Solent Credit Union Ltd t/a Solent Community Bank

You will need to open a bank account with another bank, building society or the Post Office so that you can bank the cheque as soon as possible.

If your salary or benefits are paid into your account at Solent Credit Union, you will need to open a new account elsewhere – and tell your employer or the Department for Work and Pensions.

if you need a new bank account quickly, this page on the FCA's website gives a guide as to how long various baks take to open a new account.

See the question 'I've heard that my Solent Credit Union savings account will no longer operate. What should I do?' for important contact details for benefit matters.

Some people may need the money but don't have another bank account to pay the cheque into. The 'cash over the counter' option is flexible and allows people access to their money much more quickly than a cheque for a small balance. 

FSCS is not in a position to make electronic money transfers to other banks. FSCS makes payments either by cheque or by cash over the counter.

Solent Credit Union saving accounts will no longer operate. If your salary or benefits are paid into your savings account, you'll need to open a new bank account as soon as possible.

You should contact your employer, pension provider or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to tell them to pay your salary or benefits into your new account. If you're in receipt of any of the following benefits, below, use the contact details further down the page.

• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income Support
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Universal Credit
• Personal Independence Payment
• Disability Living Allowance

Contact your local Jobcentre, or telephone the DWP on the following Freephone numbers:

• Employment Support Allowance (ESA) - 0800 169 0310
• Income Support (IS) – 0800 169 0310
• Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) – 0800 169 0310
• Universal Credit (Live Service) – 0800 328 9344
• Universal Credit (Full Service – e.g. online account) – Put a note in your journal (if you cannot access your account call 0800 328 5644)
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – 0800 121 4433
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) – 0800 121 4600

Remember, you'll need to provide details of an alternative bank or building society to enable future DWP payments to be made.

If you don't receive any of the benefits above, to get your benefit payments paid into an alternative bank, building society or local credit union account you'll need to contact the following agencies with your new bank details:

• Housing Benefit – local council contact details.
• Working Tax/Child Tax Credits. This is an HM Revenue & Customs-administered benefit. To change a bank account details, you will need to contact HMRC on 0345 300 3900 (ideal route) or write to CAST (BC), WP1012, TCO, Waterview Park, Mandarin Way, Washington, Tyne & Wear NE38 8QG
• Child Benefit. This is HMRC-administered also. To change your bank account details, use the HMRC website at www.gov.uk or telephone 0300 2003100. Alternatively, you can write to HMRC at HM Revenue & Customs, Child Benefit Office, PO Box 1, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE88 1AA

If you need help in contacting these agencies, your local Citizens Advice Bureau should be able to assist.

Citizens Advice Southampton
3 Kings Park Road,
Southampton, SO15 2AT

Appointments only with Advisors and Specialist Caseworkers – Opens 9:30am to 5:00pm Monday to Thursday and 9:30am to 12:30pm on Friday.

Tel: 03444 111306.

Citizens Advice Southampton Central Library
Civic Centre.
Southampton, SO14 7LW

This branch has a limited service, Monday to Friday from 10:00am – 2:00pm and is operated on a first come, first serve basis.  There's no telephone number as it runs as a drop-in service.

If you need help in opening a new basic bank account, your local Citizens Advice centre should be able to assist. Alternatively, please visit your local high street bank.

Further information on basic bank accounts can be found at  MoneySavingExpert.

For junior members, FSCS will send a payment in the name of the account holder for the balance of their account at the date of default.

If the account is operated by an adult on behalf of the child, the cheque will be sent to the account operator’s address, if that has been registered with the credit union, but the payment will be issued in the child’s name.

A new account in that name will need to be opened with an alternative provider. We cannot pay to parents or guardians.

If this payment relates solely to savings, you should cancel it as no further money will be credited to your savings account.

You can cancel the standing order at any branch of your bank or building society, over the phone or via secure online banking. However, you will need to give your bank/building society a couple of days’ notice before the payment is due to come out of your account.

However, if your standing order also relates to loan repayments do not cancel it. 

Do not cancel any repayments as your loan agreement remains in place and you must maintain your repayments as originally contracted.

Future loan repayments will be managed by the administrators, Dina Devalia and James Sleight of PKF Geoffrey Martin & Co Ltd, who will be in touch with the administration bank account details as soon as they are able to.

If you made payments covering both loans and savings, the administrators will be able to advise you of the net payment required to be made each month regarding your loan so that you don't fall into arrears.

For further information about your loan, please call or email the administartors (contact details are on the Information tab) and they will look into your query.

Solent Credit Union is no longer accepting loan repayments through the service points. If you have previously paid your loan through a service point, please contact the administrators (contact details are on the Information tab) to discuss your loan repayment arrangements.

If you wish to open a new credit union account, you can do so with alternative credit unions. The website www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk should be of assistance in seeing the options available.

FSCS will receive information from Solent Credit Union that will detail the individual credit balances of all accounts held by its members at the date of default, 2 October 2019. 

Any amounts paid into the account after that date will not be added to your savings balance and will be dealt with by the administrator. Contact them and they'll look into your query.

FSCS will send payment to the address that Solent Credit Union held on its database. 

If you didn't notify the credit union of your change of address before it was declared in default, or you notified it but got no confirmation before it was declared in default, FSCS will need to see evidence of the change of address before any compensation payment can be made.

Please contact the administrators and supply them with evidence of the change of address. Once confirmed they will instruct FSCS to make payment to the new address.

Documents that can be used as evidence include a council tax bill, a utility bill (not a mobile phone bill) or benefits entitlement letter, so long as they are less than three months old.

If you've already received your cash over the counter, or banked the cheque payment, you don't need to take any further action. If you have not received your payment or are unable to bank the cheque provided in the name it's been sent in, we will need to see evidence of your name change before any payment can be made.

You will need to provide original documentation or certified copy of an official document showing your change of name – for example, a marriage certificate or deed poll – and this will allow us to update our records and process the claim.

Please contact the Administrators with evidence of the change of name and once confirmed they will instruct us to make payment in the new name.

Documents that can be used as evidence include marriage certificate or a deed poll. Additionally, you will need to provide a council tax bill, or a utility bill (not a mobile phone bill) or benefits entitlement letter with your new name, so long as they are less than three months old.

If the estate has already received cash over the counter, or banked the cheque payment, you don't need to take any further action.

If the estate has not received the payment, you'll need to send us the original Death Certificate, Grant of Probate and a copy of the Will or letter of administration. These should be original documents. These documents are required before we can make a payment.

Alternatively, you can send these documents to the administrators by post to Solent Credit Union Limited c/o PKF Geoffrey Martin & Co Limited, 3^rd Floor, One Park Row, Leeds, LS1 5HN, or via email at solent@geoffreymartin.co.uk.

The administrators will then contact us to enable the compensation payment to be made.

If you wish to contact FSCS regarding any issues, please call us on 0800 678 1100 (freephone) or 020 7741 4100. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 08.30 to 18.00.