If you are struggling with debt, you will often find that you do not have enough money to pay what you owe to your bank. If this is the case, it could start to take money from your account to repay the debt without warning. This is a legitimate action by the bank and is called the right of off-set.

When you are trying to solve a debt problem you need to be 100% in control of your finances. If you owe money to your bank in these circumstances, you do not have this control.

Open a New Bank Account

The only way that you can be 100% sure that the bank will not take anything from you without warning is to open a new account with a different bank and start to use this instead.

This process of opening a new bank account is not as difficult as it seems. However it is slightly different depending on whether your credit rating is good or bad.

Opening a new account if you have a good credit rating
If you had a good credit rating, you should be able to open a new current account with any bank.

Simply go into a branch of the bank of your choice and ask to open a new current account. If asked why, you should say that you are not happy with the service offered by your current bank.

Do not say that you need a new account because you are trying to deal with a debt problem.

The bank will normally undertake a credit check and as long as this is OK, your new account can be opened almost immediately. You will then need to have your wages paid into the new account and change any direct debits for household expenditures which you must continue to pay.

Opening a new Account if you have a bad credit rating
If you think you already have a bad credit rating, you can still open a new bank account. However you will generally only be able to open a simple account called a card cash account.

You will be able to have your wages paid into this account and set up direct debits and standing orders. However, you will normally not be given a direct debit card. There is no need to worry about this. If you need a debt card there are a number of organisations which supply pre pay debit cards. These are available for people with poor credit ratings although there will be a charge for their use.

If you want to open a simple bank account, you should always go into the branch rather than applying on line. You may also have to choose the bank you approach more carefully. Normally banks such as the Co-Op, Nationwide, NatWest and Barclays are able to help with card cash accounts.

Remember, some banks are now owned by others. For example, Halifax is ultimately owned by Lloyds. So you may need to do some research to ensure you open a new account with a completely different bank than the one you owe money to.