Bank who will open an account for a group for private road funds)

[Bhoddhisatva]

Having great difficulty finding any bank that will now open an account, with say 2 or 3 signatories, to administer smallish (low thousands of pounds) for repairs to, and maintenance of, an unadopted private road with less than 10 residents i.e., contributors making occasional payments to the account.

All we want is an ordinary bank account, that can receive postal/on-line payments, issue occasional statements and allow the 2 or 3 registered signatories to sign cheques and/or make on-line payments when repairs are due.

Old bank closed account due to inactivity some years ago and so far, despite approaches by long-standing, well rated customers of theirs, First Direct, HSBC, Barclays I believe have all declined! Yet in the past I've been involved with executors, charitable or sports club accounts - now no-one seems to want them!

Any suggestions/recommendations welcomed!

[PinkDalek]

Having great difficulty finding any bank that will now open an account, with say 2 or 3 signatories, to administer smallish (low thousands of pounds) for repairs to, and maintenance of, an unadopted private road with less than 10 residents i.e., contributors making occasional payments to the account.

All we want is an ordinary bank account, that can receive postal/on-line payments, issue occasional statements and allow the 2 or 3 registered signatories to sign cheques and/or make on-line payments when repairs are due.

Old bank closed account due to inactivity some years ago and so far, despite approaches by long-standing, well rated customers of theirs, First Direct, HSBC, Barclays I believe have all declined! Yet in the past I've been involved with executors, charitable or sports club accounts - now no-one seems to want them!

Any suggestions/recommendations welcomed!

I opened an account at HSBC for the cricket club, albeit many years back. They still appear to provide such accounts:

Clubs, Charity And Community Bank Account
http://www.business.hsbc.uk/en-gb/every ... ty-account

I haven't found what constitutes a "Community" mind you.

Similarly, NatWest provide a local residents' association with banking facilities. They describe a Community Account here:

https://www.business.natwest.com/busine ... count.html

Charging information

We offer free banking, subject to status, to not for profit organisations, as long as annual credit turnover across accounts, doesn't go over £100,000.

The banks will most likely prefer to consider your activities as a business and charge fees. Some individuals might run such matters via a personal bank account, perhaps jointly with another trusted individual.

[midnightcatprowl]

I live on a small estate where a resident's company is responsible for the up keep of the roads plus one or two other things. We have an account with The Halifax, the only 'problem' with it is that it is that you can't pay in online. Everyone writes a cheque for their yearly maintenance fee. We have three signatures for cheques to pay bills.

The account is probably a bit more active than yours as about 30 homes pay a small annual maintenance fee of £60 and then there is the occasional outgoing cheque for accountancy and bits and pieces of maintenance.

I don't really know why there is no online access, maybe because the original company secretary was definitely not an online person. Our more recent company secretary is quite the reverse but maybe has chosen not to rock the boat as the current system seems to work. Oddly enough none of the home owners (except me under my breath annually when I can't find my cheque book) seems to have objected to the cheque only system.

[pochisoldi]

The two or three signatories are acting as trustees for the road maintenance funds.

I would suggest that if you have a deed of trust drawn up, formally documenting the arrangement, then banks will understand what you (as a body) are and what you are after.
Such an arrangement is not unusual (for example an account holding service charges payable by leaseholders in a block of flats).

You should note that, (1) as stated elsewhere, you are likely to be treated as a business for banking purposes, and will probably be charged for the bank's services and (2) any interest paid on the accumulated monies will be liable to corporation tax (even though your trust is actually an unincorporated body!)

PochiSoldi

[PinkDalek]

The two or three signatories are acting as trustees for the road maintenance funds.

I would suggest that if you have a deed of trust drawn up, formally documenting the arrangement, then banks will understand what you (as a body) are and what you are after.
Such an arrangement is not unusual (for example an account holding service charges payable by leaseholders in a block of flats).

You should note that, (1) as stated elsewhere, you are likely to be treated as a business for banking purposes, and will probably be charged for the bank's services and (2) any interest paid on the accumulated monies will be liable to corporation tax (even though your trust is actually an unincorporated body!)

PochiSoldi

Those are all, of course, valid points but how do such organisations differ from family trusts/settlements and similar?

We've had about 6 over the years (including a couple most recently set up and another long term ongoing one) and none of them would appear to be charged any bank charges. This despite the bank concerned categorising them as "businesses" in their parlance.

Is it because, as you suggest, they are treated as an Unincorporated Association, thus making them chargeable to Corporation Tax (rather than Income Tax) on trading profits (if they undertake a trade at all) and potentially on any interest income?

From memory, HMRC used to apply a de minimis regarding CT on interest income. I think they didn't bother with interest of less than £100 and, when I was involved with one, they asked us no longer to submit Corporation Tax returns (unless the situation changed). In fact, when the association was closed down, I thought it an idea to let HMRC know. They had no record whatsoever of the association, despite it having paid CT in the past.