Query on bank account 29 April 2013 at 8:10PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Bankruptcy & Living With It 3 replies 473 views

scarletthollie7

Hi

I have a problem and would be grateful for some guidance:

My husband was made bankrupt in 2009. We had a basic bank
account with HSBC (the Insolvency Service showed no interest in this - probably because the balance was only £3)
We have not used the account since 2009 but would like to do so, however when we visited a branch they asked for a discharge letter we brought in all the paperwork we had but it was not enough.

Is there such a letter and if so how do l get one?

Many thanks

Lou67

You need to ask your Official Receiver. We asked them for one as soon as we were discharged (so November 2010.) That said, we got a letter from them several months back, saying that they are discharging themselves from us, as I guess when it's all over and all ends are tied up, there's no need for them to stay with us. So as your bankruptcy was before ours, I wonder if your official receiver has dispensed with your case? If so, I am not sure where you will get your letter from. It all depends on where you are with your official receiver I guess.

We have needed our 'discharge from bankruptcy' letter a few times actually, and I am glad we got it. We would have struggled to clean up our credit files without it. Re the bank asking for the letter; one person at our bank said - some 3 months ago, that we could have a better account (better than the basic one,) if we bring in the discharge letter. Yet when we took it in last month, they still refused, saying we have to wait 6 years from discharge. I am thinking of querying this actually, as I keep getting different answers regarding this.

rossireps

you can get a dishcharge certificate,usually £70 from the court.

tigerfeet2006

You can get in touch with your old OR's office and ask if they will provide a letter to say you have been automatically discharged. They may ask you to pay for this.

Or you can go to the court you petitioned in and ask for a certificate. This will cost around £70 or free if you are on certain benefits.

As you were discharged automatically you don't usually get anything from the OR's office at the time of discharge as it is just automatically done on the computer system and needs no human input.

Lou, it is very rare to get a 'proper' account before the BR drops off your credit file and even then it is not guaranteed.