Bank account headache

I'm still counting down to my departure and while being completely preoccupied with that I remembered that all those years ago I managed to close down my UK bank account (yes, feel free to laugh at my stupidity now!). And right at that moment of reminiscing my frustrations started. Those of you who know what happens when you add UK and a bank account can stop reading now and those of you who haven't yet had the privilege of trying to open one can indulge in what follows.

A few years ago, when I was working in England, I managed (with a lot of help from my liaison officer and the bank manager) to somehow open a basic current account. Woohoo! And all was well and I thought I'd live happily ever after with my HSBC debit card until I decided to leave UK. My preparations for departure included closing my account, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. And that was a mistake. A big, huge, enormous mistake. Because closing down the account has caused me to start pulling out my hair, banging my head against the keyboard, viciously jabbing at random buttons on the previously mentioned keyboard and screaming at the top of my voice, which caused my neighbours, who were having a drink outside, to roll their eyes, stop talking and wonder what the weird noises coming through my open window were.

After hours and hours of googling, researching and drinking about 4 cups of coffee I found out what I already knew. You cannot open a UK bank account if you do not have a permanent address in the UK. Which is a teeny tiny problem in my case as the current plan is to stay in England for 8 weeks (maybe more if I feel like it) and I need the account so I can receive my paycheck. Now, I have the job and I can't get paid. I have a place to live, but none of my documents has that address on them and neither is my name on any of the bills. And since my employer requires my bank information NOW (and I'm outside UK at the moment) the situation is somewhat impossible. Or so I thought....

Another hour of research and I found various companies offering to open your bank account and get you settled in your new life on the island before you even leave the safe haven of your home. This should have been the perfect solution for me, but since I'm stubborn and think I need no help from no one, I refused to get lured into paying someone to do my dirty work for me :-) Another hour of research followed...

And I got back to HSBC and their Passport option. I think it's a decent solution for someone moving to the UK as it allows you to open a bank account without having a permanent UK address and you can even do it online from home. The nervous breakdown, which was threatening to make a memorable entrance, somehow missed its cue. After thinking about the 8 pounds I will have to pay every month for a whole year despite the fact that I will only use the account for 2 months, I decided to go through with it anyway as I don't want to be dealing with the banks when I arrive as it sometimes takes between 2 and 5 weeks before you can open an account and I need it asap. It will take 2 weeks for HSBC to process my application, so with any luck I should be in possession of my debit card on the day when I start work. Not perfect, but definitely better a bit late than never.

Thank God I already have the NI card :-) This is my happy thought at the moment! Yey, not having to go through the process of applying for that as well.

Till next time...

* baby image credit to 2flashgames.com