Bankruptcy/ advice please

amanda41

Hi, my husband and i are waiting on our solicitor to organise all the papers for us to both go bankrupt, Seems to be taking ages?? A;lso, we having trouble finding the fees (approx£700) has anybody ever received help?
Am so worried about banking etc, have got current account with Barclays at mo. Expect it to be closed. How can we receive our benefit payments? So worried we will have no access to any money.
Just looking for bit of reassurance please
Amanda

sieve

Hi Amanda,

Firstly don't worry, with some planning everything will be fine.

Can I ask why you're getting a solicitor to make you bankrupt? You could potentially do it yourself having taken advice from one of the debt charities, and it would save you the stress of having someone else look after something that you could do yourself. Then there'd be less waiting, and you would probably feel more in control...

If you currently owe Barclays, open up a co-op cashminder account - these are known to be BR friendly - and get your benefits paid into that. You shouldn't have a problem keeping that through a BR - it may get frozen briefly but even if it does they should unfreeze it sharpish once the OR says he has no interest in the account (which he won't if you tell him you opened the account for your bankruptcy).

Cheers,

S

amanda41

Hi, thanks so much for quick response. I must confess we did not realise we could do the bankruptcy ourselves. Solicitor is really nice but seems to be taking long time. Thanks for advise on bank, have been reading losts of posts on opening co-op account, should i tell them we are going to be made bankrupt? Also do you know of anyone getting help with all the fees?
Thanks alot Amanda

sieve

I can't help with the fees question I think but others on here know more. When I opened the co-op account they asked me what attracted me to the cashminder account and I said bluntly that I am going bankrupt in a few weeks and I've heard that the cashminder is BR friendly - and they said ok fair enough, and that was that.

Have you spoken to the likes of the CCCS/National Debtline etc yet? Also if you want us to give you specific help, feel free to post your situation in more detail using this and we will see if there are any other options for you:

http://makesenseofcards.co.uk/soacalc.html

Cheers

S

skylight

How are you paying the solicitor?? If you are covering the bills, then they would go into your BR and he will not be paid - could be why he is being slow.

You can get the forms yourself and go BR. Have you taken professional debt advice about it though?? A solicitor is not a debt counsellor and cannot help that way - just with the legailities of it all. There is nothing that you cannot do yourself - plus with help and advice from here it can be very empowering to deal with it.

The fees to go BR at court are £495 each. £150 of that is court fees that on certain benefits you can have waived (forms to fill and proof to provide on court day). The remaining money you will have to find yourselves. Some utilities used to have grants to cover things like BR, but with so many people doing it now they just don't offer it anymore so finding some place to cover your other costs is going to be slim.

I would open a co-op cashminder ASAP for your benefits to be paid into. They are very BR friendly so tell them of your plans and thats why you need the account. Its a basic account with online banking, you can do direct debits and standing order, plus it has a visa debit card (can only spend whats in your account). It does not have a cheque book or overdraft. An alternative would be a Post Office card account - you can only have benefits paid into it and you can only withdraw cash from a PO or ATM; so not all the functions of a basic bank account but it could do as a short term thing if necessary.

amanda41

Hi, my husband and i are both disabled and in receipt of income support as well as DLA so we can claim legal aid to pay solicitor. Thanks for advice on bank account should i go into co-op branch or can i apply on line/telephone? Thanks again Amanda

sieve

I rang them up - you can't do it online but you can also go into a branch.

http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1193206368743,CFSweb/Page/Bank-CurrentAccounts

skylight

I phoned them. Took about 10 minutes in total. They didn't even ask for ID as they could check the electoral rolls etc.

They do operate a 3 strikes policy though. If you go into your non-existant overdraft, they will close your account on the third occasion. So you need to keep a close eye on balances and direct debits etc.

jenni75

Hi,

With regard to bank accounts, as we were in a IVA previous to BR we had a step account with Natwest. However, being the worrier I was I also set up a co op account over the phone when we returned from the court on the day of BR. They were great and we had a debit card arrive after about seven days. The OR notified Natwest of our BR on the same day and even though there was no debt to them the account was frozen, although they did after confirmation from the OR allow me to withdraw the child allowence. The account was then frozen and closed, despite the OR having no objection to it remaining open. But lots of people have a Natwest step account in Bankruptcy. If you are worried about your benefits being paid then give them a call and explain they should send it in the form of a giro as a tempory measure prior to a new account being set up.

Good luck

Jenni

skylight

I use my Step account with Natwest (and have savings too with them now!).

They never closed my account after BR - despite the OR telling them. It was why I opened the Co-Op account, just in case they did close it.

amanda41

Hi, thanks for reply, think i will try to open a co-op account. Have seen lots of posts about them being BR friendly. I just feel so out of control of it all, don't really understand the procedure either! so glad i have found this site
Amanda