On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 19:48:36 +0000, Alang
wrote:
>>The former is true - but any legal resident of the UK can get the
>>required ID without a lot of trouble, so it does not amount to a bar
>>on getting an account. The second is simply not true these days.
>
>It is true. While banks may *offer* accounts to those who can't
>produce proofs it is often the case that staff in the front line
>aren't aware and turn people away who don't conform to a standard
>check list.
I simply do not believe that to be true. The normal process is that
the "front line staff" are not involved at all except to hand out and
take back the application form.
> Many banks will not supply accounts for undischarged
>bankrupts and often discharged ones too. What they say they do and
>what they actually do are not the same.
Some banks will indeed not take certain types of customers (I don't
know the percentage). But in any high street there will be plenty of
banks and building societies that *will* take bankrupts and people
with undischarged debts.
>>Many banks offer a "basic account" that is open to everyone, including
>>bankrupts. It carries no interest or overdraft facilities, but issues
>>a debit card and allows all the common banking features - cheque, BAC,
>>DD etc.
>Not always.
I said "many" not "all". There are plenty sufficient for a person in
such a position to find one easily.
>>> ISTR a couple of posts here on that subject. Some of
>>>this thread claims millions without bank accounts. The report
>>>published in 2006 claims i in 12 households with no bank account. I
>>>have no idea whether that is correct today but I suspect the figures
>>>may still be in the millions.
>>
>>From what I gather, the "1 in 12" figure was taken from a selected
>>subset of society rather than the whole of society.
>
>Nothing I see here to say that
>http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/banking_benefits-3
Nothing I can see of where that figure came from at all. IMO if it
applies to the entire countryu, it is simply not believable.
>I know a wee bit about this through having relatives and friends lose
>businesses and homes through bankruptcy. You need to get past the fur
>coat of the banks and government and see the raggy knickers
>underneath. :(
I've known several people who became bankrupt, and *all* of them had
bank accounts, some more than one account.
--
Cynic
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