What happens if my student wants to open up a bank account using my home address?
You may be asked by your student if they can open up a bank account using your home address. This is at the discretion of the Host Family. If your student is staying with you short term, then we would advise that you do not allow your student to open up an account with your address.
If the student is here longer term then you may wish to consider allowing them to do this. Living in London without a UK bank account can be impractical and expensive for the student and may mean that they ask to be relocated to a Homestay where this is possible. Whether you allow the student to do this is at your sole discretion and HFS London will not ask you to do this if you are not comfortable with it.
If you are happy for a student to open an account registered at your address, then you are strongly advised to ensure that the student has closed it before they leave you if they are flying back home or have the address changed to their new address if they are moving to another accommodation within the UK. Many Host Families will ask the student to confirm this to them by way of a letter from the bank.
Should you have any concerns regarding issues around student bank accounts, please contact HFS London directly.