Do you need a parachute account?

[Perseus]

Originally Posted by lou5357

I went into the Halifax yesterday and promtly told that as I don't have 'a proper current account' (sic) and only a cashcard account, the Halifax will be changing the way that it deals with people with either an easycash or cashcard account. It'll mean, the cashier said, I will no longer be able to use counter facilities. Any idea if other banks/building societies are following suit? I haven't opened a parachute account yet as I've had to apply to the DVLA for a duplicate licence - it's the only form of ID that I have. When choosing another bank, I want to be able to use counter facilities like everyone else. I'm really angry with them and feel like a second class citizen.

Haven't heard of that before...
Maybe you could ask them when , and on what notice to you will their services be withdrawn - ask for the erms and Conditions that state their withdrawing those services. - Thats terrible.

Originally Posted by Pacm0n

Hi all, newbie here

After reading through this site I thought I would give it a go at reclaiming my bank charges. I've just sent by Data Protection Act to Lloyd TSB.

I was reading up about parachute accounts and just wondered if it was really necessary as I have a really bad credit history, no CCJ's just a lot of missed payments e.t.c on credit cards, direct debits and loans. I'm just thinking if I applied to a new bank they would take one look at my history and refuse my application?

Any advise would be very much appreciated.

Some banks are happy enough to take in customers with adverse credit.
Citibank, NatWest for 2.
When (if) you go to another bank to see if they'll take you in - ask them when they do the application scoring through the credit reference agencies, if it will be registered as a seaarch for credit on your file. If you're not applying for an overdraft or credit card etc, ask them for a quotation search. It leaves no footprints on the CRA, and doesn't affect your history so to speak.

Perseus

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

	Credit Report Click link to open in new window.

[DiXiE1962]

Originally Posted by Pacm0n

Hi all, newbie here

I was reading up about parachute accounts and just wondered if it was really necessary .....

Any advise would be very much appreciated.

One of the things you will notice as you go through the site is that parachute accounts and various other measures are suggested so that you are covered IF the bank plays hardball.
I personally know of many cases where your original bank doesn't close the acount, but have also seen cases on here where they do.
My suggestion would be to try to open an account IN CASE and use it as a savings account or close it again if all goes well.

[sadie89]

Hi,
I've recently taken Alliance Leicester through the small claims court and they have written back saying they will defend the claim. I then received a letter from them offering me £388.00 which would include the court fee. (I claimed £649.) A&L say that "this reflects the difference between the amount of charges for unpaid items actually applied to your account & the amount of charges that would have been applied to the account if the charge had been £12.00.". I am now not sure what to do. I am afraid they will close my bank account (I am not now overdrawn but I do have plenty of Direct Debits & Standing orders.)

In another para of the letter they state that "you may have seen media reports that some banks have considered closing certain customers accounts where the customer has complained about bank charges. We would like to re-assure you that if you do accept out offer of settlement we will continue to operate your account. We would only do so on the basis that you accept the Terms & Conditions of your account previously notified to you and that charges will be applied in accordance with our current charging policy." Do you think that this means:- eg If I don't accept they will close my account?? I could really do with some help from you guys on what I should do. I don't like the almost veiled underlying threat being posed here, that in itself makes me really angry however I am a bit of a wimp on the side and think for an easy life shd I just accept the part payment and think well at least I am £388.00 better off now than I was. PLEASE HELP GUYS!

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[Cornucopia]

Originally Posted by sadie89

Hi,
I've recently taken Alliance Leicester through the small claims court and they have written back saying they will defend the claim. I then received a letter from them offering me £388.00 which would include the court fee. (I claimed £649.) A&L say that "this reflects the difference between the amount of charges for unpaid items actually applied to your account & the amount of charges that would have been applied to the account if the charge had been £12.00.". I am now not sure what to do. I am afraid they will close my bank account (I am not now overdrawn but I do have plenty of Direct Debits & Standing orders.)

In another para of the letter they state that "you may have seen media reports that some banks have considered closing certain customers accounts where the customer has complained about bank charges. We would like to re-assure you that if you do accept out offer of settlement we will continue to operate your account. We would only do so on the basis that you accept the Terms & Conditions of your account previously notified to you and that charges will be applied in accordance with our current charging policy." Do you think that this means:- eg If I don't accept they will close my account?? I could really do with some help from you guys on what I should do. I don't like the almost veiled underlying threat being posed here, that in itself makes me really angry however I am a bit of a wimp on the side and think for an easy life shd I just accept the part payment and think well at least I am £388.00 better off now than I was. PLEASE HELP GUYS!

I would seriously tell them to get stuffed! I am pretty sure they recently had to issue an apology for writing a letter like this, if I were you I would get in touch with the Office of Fair Trading, Trading Standards and the Financial Ombudsman Services and report this veiled threat! This does not conform with the Banking Code. I would also write to them and inform them, quite clearly, that despite of their veiled threat, you will be continuing with your claim and reporting their behaviour to the relevant authorities.

Continue with your claim, as planned. You must not settle for half of your claim because they have threatened you - this is exactly the result they want! Can you imagine if everybody backed off, they would be laughing their heads off!

Have you opened an account elsewhere? If you are concerned about your credit history, you can open a basic bank account - the NatWest Step Account can be opened online, for example. To be honest, this would make me want to take my business elsewhere in any event! It is outrageous!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Regards,

Corn x

	The Banking Code Follow this link to read the Banking Code in full. Ofen ignored by its subscribers, half-heartedly monitored and poorly enforced

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[classylady18]

Hi, i havent posted on here so im hoping i've posted in the right place!

I'm currently pursuing Barclays for £2695 of bank charges so a couple of weeks ago i decided to open a parachute account with NatWest and applied for the Step Account.

Within a day of applying online I recieved a letter from them telling me my application had been processed and welcoming me to NatWest. It also showed me my account number / sort code etc, all i needed to do was sign the form and send it back which i did straightaway

2 days later i had another letter from NatWest welcoming me to their online banking service - great i thought... i'll change my bank details tomorrow with my employer so my salary can be paid into my new account.

However...the next morning i had two letters from NatWest ;

1. Stating that my application for a Step account was unsuccessful as i didnt meet their critieria and a leaflet about credit scoring

2. A statement of my account showing that i had opened the account on 4th June, then it said account closed on the 5th June...

I was really confused because surely they cant open and account send me all the online banking stuff and then close it ?!!?

Has anyone else had this problem? Im guessing its because i am claiming charges from Barclays??!

Im not sure what else to do now as i still want another account that offers a debit card.....any ideas guys?

Thanks in advance...

Classylady18 x

	Parachute account "Parachute account" describes a second bank account opened expressly in order to avoid retaliatory action by a customer's usual bank once a bank charges claim had been commenced. The term "parachute account" was first used in this sense by BankFodder on the 22nd February 2006 and has since become part of general usage in this context. "parachute account" is used regularly by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com and also by the National press.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[MyWilf]

Hello everyone, newbie here too, just to say keep up the good work and i look forward to the fight,,,,,,

Regards MyWilf

[sunn1]

Sent my Subject Access Request letter by recorded delivery on 16.04.07 and heard nothing, they also did not cash my cheque.
Then on 13.06.07 received a reply from 'Data Subject Access Request Team' which ia a simple list of charges applied and dates going back to April 2001. They also wrote in their covering letter that there was no charge and the cheque had been cancelled.!

The problem I now have is when completing the spreadsheet I've downloaded I do not have the interest charged (they did not send statements). Should I simply continue with my preliminary approach letter without including any interest.?
Can anyone help.. please

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[darling1]

Ref Parachute accounts - I notice that Barclays are on the list of banks post #1 - they turned us down flat and gave us the phone numbers to check our credit rating! - This is really begining to bug us, Tesco Finance have given us a very bad credit rating about 2 1/2 years ago, due to redundancy we got behind in repayments and after many many many upsetting calls from them they gave our debt to a debt recovery agent, we had just moved house so we used a bit of capital to pay them off. Tesco were aware of our situation , and would not help - or wait for the money to come through. Anyhow If you would like a lot of stress Tesco Finance is the way to go - as they say "every little helps" -
The point I am making is if you have past debts (or maybe have just won a claim for unfair bank charges!! ) Barclays are not worth trying!
Darling1

	What are your rights at work Follow this link to read the review of the Guide to your Rights at work, published by Lawpack

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[kermit200376]

Can I suggest Citibank Access account too. Debit card and chequebook and seems friendly to bad credit people like me!

[vandermerwe]

Hi Classylady.

Are you sure you applied for the most basic account from Barclays? It would have a 'brand name'.

Among my philosophies are:

a) Bankers are w*****s, er wallies for the sensitive ones;

b) I believe in a belt and braces.

I applied for a Co-op Cashminder account by telephone, which was approved in 'principle' and am currently awaiting the paperwork. I was advised to do so by national debtline.

Van

[Givuzagame]

Originally Posted by Johanna Anna

I asked for a business account at Royal bank of Scotland - the bank account was refused, even that I have no debts, I work properly with my company and I work as a journalist and have no bankruptcy or other bad debts record except this HSBC.

Any ideas like above for parachute business accounts?

Is it legal to run a business through a personal account if all records kept?

[vandermerwe]

Have had my Cashminder account with the Co-op for a while now, but find the Electron card is occasionally refused.

Is it regarded by some as a the "poor man's" card even though it caries the Visa logo?

Van

[joe.inom]

About my know parachute account of my friend , he had to pay penalty charges because he had not certified correctly before that why is he needing this parachute account and parachute account is just a fallback in case the bank closes your current account.
what ever he got your of this.

	Parachute account "Parachute account" describes a second bank account opened expressly in order to avoid retaliatory action by a customer's usual bank once a bank charges claim had been commenced. The term "parachute account" was first used in this sense by BankFodder on the 22nd February 2006 and has since become part of general usage in this context. "parachute account" is used regularly by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com and also by the National press.

[joe.inom]

He made account from Motley Fool , i am thinking to make one soon , but still need suggestions.

[Elenathion]

Is it possible to update the initial post in this thread?

I just opened a parachute account with Lloyds and was given a visa debit card. The only limitation on it is that you have to use a Lloyds cash machine to withdraw money but in can be used in shops and online without any problems.

	Parachute account "Parachute account" describes a second bank account opened expressly in order to avoid retaliatory action by a customer's usual bank once a bank charges claim had been commenced. The term "parachute account" was first used in this sense by BankFodder on the 22nd February 2006 and has since become part of general usage in this context. "parachute account" is used regularly by Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com and also by the National press.

[Hopeful1]

Originally Posted by Elenathion

Is it possible to update the initial post in this thread?

I just opened a parachute account with Lloyds and was given a visa debit card. The only limitation on it is that you have to use a Lloyds cash machine to withdraw money but in can be used in shops and online without any problems.

What's your credit rating like - if you don't mind me asking!

[october1]

test

[cleo4patra]

Hi - I applied for Halifax easy cahs and have now got debit card and PIN - I am new to this site but have used the standard letters, Subject Access Request and preliminary approach and charges spreadsheet. My bank Yorkshire have responded quickly. I am trying to get my overdraft sorted to no avail and am considering closing my YB and asking to pay overdraft off in instalments to start me off again

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[tendogs]

Mrs Dogs and I have a credit rating that you would not want but, non the less, Yorkshire bank has given us an account with a debit card. I'll go to the foot of our stairs.

[harrassed senior]

Hi, Did you apply in person or online Mr. Dogs!

My history: I had a Halifax account with overdraft. When I was taken ill and had to rely on Benefits they started taking all my Benefit Credits to pay off their charges, never leaving me money to live on. It all started by going 30p over the overdraft limit. Despite many pleas and over 40 years' history with them they would not budge so I took them to the small claims' Court and won an out of Court full settlement. 2 weeks after that they withdrew my overdraft facility. I was furious and they eventually gave me the overdraft facility for 3 months and then said it would close it down as my circumstances had changed. In fact, NOTHING had changed. They eventually started hounding me to pay back the overdraft , about 10 days after the 3 months' were up and then without warning closed my account.

I then had no debit card, and because of their Default on my Credit File I have never been able to open a bank account that provide's one, not even an Electron!

They sent in the Collectors for the overdraft debt, and I told them to go ahead and take me to Court, as I am sure the general public would love the read all about their actions. No word for over 3 months now!!

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.