his salary paid in cash. I know because DS (14) has told me many times about the envelopes filled with cash. I also know that it is quite common in his industry. (The person he worked for when we were married would never have done it though).

He is not only defrauding the tax man, he's also defrauding his own children because he does it to avoid paying me the proper amount of maintenance. I pay for everything for the children and he probably pays half what he should because he is paid in cash.

It's not a victimless crime

Do not do this. The builder is trying to avoid paying tax. Don’t help them.

Yeah they do.

It is quite common in my ex husbands industry. It's not a fictional thing.

100%

The upside was the lack of Covid support they could claim given they don’t declare of their earnings. Karma.

I took out £5k in cash this year from Nationwide. When asked what it was for, I said that I was off to the races and was feeling lucky (that wasn't the reason).

Imho it's scam protection. Honestly, the number of people who give money willynilly is mindboggling. Then of course they eant money back from bank.
We gotta live with it. I spent so much time with bank on a phone explaining "yes, the transfer is fine and I am not being scammed" even into accounts in my name... Cash obviously raises more than just that alarms

This is why I save in cash. I don’t trust banks and I’m not fighting with them to get my own money out.

It's cheeky. None of their business why you want the money.

True

I wish they did this to my mum. We didn’t notice she was developing dementia and a ‘tradesman’ knocked on the door and cased the place then offered work and needed a deposit of £3k. She took £3k out of her bank in cash and handed it over. When she told my brother he asked ‘what was his name? Did you get a receipt’ nope just gave away £3k. Police really couldn’t do much as they have no idea who this character was.

Maybe try saying it's none of their business? You can take your own money out without explanation if you want to, and if they won't let you then I would change banks. I have had this before (to buy a campervan) but told them I didn't need to tell them what it's for.

I used to find this level of intrusiveness annoying, but since having a couple of attempted scams and reading about the scam factories in Myanmar, it really is necessary to protect us. Sorry!

Tell them you no longer trust the banking system and show them lots of conspiracy articles about a collapse of the world economy.

Cheeky fucks. (I understand it's their job. I don't think it should be.)