fiona stanfield

I just moved back home to the UK in November after living in the USA for over 40 years. I have not had any problems with getting anything yet except I am finding it hard to get a bank account at the moment. Everything is fine untill you have to give proof of address. I live with my partner but they want a utility bill or other things I do not have. I dont have any bills or debt. I think it is kind of crazy myself. In the USA they would be vying for your business. Barclays is a pain, I will have to try some of the others. Has anyone else had any problems getting a bank account?
Thanks

R I C H

See post #27 Buying a house with no credit - possible?

durham_lad

Welcome back. See my post in the above thread about what was acceptable for my son to get an account while living with us.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

yellowroom

Have you tried banks other than Barclays or just tried them and given up? Don't know where you are in the country, but your best bet is a bank or building society with a decent sized branch where you can speak to someone experienced/senior enough to move past the "computer says no" script. Nationwide is sometimes suggested as being helpful, but there is no one organisation that is "good for ex-ex-pats". As for proof of address, have you considered the following:

• Get your partner to put one or more utility bill into joint names so you are on the bill - Council Tax would be a good one
• Do you have a mobile phone? That counts as a "utility" if you get letters or statements.
• Do you have a British driving license at your current address?
• Correspondence from your GP or statutory body - eg HMRC for Tax and Pensions
• Get a library card or join the local council-run sports centre - usually for no or very little cost and you get correspondence on official headed paper.

R I C H

A mobile phone bill doesn't count as a utility bill, and a UK driving licence only holds secondary value for opening a bank account as a form of ID.

Unless you have a formal rental agreement (and therefore an address), or a gas/electricity/water bill in your own name, banks are not legally obliged to open an account. It's not just 'computer says no', it's a legal compliance issue.

durham_lad

I agree. When we got back in 2016 and went into our bank - the one we had used since 1985 - we struggled a bit as the utility bills I brought in did not have my wife's name on it. The bank person turned her screen around so that we could see that the criteria listed were on a government site, not an internal bank screen.

In our case we returned next day with a water bill which was in joint names.

For our son the following year that same bank accepted a signed letter from us that he was living with us plus utility bills in our name proving we were still living there.

Pulaski

Ironically, after living in the US for 40 years, FStanfield might not realise that the requirements to open a bank account in the US are now substantially the same as in the UK as US banks are following a very similar set of laws and regulations to the ones that are enforced in the UK, so opening an account as a new immigrant in the US can be challenging as it requires the same sort of "jumping through hoops" exercise.

The primary difference is that the US use a SSN as a de facto national ID number, and that once you are "in the system" it is quite easy to open additional accounts, but the reality in the US is that there is a substantial underclass of people who are effectively excluded from ever being able to open a bank account, hence the proliferation in the US of check cashers, money remitters, payday lenders, title loan companies. and pawn shops.

yellowroom

But going durham_lad's son's experience, it is possible to find banks who don't just operate on "legally obligation" to open accounts and who are willing to open accounts for people who don't neatly fit into a set of boxes to be ticked. It sounds like fstansfield needs to identify those banks who are willing to be a bit more pragmatic about how they fulfil the legal compliance/anti-fraud legislation.

Pulaski

Based on my own experience, the problem is that while most people fit neatly into scenario A, B, or C, the laws and regulations also allow other scenarios D, E, F, and probably G, H, I, and K, and more, but these alternatives are relatively rare and the low level customer facing staff are unfamiliar with anything other than the common scenarios A, B & C, and therefore say "computer says no" when they can't fit someone into scenarios A, B, or C because they are unaware of other acceptable scenarios.

durham_lad

MidAtlantic

It appears from this list that Barclays try to be as accommodating as they can be. I suspect your are correct that the OP encountered someone with insufficient experience/knowledge. Barclays give a number to call at the end of the list. The OP should try that.
https://www.barclays.co.uk/current-a...-bank-account/

I also found this re Lloyds Bank, but couldn't open the link for it:

If you're in the UK and able to visit a branch, Lloyds Bank has a "New to The UK"account that can be opened without proof of a UK address. They do require proof of identity, typically in the form of a valid foreign passport (with a current UKvisa if non-EU) or a valid EU/EEA photo driving licence.

Pulaski

That's a perfect example of what I was talking about - the regulations in both the UK and US specify "proof of address" as a requirement, but it doesn't actually say in either country that the address must be domestic (in the same country as the bank, though obviously in 99.9% of cases the address for prospective new customers will be domestic), and therefore most customer facing staff probably don't know what to do if someone has an overseas address.

That said, there are some banks that will refuse accounts with addresses in certain countries - such as Iran or Cuba for US banks.

Thairetired2016

Barclays is a pain whatever business you do with them. RBS is similar pain. Just try another bank with more reasonable staff.

Stuck in Auckland

In New Zealand they send a letter to the address for you to bring back in as proof of address. Could that be an option for them?

UkWinds5353

I would try a different Barclays branch. There are times when the services on offer can be affected by the people working at that branch. Sometimes a branch employee will tell you a service can't be offered for xyz reason, then you go to a different branch and suddenly it's not an issue. There are a few UK banks in the states and the possibility for you to join one of them online in the states could be an option for you. Maybe that way you could get the account in the States and you then will have an established history with that lending institution.
Also have you thought about adding your name to a utility bill account of your partner's or another family member if that person has one? If that is legal that could be a remedy. People do it all the time in the States.