# Opening a bank account in UK



## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

Hi everyone!

We will be moving to UK with my partner and we will open a bank account upon arrival. But the problem is we are new in UK and we don't have proof of address in UK. What do you think are we going to provide? Since we will be staying in our friend house and we don't have a council tax bill or tenancy agreement.
I have a National Insurance Number because I was on a student visa before. Can I request again a letter to send to me my tax code as proof of address?
Anybody who could help us? Thanks in advance!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You are in a Catch-22 situation!
Bank will only accept certain kinds of proof of address, such as utility bills, UK driving licence, electoral register, letter from tax office or local council etc, none of which you can get straightaway. If you start working, the address of your payslip may be acceptable.


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

Joppa said:


> You are in a Catch-22 situation!
> Bank will only accept certain kinds of proof of address, such as utility bills, UK driving licence, electoral register, letter from tax office or local council etc, none of which you can get straightaway. If you start working, the address of your payslip may be acceptable.


Thanks Joppa for your reply. How abou the registration from the GP? And employment letter as well?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

You are still in Catch-22 with GPs! They too require a proof of address before they will register you. Letter from employer is usually a secondary evidence so you will need other kind. You will probably have to wait until you move out of your friend's house and get a place of your own.


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

Joppa said:


> You are still in Catch-22 with GPs! They too require a proof of address before they will register you. Letter from employer is usually a secondary evidence so you will need other kind. You will probably have to wait until you move out of your friend's house and get a place of your own.


Ok thanks a lot Joppa


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## rmw (Apr 7, 2014)

When I arrived a few months ago I opened an account at Lloyd's and got registered with a GP without any official proof of address. Maybe I was just lucky, but they didn't ask for anything except the address. Of course you'll want to ask yourself how much you trust the people you're staying with since your debit card, PIN number, etc would be arriving to their mailbox!


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

rmw said:


> When I arrived a few months ago I opened an account at Lloyd's and got registered with a GP without any official proof of address. Maybe I was just lucky, but they didn't ask for anything except the address. Of course you'll want to ask yourself how much you trust the people you're staying with since your debit card, PIN number, etc would be arriving to their mailbox!


Thanks rme for your reply. Maybe I will try as well to go to GP. When you open an acct toq Lloyd's, did you show to them proof of address?


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## rmw (Apr 7, 2014)

No, I didn't. Based on Joppa's reply I may have gotten a less-experienced teller or something, but you could give it a shot!


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

rmw said:


> No, I didn't. Based on Joppa's reply I may have gotten a less-experienced teller or something, but you could give it a shot!


Ok thanks rmw. i will try as well


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There is a banking rule that states that certain kinds of evidence about identity (names etc) and address must be produced when opening an account, to combat money laundering and other illegal acts.


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## Nixx (May 23, 2014)

My wife (uk citizen) and me (us citizen with spousal visa) are living with her parents right now. We have been here on London over a week and cannot open a bank account becuase we need evidence of residence. Yes, even my wife! They believe she still lives in the USA or something. How does one get on council tax? Do we basically need to tell the council we co-own her parent's property or something? (They own it, not leasing) 

This is really freaking out my inlaws. Our private tenancy agreement between us and her parents was not good enough for a bank account. This has been so stressful. You can't do anything without a bank account. Uhgggg.


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## Hertsfem (Jun 19, 2013)

Try purchasing a TV license...


What proof of identity/address can I provide to open my account?

Or Barclays


http://www.barclays.co.uk/Helpsupport/Identificationforbankaccounts/P1242557966027


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## Nixx (May 23, 2014)

HSBC does not recognize TV licenses, unfortunately.


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## Hertsfem (Jun 19, 2013)

Nixx said:


> HSBC does not recognize TV licenses, unfortunately.


So try Barclays or Co-Op

Can beggers be choosers?


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## Nixx (May 23, 2014)

I am an established HSBC premier account holder in the USA. I do not want to deviate from them.


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## rmw (Apr 7, 2014)

So is council tax absolutely the only proof they will take at HSBC?


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## Nixx (May 23, 2014)

rmw said:


> So is council tax absolutely the only proof they will take at HSBC?


My HSBC rep here says it's the fastest and easiest way to prove residency. However, it's proving to be difficult to get any answers from our local council on the process. I was just curious if any others here stayed with family and established residency using this method and what they did.


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

I have an Hsbc account before when I was on a student visa but I closed that account when I went back home in the Philippines. Can I use a letter from HMRC as proof of address?


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## LizS (Jan 16, 2014)

Nixx said:


> I am an established HSBC premier account holder in the USA. I do not want to deviate from them.


If you are a premier HSBC member, then you should be able to get them to open your UK accounts. They do it through the International Banking Centre and then you should be a premier member in the UK too. 

We set this up in Canada before we moved to UK, but if I were you I'd contact my relationship manager in the US and make this request. It does take some time, but then HSBC UK will consider your other country credit score too.

That's, of course, if HSBC US works the same as HSBC Canada. Check out their website for overseas and expat services.

Good luck!

PS. We did ours with using my Mum's UK address, and us having no bills here, as we will temporarily be staying with her, until we get our own place.


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

Can I use tenancy agreement as proof of address in opening a bank account in UK?


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## cls (Jul 14, 2014)

my understanding is that a private rental agreement btw you and your landlord may not be enough... i think some banks accept a tenancy agreement if an estate agent is also a party to the contract. I dont know but the rationale may be that with a private contract 2 friends may create a contract to create an address proof

here is one approach i read about: get your bank in which ever country you are based to change the address on file to the UK address you want to use and have them send you a statement there. You may have to pay your bank some charges for international mail or to switch to paper statements if you are otherwise paperless. If the bank is well known bank such as say HSBC etc then I think the UK bank may accept that statement as proof. I havent tried this approach yet but I read that this has worked for people


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## kalkal (Jun 8, 2014)

Ok thanks. How about the employment contract?


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## cls (Jul 14, 2014)

You can try but if they are not accepting a rental agreement then I am not sure about a letter from an employer. Seems too simple!
If it works for you do post here. Thanks!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

This a list of supporting documents accepted by Barclays Bank: Identification for bank accounts
For Halifax: http://www.halifax.co.uk/securityandprivacy/pdf/personal-information-and-identity.pdf
NatWest and RBS: ID Required to open a new account in branch | NatWest - current accounts


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## sunshine01 (Feb 5, 2014)

kalkal said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> We will be moving to UK with my partner and we will open a bank account upon arrival. But the problem is we are new in UK and we don't have proof of address in UK. What do you think are we going to provide? Since we will be staying in our friend house and we don't have a council tax bill or tenancy agreement.
> I have a National Insurance Number because I was on a student visa before. Can I request again a letter to send to me my tax code as proof of address?
> Anybody who could help us? Thanks in advance!!


I opened the account at TSB bank when I just arrived and I was not asked for a proof of address, I opened the joint account with my wife which is a Polish citizen. Maybe we were just lucky. I was asked to give the address where the card and the PIN can be send to.
I went to this bank because HSBC wanted a proof of address and TSB was the first bank around the corner from HSBC.


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