Bank Accounts In London

Hello, Some friends and i are moving to london for two years on a working holiday visa in november, and were just wondering what is the easiest/best way to open bank accounts for ourselves whilst living there.. iv heard many conflicting opinions of whether to open one here beforehand or whilst we are there... has anyone ever done this and know how to do it properly? THanks!!
Freya

try contacting www.quickstartuk.co.uk
they are in oz and uk

1st Contact can help you open a bank account and do all that sort of stuff, it costs $75 but could well be worth it to save the hassle. Here's the link: http://www.1stcontact.com/live/index.php?Category_ID=876 They will also help with obtaining your National Insurance number, which you need to work. You can work without one, but you will pay tax at the highest rate.

You can open bank accounts with most of the high street banks on line, but you still need to provide your ID and proof of address (which can be tricky when you have first arrived) before you can access the account. If you want to do it yourself, the best thing to do is if you know where you are going to be staying to begin with (or if you have friends/relatives already in the UK) have your Australian bank statements/credit card statements etc sent to your UK address prior to your arrival. That way you can march into the UK bank with proof of address already sorted.

Do a search here. There are countless posts on this subject. Some advocate paying someon like 1st Contact to do it for you. Some advise waiting and opening an account once you have an address and a job. There is no 'proper' way to do it.

I don't see how anybody can get you an NI number as you have to submit to a face to face interview. The banks require a utility bill as proof of of address, well for a British national anyway, so how can somebody have one before they arrive? A British national has to jump through hoops to get a bank account these days.

If you want to go travelling abroad while you're here, I recommend opening a Nationwide account. Alone of all the UK banks, they make zero charge for taking out money abroad, which potentially could save you rather a lot.
To set up an account you must first have an address in the UK. But if you want to keep the account open after you've returned home that's possible too (they have an internet site, like all banks).

Open a HSBC account at home as even though they are separate entitites they can easily pass information to verify who you are.

The biggest problem is providing a bank with "proof of residency" - in fact many things you have to setup for the first time will require PoR, National Insurance (you need one to work legally, like your TFN), Change of drivers licence, Hiring a car, getting a library card, opening a video rental membership, the list goes on.... PoR is simply specific forms of official mail that is sent to your address that has your name and address on it, utility bills are the main ones but it could also be your tenancy agreement (mobile phone bills cannot be used). In most cases you have to provide two or more PoRs which just makes your situation worse!

It can take a couple of months (or more) to get enough evidence together to get what the bank/government require to open a bank account because most utility bills are issued quarterly. In some cases it might be even harder to do this because if (for instance) you're living in a share house, the tenancy agreement and utility bills will not be in your name.

The EASIEST way to open a bank account in the UK is to have a company organise it for you, 1st Contact mentioned above is a well known and frequently used company you can trust. My fiancées brother and friends (from Australia) have all used them and there was no problems. They just turned up at the bank they were told to go to one day and were given their new bank cards from HSBC.

Other ways to obtain a bank account can be done by getting a letter on official company letterhead from your employer that states your income, home address, position in company (temp/perm), position title, and length of time that is signed by your immediate supervisor (I did this with Lloyds TSB bank to open my account).

You can also get a letter from the landlord or person living at the property to vouch for you. But this isn't fool proof as some banks are wary of taking this as PoR.

Some banks are understanding and if you explain your situation and ask them what alternatives you can use (ie the letter described above) they will sometime try and make things work - it also depends on which branch you go to and who serves you, service and rules are not consistent across the board.

For all the hassle I went through to get a bank account, I would just go with 1st Contact.

The biggest issue trying to open a bank account is having proof of address. Especially difficult if you are like many Aussies living in a share house. Lloyds TSB Worldwide (different branch to the normal Lloyds) will let you open one without proof of address. Letter from your employer will do. They have an office near Piccadilly.

You don't need to pay anyone to help you get a National Insurance Number. It's as easy as ringing up to make an appointment, having plenty of ID and going for your interview. Depending on the area you live it may be awhile before an interview time is available. In the meantime you can work and will be taxed at a higher rate. It all works out in the end anyway, so it's not a big issue. Phone the Department for Work and Pensions, JobCentre plus on 0845 600 0643 to make an appointment. Follow this link for frequently asked questions
www.dwp.gov.uk/lifeevent/benefits/ni_number.asp

"Other ways to obtain a bank account can be done by getting a letter on official company letterhead from your employer that states your income, home address, position in company (temp/perm), position title, and length of time that is signed by your immediate supervisor (I did this with Lloyds TSB bank to open my account)".

No wonder there is so much fraud in this country if it is that easy. Now lets see how easy it is to knock up a letter head or ask somebody to give you one.

I am gutted that to open a joint account with Lloyds TSB with my mother, we are both LTSB account holders in our own right, that we had to be scrutinised as though we were terrorist scum.

"No wonder there is so much fraud in this country if it is that easy. Now lets see how easy it is to knock up a letter head or ask somebody to give you one."

...obviously I had to do this along with supplying my UK passport and my Australian passport.

I love the idea that people assume that with just a letter the bank will not do any other checks and open the account.

Its pretty easy to do the checks by ringing up the company and speaking to HR department as well as what #10 said in photocopying passports.