Can't get a sole trader bank account

8 replies [Last post]
Sat, 05/05/2007 - 14:04
Smurf
Joined: 05/05/2007
User offline. Last seen 2 years 43 weeks ago.

Hi,

This is my first post, and one of many I hope.

I have just started a small business but can't get a sole trader bank account because of credit problems in the past. I have a current account with a high street bank but they just tell me that when they process the application it gets turned down. I have banked with them for quite a few years and was hoping that they would be a bit more discretionary rather than sticking to the rules. I am currently owed over £6,000 from clients who are desperate to pay me but I don't have a sole trader account for them to pay in to. I know I can ask them to make the cheques payable to myself and put them in my current account, but I just think that looks unproffesional. Would I be better off becoming a limited company? My work is graphic design and so therefore I have no suppliers that I have to pay. I don't want an overdraft ot borrowing or anything else. Just an account, so that I get paid. Is there any way that I can get my bank to change their mind? Speak to someone more senior? A letter from my local employment office or someone like Business Link to take to my bank? To be honest, I have only applied to my bank and one other. Someone please help before I go out of my mind!!!

Thanks
Smurf

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Sat, 05/05/2007 - 14:08
#1
Blackfish
Joined: 19/03/2007
User offline. Last seen 18 weeks 6 days ago.
Bank Accounts

You dont say which Bank or Banks

I had a similar problem with Nat West, HSBC so I tried Lloyds TSB I have 2 sole trader accounts with them.

try Lloyds TSB

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Sat, 05/05/2007 - 14:46
#2
Smurf
Joined: 05/05/2007
User offline. Last seen 2 years 43 weeks ago.
Hi Blackfish, Thanks for

Hi Blackfish,

Thanks for your really quick reply. My bank is HSBC and the other one I tried was Alliance & Leicester. I will certainly give LLoyds TSB a try.

If anybody else has any ideas or encountered this problem before. Please let me know.

Cheers!

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Sat, 05/05/2007 - 16:46
#3
Blackfish
Joined: 19/03/2007
User offline. Last seen 18 weeks 6 days ago.
Worth Noteing

Its worth Noteing that at the time I had £40,000 in my Natwest step account and the balance hadnt fallen below £10k in over 12 months.

Which is why I decided to take them to court for my bank charges from 5 years ago when I was seriously skint.

Natwest a better way? NOT

HSBC said my business plan was great but they couldnt do anything as I had a CCJ of £500 which even though it was satisfied and 4 years old that was that.

Banks they just do what the PC tells them if your a small new start business

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Sun, 06/05/2007 - 09:28
#4
annasmedgard
Joined: 27/10/2004
User offline. Last seen 2 years 18 weeks ago.
It might be worth asking for a basic account

I don't know what the current bank situation is. I used to work in one a few years back. When I left they had just started opening basic bank accounts which didn't allow any overdrafts, cheque bookes or debit cards (just ATM cards). These were for the customers who didn't score highly enough to get the full package. However. I think that we still turned away potential customers with bits & pieces on their credit record, and the credit search was always done. We used to always put the full package account in as the one the customer wanted.

Your exisiting bank should be able to provide you with a basic bank account as a second account. If you have problems, ask to speak to the person who does the introductions to the commercial team, rather than just any of the customer service representatives, and talk about it from a business point of view, and see what they can offer then.

If you do have things on your record it is very much worth if you bring in your credit reports (get the £2 basic one from one of the credit reference agancies) and show this before they start inputting things into the computer. That way you can have the big discussion about who can and will authorise it beforehand.

Starting out as a limited company will not help with the banks because they still do a search on all the directors. Again speak to the business person at the bank about this, and get agreement to what they will and won't do and accept in advance.

Each time you let a bank perform these searches a record is kept for 6 months on your file. That is to protect them from you going to 10 different places and getting loans and credit cards and then defaulting on them all. So having too many of these things might make the process even harder for you.

Anna
Moderator, flyingstartups.com

Anna
Moderator, flyingstartups.com

Anna
Moderator, flyingstartups.com

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Sun, 13/05/2007 - 20:19
#5
Smurf
Joined: 05/05/2007
User offline. Last seen 2 years 43 weeks ago.
Thanks Anna, I will

Thanks Anna,
I will certainly get a credit report and see someone other than a customer service rep at my bank. I appreciate everyone's feedback and hope that I will be able to help someone in the future.

Paul

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Tue, 15/05/2007 - 18:58
#6
paulgmfc
Joined: 15/05/2007
User offline. Last seen 2 years 42 weeks ago.
Banks

I have Exatly the same problem. I have a poor credit history, therefore no bank wants to give me a current account in the company name. I have no idea what to do. I'm not even asking for credit i just want somewhere to put my hard earned cash. There must be a bank willing to give us these type of accounts that offer everyday banking services, without the overdraft facility. All i want is a cheque book and ATM card. is that too much to ask? HELP ME PLEASE

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Fri, 14/12/2007 - 21:20
#7
arbie
Joined: 09/03/2007
User offline. Last seen 2 years 12 weeks ago.
Some banks are not the same...

I had exactly the same issue when I started my first company - problems with credit in the past (student loans, a wealth of attractive credit cards etc...) which I overcame with family support and a lot of perseverance. I now treat of any kind of credit like avoiding dogs mess on the pavement... swerve to avoid it!

Anyway, when I needed a new bank account to startup a new company, my business partner and I decided to try Abbey as that's where both our mortgages were and we guessed they knew our credit histories. Unfortunately this turned out to be a dead end with our application flatly refused.

Eventually, but reluctantly, we turned to Lloyds TSB, having not heard great things in the past about their service. What a pleasant surprise we found though. We made an appointment with the local business banking manager and duly arrived armed with our credit reports and other paperwork. Before even getting to the "what are you going to do?" stage, we had bombarded him with our tales of woe and presented our credit reports. Our honesty paid dividends and the bank couldn't have done more to assist us. Bottom line, after a quick visit from the bank manager to our premises to confirm our business address, our account was up and running within three days.

So the moral of the story is -
1. Be honest with your bank manager from the outset.
2. GO TO LLOYDS TSB! - They've received bad press in the past (as have ALL banks) but we were very impressed by their attention to detail and the fact that we got an account!

Good luck!

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Tue, 23/06/2009 - 11:19
#8
Oguemisu
is
Joined: 23/06/2009
User offline. Last seen 37 weeks 1 day ago.
Looking for a bank...

Hi all,

I'm new in this blog but with the same problem you all faced. I just registered as self-employed and because credit problem I can't open a business account anywhere!! I read your comments and will go to Lloyds TSB, not very positive right now because of all the negatives I've had recently trying to open the account. Any more suggestions that perhaps I can take?

Thanks!!

Oguemisu

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