HSBC Bank

My wife and I have banked with HSBC since 1976 (it was Midland then). We now live in France and whilst visiting the UK in January 2011 we opened some savings accounts in the Darlington branch. Being a non-taxpayer my wife was told that the interest on her account could be paid gross. The relevant forms were filled in for her and she signed them. Since then we have been told by letter from another office of HSBC that she can't get the interest gross and subsequent enquiries have shown that the NORD (Not Ordinarily Resident) forms have not been accepted by HSBC since late 2009! Trying to contact the advisor who we dealt with at Darlington has proved to be futile, numerous messages left on her supposed direct line have remained unanswered. We are not happy with the way in which our applications were handled. It is impossible to get a direct phone number for any of the branches of HSBC.

My company has an account at this branch but most of our use is via internet banking these days which is probably a good thing.

There are helpful people within this branch, they are just rather hard to find and actually keep hold of!

The building itself is pretty old but easy to access being right in the centre of town and all on one level.

There are cash machines both inside and out so if you are using them during opening hours and are worried about taking money out you can at least put it away in a purse/wallet before you leave and feel a bit more secure.

The red sofas in the reception area could do with being replaced though as they haven’t stood up to the wear and tear!