Alliance & Leicester question

havent got any experience to be able to comment on the others, although i have heard plenty of people say that their administration is somewhat chaotic.

Ian

Thanks for the reply.

It was if I wanted to withdraw more than the 250 a day in cash. I suppose I could transfer the money back over to my Natwest account and withdraw it from there but it would be easier if there were an A&L branch nearby...

Regarding chaotic administration:

I applied for a direct ISA about a month ago. For some reason they could not pick up my identity on the public regisers immediately (unlike Halifax, Natwest, Lloyds TSB, Portman etc!) so I had to send them copies of my Passport & Driving License.

I am unwilling to send even copies of those documents in the post, so I took a trip to my nearest branch of A+L (in Brighton - about as far south as you can get!) where a charming lady copied the documents for me, took my reference number and told me they would be in the post that evening (as they cannot open the account at the branch?!).

Three weeks later and I have heard nothing back. They've got another week and then I shall assume they no longer want my business!

There's one in Bristol, so not just up north.

I switched from HSBC a couple of years ago - I've used the same ATMs without charge. One advantage of an A&L a/c is that some of those ATMs where you would expect to pay (pubs, newsagents etc) are actually free.

No problems when I did it (transferred about 10 DDs and a couple of SOs).

KotF

You can withdraw large amounts from Post Offices if you phone them in advance.

KotF

wrote

OK...

wrote

So you won't put them in the post yourself, but you'll let someone else put them in the post instead??!!!

That rate'll last 5 minutes, if their previous headling-grabbing rates are anything to go by.

I have an A&L mortgage. The SVR they have been charging me since the discounted rate ended is about the highest of any major lender, they doubled their redemption fee a little while back, and now that I am out of work and seeking to defer payments for a while until my house is sold, I am now informed by my branch that they no longer deal with this sort of thing and I must discuss my personal circumstances with a call-centre operative.

On top of all that, their share price has been going nowhere, very slowly.

None of this may make much difference to a current account-holder, but to my mind they are a poor bunch, and getting worse. YMMV.

One thing you want to bear in mind is they aren't a full clearing bank so you cannot pay a bill over the counter with cash, card or cheque, but must first set up bill payment facilities. OK for regular bills (and you'd probably use DD anyway), but a nuisance for an odd bill - you can post it with a cheque, or pay in at a branch of the receiving bank. You can withdraw cash at any Link machine, free at bank branches (such as Natwest, Barclays etc), as well at post offices.

Alec

There's at least one in Leicester! More seriously, there are branches in most cities (like Bristol and Gloucester) and they are open on Saturday mornings, but they are not as common as the "big" building societies, or the local societies. You can get 250 at a time from post offices, and pay in cash or cheques there. Post offices should be able to tell you what other services they do. Barclays cash machines are free to A&L customers. They are a bit shambolic at administration when setting stuff up, but the interest rate is good, as is the internet banking.