forgotten bank acounts

Hi earwig

Was the account a joint one or just in your name? Also I understand it was just your OH that went BR, is that correct?

your hubby has been discharged though?

In that case, if you hadn't forgotten about it this should have happened I think:

1) Included as a joint account on your OH's petition, but showing no debt.
2) Official Receiver would probably express no interest in account (assuming zero or small balance).
3) The OR would write to the bank, saying they had no interest.
3) It would then be up to the bank what they do with it. They may have allowed the account to continue as is; or remove facility's like cheque book, debit card, overdraft etc. That is the banks call, according to their policy and discretion.

However this did not happen, so you are in no man's land regarding what you can do with it. Especially since its being passed over to Barclays who have you OH's BR on record.

Officially you should inform the former OR, who would give a yes or no as to whether they are happy to let you use it. The bank would need to be told also, and then they get to decide.

You could also use the account and just plead ignorance if it got picked up. But that is dangerous ground.

It's a difficult call I'm afraid.

Others on here will probably have a different take on things, so see what they say as well.

I'd speak to the OR about it. I definitely wouldn't plead ignorance - it's one thing forgetting you've got the account, but it's another to not honour your responsibilities with respect to letting the OR know of changes to your circumstances. Your OH was discharged in 2006, so for at least a year he knew that any banks you have accounts with have to be informed that you're BR. If he uses the account without saying anything, the OR might think the info was deliberately withheld. Chances are the OR won't be interested as the account hasn't been used at all since he went BR & he's been discharged for several months, but I would definitely speak up, for my own peace of mind if nothing else.

earwig wrote: »

well the thing is that i think its a bit cheeky to use them as hubby went bust with barcley but hubby dosnt see like that the way he see it is that he opened the account with the woolwich he never had any debt with the woolwich so he thinks it is usable my fear is that barcley are going to see money in this account and try to reclaim it back towards the credit card he went bust on

As far as I'm aware, once he went BR, the only legal way for Barclays to recover any of the debt is through the OR/Trustee.

The BR law is there to protect you as well as creditors.

Remember, financial institutions take each other over all the time, so a legit account opened after BR with a non creditor could suddenly be taken over by a former creditor after your BR is over. The law must protect you in this case, and so only the OR/trustee is allow to administer any recovery/sharing of funds in the estate.

Also funds that arrive in an account after discharge do not form part of the BR estate and so are untouchable.

I think that's clear.

As WDIAG says its best to be up front. That way there's no nasty surprises later.