Anyone have any experience with Halifax's switching service

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cwathen
Posts: 1309
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

Finally jumped on the bandwagon of this bank switching malarkey in order to grab Halifax's free £125 offer.

A condition of the offer is to use their switching service to move things over which will also close my old account rather than being able to do everything myself and leave the old account open just in case as I'd prefer.

Whilst I'm not too worried about payments out as any cock ups there can easily be sorted out, I am a little concerned about trusting a third party to move my salary without having any input in the process. It all sounds so simple, but does anyone have any experience with this who can confirm it really is that straightforward?

Also, for 3 years payments sent to my old account get redirected, does this happen instantly or is there any sort of delay on it?
woah
Posts: 365
Joined: Sun 28 Mar, 2010 12.39

I did it a couple of years ago but have moved since for another bonus. It really was that easy in my experience (and was again with First Direct) but in my case not all direct debits were updated to reflect the new bank account details, instead they were still being requested from the old bank account details and redirected. This included my salary. Not the end of the world though really since you essentially have three years to ensure things are up to date.

I think the redirection begins on the switch over day as that's when your old account is officially closed and your balance is moved to the new account.
jonathan
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon 06 Jan, 2014 01.43

Switching experience was good for me last year though my donor account did not have any credits or debits so was not complicated.

I don't suppose there's any reason you can't provide the Halifax bank details to your employer in addition to allowing the Current Account Switch Service do its thing, so why not do that?
cwathen
Posts: 1309
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

jonathan wrote: I don't suppose there's any reason you can't provide the Halifax bank details to your employer in addition to allowing the Current Account Switch Service do its thing, so why not do that?
That's what I did in the end. It all seems to be going smoothly so far.
thegeek
Posts: 858
Joined: Sat 04 Jun, 2005 12.35

I switched my current account to Bank of Scotland, which is basically Halifax but with a different logo, and it all went smooth as butter. I did tell my HR department too, just in case, but that's more a case of not trusting them rather than not trusting the switching service.

In a different current account switch, I got a letter from someone (my electricity provider, I think) saying that they'd got the switch request, but it had reached them too late for that month's payment cycle, so asked me to submit a manual payment for that month. Otherwise it was flawless too.
cwathen
Posts: 1309
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 17.28

Got my online banking activation stuff yesterday, all my direct debits and standing orders are already in place, assuming my salary goes in correctly and I get the debit card in time (a little bit concerned about that - there's only Saturday and Monday's post to come before the old account closes on tuesday) it's all gone smoothly.

Only real thing I'm unhappy with is the mandatory requirement to close my old account - I'm very much of the 'you can never have too many bank accounts' mantra but can't complain about a free £125 for almost no effort on my part.
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WillPS
Posts: 2456
Joined: Tue 22 Apr, 2008 18.32
Location: Carlton
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cwathen wrote:Got my online banking activation stuff yesterday, all my direct debits and standing orders are already in place, assuming my salary goes in correctly and I get the debit card in time (a little bit concerned about that - there's only Saturday and Monday's post to come before the old account closes on tuesday) it's all gone smoothly.

Only real thing I'm unhappy with is the mandatory requirement to close my old account - I'm very much of the 'you can never have too many bank accounts' mantra but can't complain about a free £125 for almost no effort on my part.
If the old account didn't close behind you redirected payments wouldn't be possible. There's nothing to stop you reopening an account with your losing bank, if your account is still available and you're still eligible.
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