First Direct - Banking Heaven

Advantages: Excellent customer service
Disadvantages: Low interest rate

...I know that I have written a reviews recently about First Direct (a division of HSBC Bank plc) and their products and facilities and 'no', I do not work for them and am not on any commission! However, I would be delighted to work for them as I think they are absolutely first class..... After 30 years of banking with the Halifax I moved to First Direct for my banking. The reason I moved was because I took out a mortgage with First Direct and one of the conditions for getting a mortgage was that I had to open a bank account with them. I can quite honestly say that First Direct are like a breath of 'fresh air' in the world of banking. This is one of the best moves I have ever made and I am delighted with the outstanding customer service and the excellent products that First Direct offer. One of the most pleasing things about...

Krazikas 14.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of First Direct

First Direct Offset Mortgage

Advantages: First Direct - great offset mortgage
Disadvantages: Too easy to access the equity in your home!

...The first thing that attracted me to a First Direct (a division of HSBC Bank plc) offset lifetime tracker mortgage was that it was listed at the top of the 'best buy' tables on moneysupermarket.com. A quick search revealed that it had also been voted the best lender for customer service in the Which? Money survey on mortgages 2008. This was the second year running that First Direct had come out on top. With a score of 90% first direct was 11% ahead of its nearest rival in the survey of 18 lenders. First Directs mortgages have won numerous awards over the years, the most recent being What Mortgage Magazine's winner of Best Direct Lender over 5 Years (February 2007). In January 2009 their offset mortgage was one of the lowest rates on the market. Although I was not actually looking to remortgage at this stage because I still had nine...

Krazikas 28.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of First Direct Mortgages

Excellent service - can't fault First Direct!

Advantages: Easy to set up, easy to repay by DD
Disadvantages: None for me

...I have been a customer of First Direct bank ever since they started and I honestly cannot fault them. Incidentally they came top in the survey done by Watchdog so I'm obviously not the only one who thinks so! When we decided to buy our cottage last year we thought that we would be able to sell our house quite easily. Sadly this wasn't the case and because of the credit crunch we still own both properties although we have got tenants in the house now which does help a bit with the finances. When we came to pay the deposit on the cottage we had to raise the 15% deposit that we needed without having the income from the sale of the house that we had been expecting. To top up the money that we had already saved we needed a loan of £14,000 and we began doing some research to find the best deal. We were quoted various ridiculous...

SusanLesley 17.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of First Direct Loans

Direct Line Insurance - Beyond the introductory offers

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

...Great Intrductory rate, large discount and monthly payments for the first year with 0% yes 0% APR, been very helpful making sure that everything is in place, they sorted out my NCB discount from my previous insurance company. I am very happy, Recommended if you haven't used them before as they have a great deal on at the moment, best I could find for me, saved me at least a couple of hundred, though if they were not doing the introductory deal it would cost at least £500 more to go through them! UPDATE since 2007 I have now been with them for 2 years and as expected the premiums have started to creep up (it seems gone are the days when premiums came down year on year)!!! Although the premiums are creeping up they are still comparible to other companies in this field. I haven't had to make a claim with this company (you would...

dragonsurge 26.11.2007 (17.07.2009) · Read review
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Review of Direct Line Insurance plc

First class Direct banking

Advantages: Simple and secure
Disadvantages: none

...I'm not going to go into the contract agreement or any of the small print here, you can get all the details from First Direct themselves. This opinion is to inform you all of my experience with this bank, the pro's and con's. You can then make your own mind up as to whether you want to open an account with them or not. I wanted a bank account that was a little different from the rest. First Direct's interest rates were very competitive when I opened my current account with them about 4 years ago. Since then I have been very impressed with their services, security and personal customer care - What customer care I hear you ask, this isn't a real bank - When you have a problem they will sort it out in person either over the phone or via messages through their internet service. I log into my account via their internet service with my...

Timski 03.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of First Direct

Direct cover

Advantages: cost, good cover
Disadvantages: previous experiences, see review

...Is everyone sitting comfortably? Then I?ll begin ? I have always been a named driver on my mum?s insurance via Direct Line. Whilst on her insurance I managed a number of interesting manoeuvres and yet somehow 5 years later she still had a couple years no claims bonus! I bought my new (second-hand) car and then set about insuring it. After all the hundred of comparison adverts on the television I began my search there. I was 25 years old at the time and everywhere was quoting higher then my budget would allow or barely covered me for anything. I was on the phone with my mum when she told me to call Direct Line for a quote as they?ve always been good to her. It did dawn on me that I hadn?t seen them on any of the compare websites. I had a look on their website and entered all my details. The quote was really good so I phoned...

znh3ra54 04.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Direct Line Insurance plc

Top marks for Direct Line Car Insurance

Advantages: Cheap, Efficient, Fast, Excellent Customer Service, Stressless
Disadvantages: Can't think of any!

...I first used Direct Line for car insurance several years ago. At the time I was a very young driver so was looking for the cheapest car insurance around, although I still wanted a decent service. Let me tell you now - Direct Line weren't just the cheapest - they were by far the cheapest. Despite this the policy appeared to be very good. I used the internet to sign up and was able to do this very very easily and without any problems whatsoever. Within two days Direct Line had sent me my documents to check and sign. All the details were 100% spot on. It took just a few more days for final confirmation of the policy and payments to be made to me. I suppose that the true test of a car insurance company is when you need to renew or make a claim. Let me start with renewing insurance. Direct Line wrote to me a couple of weeks...

robmarks 11.08.2004 · Read review
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Review of Direct Line Insurance plc

RAC Insurance Direct

Advantages: very cheap, free breakdown cover
Disadvantages: dont always get the best quote off the website

...RAC is by far the cheapest insurace ive found. im18 and am in the second year with them as a named driver on my mums car. this year we paid a total of £520, thats for 2 adults with clean licences, one 18yr old male and one 19yr old girl both on provisional licences in a 1.8l petrol car which is 8yrs old. Norwich Union quoted various figures around £1700 and the lowest quotes were from tesco at around £1100. it wouldve cost my parents around £200 to insure the car for just them. the first year cost about the same. we paid annually but it is still a direct debit, so when they send the renewal you have to cancel if you wish to go else where. my dad has now insured his car with them aswell and got a second car discount and some cashback. we got a quote from confused.com but it was lower than the rac site quoted. my dad phoned them up...

spudit2012 22.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of RAC Insurance Direct

Nationwide vs EGG vs First Direct

Advantages: ease and flexibility of use, 24hr access
Disadvantages: various - read individual opinions on each bank, can expect delay in applying

...Intro:~ This is an opinion on comparison of three internet banking companies - and is not restricted to First Direct only. At present there is no sub-category for comparing Internet banking so it is placed here) -if you wish to read specifically about First Direct-please refer to my other opinion - "First Direct - the Ultimate First Class service" which can be found under: Finance & Services > Banking & Personal Finance > Customer/General Service > Internet Banks > First Direct . So you’ve all heard of the latest benefits and disadvantages of internet banking, so whats it “really" like… Here’s the low down …… Having applied online and used all 3 of these recently, here is my verdict 1st prize goes to FIRST DIRECT...

Connoisseur_Haggler 13.10.2000 (18.01.2001) · Read review
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Review of First Direct

First Direct

Advantages: ease of access to information
Disadvantages: sometimes (but not that often) you have to wait for the phone to be answered

...I have banked with First Direct for years now, and they have always been as good as they possily could be. When I went through a messy seperation from my ex partner, having an overdrawn joint account was only a minor problem to them and they were more than helpful in making sure that my banking arrangements were satisfactory for me. From those days of having just one current account, I have now progressed to having a sole account, a joint account, a savings account, an ISA,a second curent account, and my partner has changed to First Direct now for his current account and an ISA as well. Having access to a banking representative 24 hours a day is very helpful as I can?t get into town to visit the bank very often, and as I get paid by cheque, it is really easy to pay it into my account by post. It is just simplicity to ring up and get...

DeborahB 10.10.2000 · Read review
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Review of First Direct