Getting things into perspective before the big plunge...

dalip

I have no experience of think bank so can not really comment. If you "talk" to barclays prior to going bc don't be suprised if they freeze your account there and then!;) D

fiveyearplan

Do you owe Coop or Smile Bank any money? If not, they are the best option as you could still have a debit card. You could also get a prepaid credit card - there are several. I chose www.mycashplus.co.uk its 4.95 per month for unlimited transactions. Some you pay a charge per transaction and each time you load it with cash.

If you do become bankrupt all your accounts will be closed and personally I wouldn't waste any time trying to open other bank accounts apart from the 2 mentioned above. Some bank are know to say yes you can have an account and then it gets closed down anyway. If Barclays is a creditor then opt for Coop and move your salary etc there. If you want to speak to Barclays about BR, I would do that after having another account opened. Or you could have your salary paid into wife's account in the meantime.

I've never heard of an OR allowing payments to relatives. Maybe that money came out of a surplus that your friend had?

ChampagneCharlie

Dalip / 5YP

Thanks you guys for the advice.

Dalip: Ok, I'm scheduled for a Barclays meeting but I'll not intimate I'm heading for the rocks, although anyone sensible would guess its pretty inevitable unless I won the Nat Lot sometime!

5YP: No, I dont owe eithe Coop or Smile Bank any money. I have already got myself a pre-paid VISA card. Can you open the Coop/Smile online? Or, as you say I could just shovell everything into the OR's HSBC and use that - though we have never shared accounts and would prefer not to.

Finally, and whilst I'm typing, can you clarify for me what I put on my SOA: its basically my monthly expenditure isn't it?

How do you treat household expenditure as me and my OH pay these bills depending who is in funds or not! IE. there is no 50/50 split in reality - though for the purposes of the SOA, shall I just halve the amount and insert that figure?

I shall in amy case post my SOA in the forum and see what you all say...

Again, many anticipatory thanks and salaams

CC