Bank accounts for Bankrupts - Discussion Thread

lifeonhold

Hi,

Can you help?

I was declared BR today!! Got a question though......I spoke to the OR on the phone and they advised me to let my bank know ASAP that I am now BR. Problem is, I have a loan with my bank (SMILE Coop) and owe them about £13000 on it. I am worried that if I tell my bank that I am BR today they will freeze my account and take all of my money (current balance is about £1200 that will cover my rent & bills for this month etc) to put towards the loan I have with them......can they do this? Or may they or the OR just freeze my account for me to continue to use once unfrozen? I have not made any attempt to open another account elsewhere and my wages get transferred on the 15th of every month.

Thanks
Lifeonhold

philnicandamy

Answered your other post life...hope it helps

Kittie_Cat_

I wonder if someone can help me? When I first sought advice from CAB on BR they advised me to open a separate bank account for wages and make sure it wasn't with one of my creditors. I therefore opened one with NatWest.

However, I am now worried that this will be frozen with BR and I won't be able to access any of my money.

I hear that Co-Op and Barclays are the two best accounts to have in BR, but what do you do if you have loans/credit cards with them? Do they still let you have a basic account and not touch it for your debt?

I would be really grateful for any advice. My appointment with the OR is soon and I want to change from NatWest if I have time and it seems sensible. If I can't alter my account for wages in time for my employer to alter their records, can I still get any remaining money from my NatWest account if the OR says they have no interest in it?

Thanks again.

philnicandamy

Kittie_Cat_ wrote: »

I wonder if someone can help me? When I first sought advice from CAB on BR they advised me to open a separate bank account for wages and make sure it wasn't with one of my creditors. I therefore opened one with NatWest.

However, I am now worried that this will be frozen with BR and I won't be able to access any of my money. with natwest it'll probably be closed rather than frozen..they are one of the most bankrupt unfriendly banks out there sadly..

I hear that Co-Op and Barclays are the two best accounts to have in BR, but what do you do if you have loans/credit cards with them? Do they still let you have a basic account and not touch it for your debt? co-op used to but no longer offer services if they're a creditor in your bankruptcy HOWEVER if you open a basic account with barclays AFTERyou go bankrupt they're usually fine with that...they were one of my biggest creditors & offered an account after i'd gone bankrupt

I would be really grateful for any advice. My appointment with the OR is soon and I want to change from NatWest if I have time and it seems sensible. If I can't alter my account for wages in time for my employer to alter their records, can I still get any remaining money from my NatWest account if the OR says they have no interest in it? all depends on natwest..as I said they may close the account..speak to your OR get the cash out & transfer it a barclays acc asap

Thanks again.

Just a few thoughts

Kittie_Cat_

Thank you very much, that's a bit clearer. It's just all a bit frightening at the moment and I'm not sure how I'll manage without my wages. I'll speak to the OR, open a Barclays account asap after BR and hope my employer is quick off the mark with the account change for my pay.

Thanks again.

SIRUS_2

Hi There -- Hope i'm in the write place as a first time caller. Due to losing our savings and being in ill health I became unable to carry out my employment. With a result that we incurred debts to enable us to meet our commitments. My health continued to deteriorate and our financial situation has become impossible.My wife and I are in our late 60s and now retired living in rented accommodation adapted for our disability.We have no other assets whatsoever. We intend to file for bankruptcy shortly but we are concerned as to our current bank account. We have a basic Cashminder Account with the CO-op bank. The bank is £1400 credit. Our income is benefits IE State pension, Pension Credit, DLA, housing Benefit.We also have £98 month annunity pension from past employment.
When we are finally declared bankrupt will we be able to continue to use our existing bank account with the Co-op or should we open up a new account. We hear of Bank accounts being frozen when people are declared bankrupt- this would be the final nail in our coffin. Thanks for any help you are able to offer us.

confused76

SIRUS wrote: »

Hi There -- Hope i'm in the write place as a first time caller. Due to losing our savings and being in ill health I became unable to carry out my employment. With a result that we incurred debts to enable us to meet our commitments. My health continued to deteriorate and our financial situation has become impossible.My wife and I are in our late 60s and now retired living in rented accommodation adapted for our disability.We have no other assets whatsoever. We intend to file for bankruptcy shortly but we are concerned as to our current bank account. We have a basic Cashminder Account with the CO-op bank. The bank is £1400 credit. Our income is benefits IE State pension, Pension Credit, DLA, housing Benefit.We also have £98 month annunity pension from past employment.
When we are finally declared bankrupt will we be able to continue to use our existing bank account with the Co-op or should we open up a new account. We hear of Bank accounts being frozen when people are declared bankrupt- this would be the final nail in our coffin. Thanks for any help you are able to offer us.

hi there the cashminder coop account is generally ok. the coop are br friendly with this account. see the full thread here on bank accounts

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1639655

have you taken advice? it is very important that you do....please contact someone, try one of the free debt charities:

Main recommended sources of help:

• Consumer Credit Counselling Service - Website: CCCS Telephone: 0800 138 1111
• National Debtline - Website: National Debtline Telephone: 0808 808 4000
• Citizens Advice Bureau - Website: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest)

SIRUS_2

Confused 76- Many thanks I'll contact one of these services on Monday 4th -- See what they have to say, I'll keep in touch

magicgirl

have a mini dilemma and not sure best place to get advice. hope someone might be able to help..

I have recently got married and as its been only three years since i went BR, I thought it best to wait before having a joint account with Mr. Magic to avoid negative financial associations. We received a couple of cheques as gifts and the were addressed to Mr and Mrs.
The only problem is, now we can't cash them. they are not massive amounts but they are from elderly relatives who may well take offence if we (a) didn't cash the cheques or (b) ask for them to be re-written (which i really wouldn't like to do but it was the 'helpful' suggestion from the bank)

Is there any sort of account - even a savings type thing that we are able to open together without detriment to him or are we just gonna have to write these off? i am worried about time as well as they were given to us over a week ago and i don't want to leave it too long before notifying people if they are cashed etc. wish i had given this some thought before hand but i naively thought that Mr MAgic would be ablet o cash them as his is one of the names on there. i swear this was the case once upon a time!

ian_h

Manoona wrote: »

I recently wrote tot the financial ombudsman regarding my bank accounts as I ahve been refused by both barclays and Co-op, they have advised em to go to the post office or Abbey - now Santander, The post office accounts are only for those on benefits so that is no good, but does any one have any experience with Santander after being declared bankrupt? I was only made Bankrupt in May...

Thanks

Sorry to hear you are having such problems, my other half was also refused Basic Accounts after BR.

I would suggest doing a few basic checks:

1. Make SURE you are on the Electoral Roll. Although a Basic Bank Account doesnt CREDIT check you it DOES IDENTITY check you. If any of the address formatting is wrong or you do not appear get in touch with your council it will be fixed usually in 6 - 8 weeks and then you can appeal / apply again.

2. Invest the £2 with Equifax & Experian to see what information is held on you. Things like GAIN notices (basically moving and not telling your creditors) or if you are registered with the council's electoral roll but it isnt reflected on your file will cause you problems.

If all the above is OK then appeal the decision (certainly with co-op we had to go back 3 or 4 times and get more and more insistent). If all else fails threaten and then follow up on a Financial Ombudsman Service Complaint. These cost the bank so they try to avoid them happening.

At the very least you will find out what the problem is and with perseverance you WILL get an account.

My other half actually ended up finding out that cos he wasnt on the electoral roll was the main reason, so fixed that and opened a barclays account successfully. Then co-op replied to the appeal and as the electoral roll was fixed they then admitted they had mis-keyed the previous address and he got a co-op account too.

Keep the faith they're likes buses you've none now but with some letter writing it can be sorted.

Good Luck