Personal finance explained

Yes. The Current Account Switch Service can be used while you are overdrawn. If your new bank gives you an overdraft that covers what you owe, the money is sent to your old bank and you owe the balance on the new account instead. If the new overdraft is smaller, or you cannot get one, you have to arrange to pay off the rest separately before the old account can be switched or closed.

Usually not. After the tax year ends, your bank or building society tells HMRC how much interest you earned, and HMRC collects any tax due, often through your tax code. If your savings interest is more than £10,000, you report it on a Self Assessment tax return. If you owe tax on savings interest and have had no letter from HMRC by 31 March of the following tax year, you must contact HMRC.

No. An ISA is an individual account, opened using your own National Insurance number, and ISAs cannot be held in joint names. A cash ISA cannot have two account holders, so couples cannot use one to save together. Each partner in a marriage or civil partnership has their own £20,000 allowance, so a couple can each hold ISAs in their own names and shelter more between them.

No. Credit cards cannot be taken out in joint names, and there are no joint credit cards in the UK. One person holds the account and is responsible for the whole debt. A partner can be added as an additional cardholder with their own card that shares the credit limit, but the main cardholder remains the one who owes the money.

No. Getting debt advice does not affect your credit file or credit score. Some debt solutions that an adviser may talk you through can affect your credit file, so it is worth asking how any option would be recorded before agreeing to it. Helping someone else with their debts does not affect your own credit rating either, so a relative or friend can sit in on advice without risk to their own credit.

The Financial Ombudsman Service says that discussing your options with your lender will not have any impact on your credit file while you are still up to date with your payments. The position changes once payments have been missed: if you have already missed payments, any help you then receive from the lender will affect your credit file.

The State Pension counts as taxable income, but tax is only due if your total taxable income, including the State Pension, is higher than your personal allowance. The State Pension is paid without tax taken off. Instead, your tax code is usually changed so the extra tax is collected from other income, such as a workplace or personal pension. HMRC may also use a Simple Assessment where tax is owed on the State Pension.

No. The Financial Ombudsman Service states that bringing a complaint is straightforward and will not cost you anything, and describes its service as free and easy to use. You first complain to the insurer. If it does not send a final response within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with the response it sends, you can then take the complaint to the ombudsman without paying a fee.

HMRC can be called on 0300 200 3610 to request blank tax return forms or guidance notes. For wider help, HMRC's online guidance covers checking whether a letter is genuine, getting extra support because of health or personal circumstances, making a payment, disagreeing with a decision or penalty, and what help is available if tax cannot be paid on time.

Usually not. Official guidance says you cannot usually get Universal Credit if you are studying full-time, although there are some exceptions. Part-time students are treated differently: you may be able to get Universal Credit as long as you can meet the work-related requirements that apply to you. Student income also counts as unearned income, so any student support you receive can reduce the amount of Universal Credit paid.

The Financial Ombudsman Service states that a complaint needs to reach it within 6 months from the date on the firm's final response letter. If the firm has not sent a final response within eight weeks of receiving the complaint, the complaint can be referred to the ombudsman at that point without waiting any longer for the firm to reply.

No. Report Fraud, the national reporting service for cyber crime and fraud, replaced Action Fraud in December 2025. Some older guidance from banks, government bodies and other organisations still tells people to report to Action Fraud, and those references now point to the Report Fraud service. In Scotland, guidance tells people who have had money stolen to contact the police on 101.