Moving current account to Halifax - questions on possible issues

I want to close my Bank of Ireland current account and open one with Halifax. I currently have a BOI credit card and a BOI personal loan that has approximately 24 months left to run. I also have four direct debits which are paid out of my BOI current account.

Halifax have an easy switching option where they will do all the work in moving a current account to Halifax, apparently. [broken link removed]

I have a few questions. My BOI credit card is paid off in full, so I take it I can cancel the credit card without any hassle, by giving them BOI a call tomorrow?

Once I send the current account switching application to Halifax, will they do all the work for me or will I have to notify Bank of Ireland of my intentions, and physically go into a BOI branch to close the current account?

Regarding the direct debits tied to my BOI account, will I have to notify each company like Vodafone, NTL etc with my new current account details or will Halifax take care of this for me?

Finally, regarding the personal loan I have with BOI. Will they continue to deduct the monthly repayment from my new Halifax current account or are there any potential problems that could arise with this particular issue?

Thanks

Krew Bot said:

My BOI credit card is paid off in full, so I take it I can cancel the credit card without any hassle, by giving them BOI a call tomorrow?

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Your CC is surely unrelated to your current account? If you do want to switch your CC to Halifax too then close the BoI card/account and get letter from them indicating that they have charged the annual stamp duty so that you can give this to Halifax to avoid being charged a second time for the CC SD year April 2007-March 2008. See [broken link removed].

Once I send the current account switching application to Halifax, will they do all the work for me or will I have to notify Bank of Ireland of my intentions, and physically go into a BOI branch to close the current account?

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If a switching service is provided then they should take care of moving any payments (direct debits, standing orders etc.).

Regarding the direct debits tied to my BOI account, will I have to notify each company like Vodafone, NTL etc with my new current account details or will Halifax take care of this for me?

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I don't think so. The switching service description surely clarifies? If not then check www.itsyourmoney.ie for details of how swithing accounts like this works.

Finally, regarding the personal loan I have with BOI. Will they continue to deduct the monthly repayment from my new Halifax current account or are there any potential problems that could arise with this particular issue?

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Should be a DD or SO so should be moved like any other regular payment.

I did this in August last year - switched from Bank of ireland to Halifax. You don't have to tell BOI what you are doing. Just apply for a new Halifax current account and select their automatic switcher process. It all gets taken care of then for you. Its takes a few weeks to all happen though and Halifax will ask you what time of the month is best to start the switch process, usually the time when you have least direct debits going out to avoid any potential disruption.

If you select the automatic switcher option Halifax will sort out the change over of all your direct debits for you. You can opt to do this yourself though if you choose.

I did have a couple of problems with a couple of direct debits that didn't get switched but I have to say that Halifax were great. They deal with problems very quickly and refunded me the charges I incurred from the couple of companies when the direct debit failed. I'd recommend the switcher process but just keep an eye out in the first month to make sure all your direct debits do actually go out so if they dont you can contact Halifax about it quickly. Although having said that, the first I sometimes heard about a problem was when Halifax contacted me first. Their customer service DOES NOT COMPARE to BOI at all, infinitely better!

I preferred to open a Halifax current account and see how I got on with it while keeping my PTSB account and DDs etc. intact. I will move DDs over gradually. I just preferred to do it this way rather than using the switcher services.

I have found Halifax's telephone customer service excellent so far.