Bank Account

Charlie23

Hello everyone Sorry it's another question from me. I'm planning on going bankrupt within the next few months. All our debts are with my bank so i've been advised to change my bank and get a basic account.
Where should i go? Should i get a bankruptcy friendly account or should i just get a basic account and change it when i 'm bankrupt?
Sorry loads of questions.
Thanks
Charlie

fiveyearplan

No point in going anywhere other than the Cooperative Bank or Barclays. Who is your current bank? Barclays will often still open a basic account even if they are your creditor but they can and will take any money out of it to service other accounts up until you are BR. THe Coop also has Smile so if they are your creditor no point in going to the Coop.

If neither are your creditor then personally I would (and did!) choose the Coop because their account comes with a visa debit, albeit electron, and the barclays one only comes with a cash card. I have been completely happy with my coop account. There are a few places that don't accept electron (my local council for one so I cannot pay my council tax with it) Tesco online shopping, some internet sites etc but you can always get a prepaid credit card for those things. I have a cashplus card www.mycashplus.co.uk

fiveyearplan

Oh sorry, in all that rambling above I didn't mention why you shouldn't go to any other banks - from the experience on here they will freeze your account and close them down. It has nothing to do with the OR but the banks themselves, seems they don't like bankrupts! Silly really because they can and should be in control of people going overdrawn. If the money isn't in the account they can certainly stop any going out through the cash machine and decline any debit card transactions! The reason they don't is because they like all the charges they get for allowing the transactions in the first place!

Charlie23

Thank you thats wonderful news. Lloyds is my current account (and main creditor - i'm so loyal!)
I will try for the cashminder account. Does anyone know if i can open an account online? Should i say to them that i'm expecting to bankrupt?
sorry to be a pain
Charlie

fiveyearplan

I think if you open the account over the phone its quicker. I got my pin number and account details within 2 days however that was a year ago so it may be a bit slower now. Anyway they can usually approve you over the phone but if its done online you have to wait for them to post you your approval.

Charlie23

ok i was just looking online and the closest COop branch is 28 miles away! What if i get a cheque i need to pay in? thats a bit worrying

fiveyearplan

No problem you pay it in at the post office. When you get your account they will send you plenty of envelopes and paying in book. You can either send it to them in the envelope they provide or use the other envelopes to pay in at post office. If you want to pay in cash pay it at post office and it gets credited to your account immediately. No problemo!

Charlie23

Thank you so much, i'd just started to panic at thinking of having to travel 28 miles to pay in a cheque.
Thanks :j :j :j :j

Charlie23

Right i've just applied on the phone to co op and they've said it's been accepted. So hopefully i now have a shiny new all singing all dancing cash minder bank account. :j :j :j :j
Thanks for all your advice

fiveyearplan

The account has really worked well for me. I had 11 bank accounts when I went BR so I was pleased to find a bank who didn't know me! Mind you not all of the accounts were overdrawn and I did open one specifically for BR but made the mistake of going to Halifax. Halifax are probably the quickest to close accounts. They wrote to me within 2 days of me being BR and I know the OR hadn't yet informed them. They trawl through the London Gazette daily looking for their account holders!

fiveyearplan

Charlie23 wrote: »

Right i've just applied on the phone to co op and they've said it's been accepted. So hopefully i now have a shiny new all singing all dancing cash minder bank account. :j :j :j :j
Thanks for all your advice

Wow - that was quick. Did they say when to expect the cards and pin number and stuff?
You can set up any direct debits once you get you account number.
So thats one more thing off your pre BR checklist! When you do go bankrupt be sure and tell your OR that you set this bank account up in anticipation of bankruptcy and it is a basic account. He will then tell you he has no interest in it and contact the bank to tell them the same (so they don't freeze it). To be on the safe side it may be worth taking out any money before hand just in case though. Thats what I did but it wasn't really necessary.