So, I'm bankrupt now.

savmot

I gave forms, judge stamped forms, got told via a phone call from OR's office that OR will call me in a week or two because he's off this week.
So, I don't know what's going on really. No one has actually told me anything.
I don't know when I can use my bank account. I read the bank account sticky that said you can't use your accounts because the OR might have an interest in them, but how long am I going to have to wait for if the OR isn't there....?

Ineedaname

Glad your day in Court went smoothly.

You need to be able to live so continue to use your bank account for normal day to day living expenses. It shouldn't be frozen as the bank won't know about your BR yet.

What account do you have at the moment? If it's not a BR friendly account with either the Co-op or Barclays then now is a good time to get that sorted ready for when your OR gets back.

Otherwise, just carry on for now and try not to worry.

the-muffin-man

The OR should not look on you harshly if you use any money in your current accounts for normal living expenses. If there is a chunk of money available (unlikely for most BR's!!!) then don't be tempted to draw it all out an stuff it under the mattress. From my experience if you are open with the OR things go a lot smoother.

You need to open a basic account with the Co-Op or Barclays straight away. Tell them you are BR and they will open the correct one for you. I'm with the Co-Op and they've been great.

And you can now answer the phone again without worry - that was the best feeling for me!

Good luck.

savmot

Most of my debt is with barclays. I opened a co-op cashminder account last month which my wages will be going into at the end of the month.

They told me at the court (the only thing they did tell me) that all bank accounts would be frozen for 24 hours, but didn't say from when. I assumed straight away, but it can't be because someone needs to tell them to freeze it, and the OR's office didn't even have my paperwork yet when they called this afternoon.

I just really want to talk to the OR and get everything sorted out so I know what's going on.

Ineedaname

I wouldn't believe the 24 hour freeze thing, as you say, someone has to tell the bank you've gone BR for them to freeze the account, it can't be done remotely by the Court or OR's office!

As you have a Co-op account now I'd make sure you only use that one from as soon as possible, get all funds transferred over to it without delay. You could ring the OR's office and just get them to make a note that this is your day to day living expenses account, if you didn't already say that on your BR forms. It would just give the OR a heads up when they come back and start looking through your paperwork and hopefully they would then send the Co-op a nice "no interest" letter which means the account shouldn't be frozen at any time.

dojoman

savmot wrote: »

Most of my debt is with barclays. I opened a co-op cashminder account last month which my wages will be going into at the end of the month.

They told me at the court (the only thing they did tell me) that all bank accounts would be frozen for 24 hours, but didn't say from when. I assumed straight away, but it can't be because someone needs to tell them to freeze it, and the OR's office didn't even have my paperwork yet when they called this afternoon.

I just really want to talk to the OR and get everything sorted out so I know what's going on.

Not true about the bank accounts, ours was never touched, did you have any advice/help from one of the debt charities?