Opening a Bank Account with Lloyds

Killer_banana

Hi so I'm moving to England this weekend and been looking into opening a bank account. Read a few places it can be difficult if you're not from the UK but that Lloyds is the easiest place to open one. Found a section on their website about opening an account with them if you're new to the UK in which they say all you will need is a passport or other form of ID to open an account. However I've read other places you need proof of address to open a UK account, is this true? I'm currently staying with colleagues until I find somewhere and even when I do find somewhere to live it will be shared accommodation so I won't have my name on utility bills or anything. If I explain this to them will I be okay or will they prevent me from opening an account? If so does anyone know any banks where you can open an account without proof of address?

d_jordan

I opened an account with them, once I showed my Irish passport it was easy, I had nothing to prove my address except an amazon reciept but the woman never asked for it. If your staying with colleagues ask to use their address, you can always change it after you get a full time place

Killer_banana

d_jordan wrote: »

I opened an account with them, once I showed my Irish passport it was easy, I had nothing to prove my address except an amazon reciept but the woman never asked for it. If your staying with colleagues ask to use their address, you can always change it after you get a full time place

Thanks for the reply. Yeah that what I was planning on doing since I can't get paid until I have an account and I'm not sure how long I'll be looking for somewhere.

Reekwind

With HSBC all I needed was my passport and (IIRC) a letter for the landowner confirming my address.

razorblunt

HSBC have bettered their offering alright but LLoyds are still the go to (or TSB as they've now reverted to).

HSBC can be a bit painful in other regards though (locking your card abroad, pin required for online login, etc)

jonnny68

I was going to open an account with them until the woman asked me where Dublin was, I thought it was a wind up but she was serious she said she wasn't sure it was in Northern or Southern Ireland , I was flabbergasted that anyone who works in a bank, in fact anyone with any intelligence would not know whereabouts Dublin was given the English are our closest neighbours and Dublin is bigger than most city's in the UK (obviously not London) such was her level of stupidity I decided to go elsewhere and open an account with Santander.

Santa Cruz

jonnny68 wrote: »

I was going to open an account with them until the woman asked me where Dublin was, I thought it was a wind up but she was serious she said she wasn't sure it was in Northern or Southern Ireland , I was flabbergasted that anyone who works in a bank, in fact anyone with any intelligence would not know whereabouts Dublin was given the English are our closest neighbours and Dublin is bigger than most city's in the UK (obviously not London) such was her level of stupidity I decided to go elsewhere and open an account with Santander.

I used work in Belfast and then to London. When I wanted to transfer money from a Belfast account to London the bank clerk in London was charging me a transaction fee for changing Euros to Sterling. When I pointed out that Belfast was part of the UK she went to check with her supervisor. Unbelievable

boardbro

I contacted them and they said that you need to have a uk residency to open it, so maybe things have changed?

Dr_Bill

jonnny68 wrote: »

I was going to open an account with them until the woman asked me where Dublin was, I thought it was a wind up but she was serious she said she wasn't sure it was in Northern or Southern Ireland , I was flabbergasted that anyone who works in a bank, in fact anyone with any intelligence would not know whereabouts Dublin was given the English are our closest neighbours and Dublin is bigger than most city's in the UK (obviously not London) such was her level of stupidity I decided to go elsewhere and open an account with Santander.

This comes as no surprise to me at all, I have in the past come across people who think Ireland is part of the UK until you explain we have our own country, passport, flag different currency etc.

I assume when they refer to "Southern Ireland" they must be referring to visiting areas around Cork & Kerry on holidays or something like that as I've never been to a Country called "Southern Ireland"

You'll have to travel north out of "Englandshire" to Scotland for people to know the difference!

jimmii

jonnny68 wrote: »

I was going to open an account with them until the woman asked me where Dublin was, I thought it was a wind up but she was serious she said she wasn't sure it was in Northern or Southern Ireland , I was flabbergasted that anyone who works in a bank, in fact anyone with any intelligence would not know whereabouts Dublin was given the English are our closest neighbours and Dublin is bigger than most city's in the UK (obviously not London) such was her level of stupidity I decided to go elsewhere and open an account with Santander.

You're going to end up not using a lot of companies in that case! I'm English and find it very annoying how few people seem to know where Dublin is and its amazing how many people seem to have never heard of the place let alone know where it is!

When I was in school there was literally nothing about Ireland on the curriculum and until I moved here I knew very little about the place other than what happned at Italia 90!