People wanting more money from me right, left and centre. Who else is finding this?

[nixnewcastle]

So at the moment I have a small beauty room within a salon which is fine. I only pay 20% of whatever i earn. Fab I cant go bust but...... now the hairdressers i rent from is saying she wants me to have the bigger room and start paying a "proper rent" which i dont think i can afford at the moment cause im a new business and im not busy enough.

I've also just had a letter through from Barclays with £108 worth of charges for banking cheques and cashing money etc etc. WTF????? Thats alot of my hard earned money!!!!

I've now also just had a letter in from Halifax which is my personal account that i have an overdraft with. They are going to start charging me pound a day for my overdraft (this is my authorised overdraft not unauthorised)

I've also had the manager of Natwest who i used to have my business bank account with wanting £500 from me to pay off my overdraft and shut down the account.

Is anyone else finding people are trying every which way to get money out of you at the moment or is it just me?

Im really really stressed about it and dont know what to do
Any advice would be very very much appreciated!!!

 

[Beautification]

I went to see halifax about getting an overdraft and she told me all banks will now be charging £1 a day to have an overdraft..not use you it just to have one! arranged or not.. that's like £30 a month!

 

[*sarah*]

I don't have a business bank account ny more, had 2 and both offered atleast a years free banking, so shop around see if you can get a better deal!
Also do this with your personal account try moneysavingexpert.com if you are unsure where to look. I saw martin lawrence on watchdog a few weeks bakc and I'm almost positive not all banks are charging like this, (but may have jumped on the bandwagon with HBOS since then lol)
As for the salon, is there a reason why the owner is suggesting the new bigger room? If you are happy in the room you are in just tell her hth xx

 

[nixnewcastle]

It's crazy!!!!!! We're in a recession, are they trying to make it even worse for people? Im being asked to find like £1630 in less than a months time. I know they are trying to discourage people from getting into debt but im never going to get out of it if this is the case. I feel like just accepting cash from my business and not banking any of it. Why should i be charged for putting money into a bank account that the bank is going to make money from.

It makes no sense!!!

 

[del3]

Did you know that you don't have to have a business account,only a seperate account ? this way you can avoid the business banking charges.
When I went to open an account for my business i was told by the bank manager that this type of account was not needed until I earnt a certain amount (sorry can't remember how much it was but it is a fair amount).
:hug:

 

[angelina221]

A lot of banks will offer you 18 months free banking but they can actually offer you 3 years. They don't tell you that though!
I'm with the federation of small businesses and you get free banking for life with the co-operative bank if you are a member.
I would go along to barclays and tell them that you want to close your account as you have been offered a better deal elsewhere. A lot of times you only have to ask and they can reduce the charges. Personally i'd use another bank and get free banking for 3 years or better still join the FSB.
If you have an overdraft with Natwest and you still owe money then you are going to have to pay it. You can't really expect to spend money and not pay it back.

 

[nixnewcastle]

Crikey of coarse not. I know i've got to pay it back but it just feels like it's all coming at once. The free banking for 3 years sounds fab!! How did you find that out? just so i can quote where it's from when i ask barclays to remove the charges. Dont know how successful i'll be

I thought you had to have a business bank account, if you dont i'll have to pay back the overdraught and get it closed and just use my barclays personal account which i dont use at the moment to pop my business money into. I'll just have to ask clients to start writing the cheques out to me instead of the business.

I love this site you guys are all so clued up on some things i haven't a clue about. Thanks for all the fab advice. Im very interested in this co-op banking now

 

[angelina221]

You have to pay an annual fee to be a member of the FSB but not only do you get free banking, there are other perks too
You get great deals on your PDQ machine, free legal advice, free financial analysis of your business and lots more.
It was the man from the FSB who told me about the 3 years free business banking.
I have personally banked with the co-operative bank for over 20 years and never had a problem ,and i once got near to my overdraft and they rang me up to let me know! Now not many banks will do that!

 

[single sparkle]

Bank charges for lodging cash are quite high. I went to my bank manager and asked him how to reduce charges - he said lodge in bulk eg 50euro notes in 5000euro bundles !!! I said i work alone in a little salon where would you like me to keep all that money while i am trying to build it up to lodge in bulk ??? again :irked: i just got a shrug - so after speaking to my accountant i asked the same bank if i could have 2 years free banking as they had it advertised - they said not a problem. What gets me is that they would never approach you and offer it anyway....

Shop around - you never know

 

[hippy-chick]

I have 2 current accounts with the same bank, one i use for biz the other is personal.
I put about 12-20 cheques in a month and never had a problem. I get them to make the cheque out to me not my biz name.

what is the advantage of having a business account anyhow?

I made an appt to see my bank manager to ask about a biz account and I got totally baffled by paying a certain amount of % if I did this, and to have insurance in case anything happens?! What?

I rang the bank up the other day to downgrade one of my current accounts as I pay £8 a month for "certain benefits", which I don't use, so they've given me 2 months at £2 a month. so end of Feb I shall be downgrading the account unless they offer me another deal.

 

[essentia]

You have to pay an annual fee to be a member of the FSB but not only do you get free banking, there are other perks too
You get great deals on your PDQ machine, free legal advice, free financial analysis of your business and lots more.
It was the man from the FSB who told me about the 3 years free business banking.
I have personally banked with the co-operative bank for over 20 years and never had a problem ,and i once got near to my overdraft and they rang me up to let me know! Now not many banks will do that!

I have exactly the same set up and have had no problems - in fact I get an annual bonus from the co-op bank, which is rather nice.

 

[jes]

what is the advantage of having a business account anyhow?

• You need a Business account if you want to accept debit and credit cards
• Business accounts come with business managers/advisers that can be helpful when starting up.
• Regular cheques/cash isn't normally deposited into personal accounts and banks will notice and can object to this (because it costs them). They can, then, insist on you taking out a business account under their T&C's

HTH

 

[del3]

When I opened the account that I use for my business( a current account) I was given the option of having the name of the business and my personal name as acceptable on cheques, therefore it doen't matter which name the client writes the cheque to. I bank with Lloyds TSB.
:hug:

 

[nixnewcastle]

When I opened the account that I use for my business( a current account) I was given the option of having the name of the business and my personal name as acceptable on cheques, therefore it doen't matter which name the client writes the cheque to. I bank with Lloyds TSB.
:hug:

So is that not a business bank account with charges?

 

[Cathie!]

Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank provide free business banking provided you deposit at least £1k per month otherwise they charge £5 per month.

I put all my business transations through my personal account now and I find it so much easier. My acountant advised me that there was no problem with this as I am a small one man band. Cheques I deposit into a savings account to build up for my tax liability along with any additional cash over and above my weekly drawings to cover NI, insurance, stock etc etc.

 

[del3]

So is that not a business bank account with charges?

No, this is a normal current account with an aranged overdraft and no charges unless i went over that argread amount.
:hug:

 

[Exquisite Touch]

my business bank is with abbey national and that is free banking for life. Only problem I have which really isnt a problem is that it only comes with a visa electron and not every place takes visa electron.

I totally understand where your coming from with everyone wants money. it does all seem to come at once though keep smiling you will work through it

 

[collin]

I've also just had a letter through from Barclays with £108 worth of charges for banking cheques and cashing money etc etc. WTF????? Thats alot of my hard earned money!!!!

I've now also just had a letter in from Halifax which is my personal account that i have an overdraft with. They are going to start charging me pound a day for my overdraft (this is my authorised overdraft not unauthorised)

I've also had the manager of Natwest who i used to have my business bank account with wanting £500 from me to pay off my overdraft and shut down the account.

Is anyone else finding people are trying every which way to get money out of you at the moment or is it just me?

Welcome to the wonderful adult world...doesn't it just stink ...

Believe me when you start to have a family of your own with all them hungry mouths to feed it gets even worse :lol:

Hope you get things sorted :hug:

 

[persianista]

Hiya, Yes it's tough out there at the moment. I think companies and banks are all watching cash flow carefully at the moment, and chasing payments like never before. Grit your teeth, and keep going, it will get easier.

 

[bombini]

So at the moment I have a small beauty room within a salon which is fine. I only pay 20% of whatever i earn. Fab I cant go bust but...... now the hairdressers i rent from is saying she wants me to have the bigger room and start paying a "proper rent" which i dont think i can afford at the moment cause im a new business and im not busy enough.

I've also just had a letter through from Barclays with £108 worth of charges for banking cheques and cashing money etc etc. WTF????? Thats alot of my hard earned money!!!!

I've now also just had a letter in from Halifax which is my personal account that i have an overdraft with. They are going to start charging me pound a day for my overdraft (this is my authorised overdraft not unauthorised)

I've also had the manager of Natwest who i used to have my business bank account with wanting £500 from me to pay off my overdraft and shut down the account.

Is anyone else finding people are trying every which way to get money out of you at the moment or is it just me?

Im really really stressed about it and dont know what to do
Any advice would be very very much appreciated!!!

How much does she want for the new rent ?

Have you got two business accounts ? Natwest & Barclays ? I would close both of them an either get a free account with abbey or alliance & leicester. I bank with AL and they are by far the best I have banked with for business ( I have been with a few of the big banks ) Apart from being free, or £5 per month if you pay less than £1000 is the fact that you can pay cash in at any PO. This is great for me as I can park right outside my local PO for free and they are open until 5.30 on a Saturday.