Is it better to sort a bank account before or after declaring BR?

Trinitrotoluene

I'm researching for my partners impending bankruptcy but struggling to get my head around bank accounts.

She currently has a standard current account with Santander, which her wage gets paid into (it has a small positive balance).

Can someone offer some insight into what she can do? Does she pre-emptively open another account and change wage now? Does she declare BR then change wage to a new bank account? Will Santander let her keep her current account (they are not a creditor for her).

Just trying to get the order of the way things should go in my head for her. Thanks for any help in advance.

Helpmeoutofthismess

Santander will shut your wife's account down even though she does not owe them money, they are not tolerant of bankruptcy:sad:

To have any choice on bank accounts your wife really needs to get things sorted before she declares bankruptcy. Barclays will open a basic account for an undischarged bankrupt but they do not allow internet or phone banking till you are discharged :sad: I am not sure if they still allow an undischarged bankrupt a debit card anymore so that is another good reason to open the account before she
declares if having a debit card is important to her. Barclays will open account even if you owe them money but there is a possibility they will try and offset before the bankruptcy, I owed barclaycard money and they never tried to offset from my account. You have to go into branch to open the cash card account with barclays.

If your wife does not owe any money to the cooperative bank/ smile she an try opening a cashminder account with them. They used to allow undischarged bankrupt to open an account until a few years ago but now you have to open the account before declaring and hope they don't close it! The more time between opening th account and going bankrupt the better! The cashminder account does allow internet banking and comes with a debit card. You can apply for a cashminder account over the telephone, it doesn't matter if you do not have a branch nearby as you can do all your banking at the post office.

H x

alastairq

as helpme says above...always best to sort our bank accounts, DD's etc before the BR.

Two banks are BR tolerant..Co-op & Barclays.

Once the BR is petitioned, off-setting is against the rules...[for any creditor].

Be aware..Co-op Cashminder must be opened before the petition [and do not mention BR at the time......BR doesn't happen until the date of petition, so no obligation to suggest it]....once undischarged BR, Co-op will refuse.

BArclays will still open a basic account if undischarged.

Co-op allow, and maintain, full internet access tothe Cashminder whilst Undischarged.

Barclays will close internet access whilst Undischarged.

I strongly recommend, to assist with budgeting, opening two or more Cashminder [or Barclays if they are preferred???] accounts...one to receive all incomes, the other strictly for DD's,CT etc, ie fixed essential outgoings.

Set aside, asap, enough monies to meet outgoings, in one account..using hte other for day-to-day stuff....that way, one will [usually] not touch monies one doesn't want to touch.

Action_Jackson

Open a Coop account before BR, you can open a Barclays account after BR if you want, but probably better doing it before.

In my case, I had a coop account that remained open, and I opened a Barclays account afterwards (a week after BR) just in case. I was even lucky with Barclays and got internet banking too (my coop internet banking remained in place).

You can also look at Cash Plus card that has banking facilites to pay in wages, direct debits etc.

bigjl

I had a Nationwide savings account left open but my current account closed.

And for the life of me i can't remember who it was with!

Coop are ok after BR but i had two direct debits go out at second attempt after getting caught out, i missed the bank on the Saturday and paid the money in first thing Monday one time and the other i forgot about the bank holiday but still got the money in the day the DD was due.

That was in just under 5 years and they closed the account.

I won't use them again or recommend them but they do give BR accounts i believe.

I use Barclays now and they are fine. They have a handy banking app and ping it.
They also have handy self service machines in the branch that you can do transfers from and print off statements

alastairq

..aaah yes, Co-op's ''3-strikes' rule!

% years ago, Co-op's T&Cs stated for DDs, sufficient funds had to be in the account by the last working day before the DD was due.

Usually, a phone call to explain resulted in the Adviser cancelling the 'strike'...

These days, Co-op's T&Cs have altered.....sufficient funds can now be in the account on the same day the DD is due.

Sadly, and conversely, I would never recommend Barclays, as I have found them, in the past, to be obstructive & unhelpful...down to individuals, I know, but Co-op's system is simple, and I've not been into a bank now for many years.

dojoman

bigjl wrote: »

I had a Nationwide savings account left open but my current account closed.

And for the life of me i can't remember who it was with!

Coop are ok after BR but i had two direct debits go out at second attempt after getting caught out, i missed the bank on the Saturday and paid the money in first thing Monday one time and the other i forgot about the bank holiday but still got the money in the day the DD was due.

That was in just under 5 years and they closed the account.

I won't use them again or recommend them but they do give BR accounts i believe.

I use Barclays now and they are fine. They have a handy banking app and ping it.
They also have handy self service machines in the branch that you can do transfers from and print off statements

Coop are not okay after BR, you will have to open an account with them before going BR. Been with them over 4 years and I would definitely recommend them, also got accounts with Barclays, and Nationwide but prefer the Coop one.

bigjl

My information is from 2008.

Barclays refused initially but Coop said yes.

This was within a few weeks of being made BR.

Things do change.

But two DD issues in 4 yrs resulting in account closure is pathetic.

They were only for £30 and they took the charges.

My wife has been with Barclays for 15 yrs and so long as the money is in before a certain time your DD goes out.

As far as i am concerned the Coop are discriminating against those who have been made BR.

TheGardener

FTAO Fermi - I was confused by conflicting advice when I went BR about when to open bank accounts - in the stickies there is this advice: IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO OPEN YOUR NEW BANK ACCOUNT FOR USE AFTER BANKRUPTCY AFTER YOUR BANKRUPTCY HEARING AT COURT, IF AT ALL PRACTICAL.
But most people say to do it before - I think this advice relates to accounts that are not BR friendly but it is a bit confusing. I couldn't work out how to put the link in but it is a Fermi post dated 09-06-2007, 8:20 PM

I opened an account with Barclays prior to BR so that I could all my salary, Child Benefit and DD's etc sorted beforehand and it made the process less stressful and easier to manage so I wasn't panicking that I had no access to my salary and didn't miss nay important DD's like my rent and council tax.

alastairq

My wife has been with Barclays for 15 years and so long as the money is in before a certain time your DD goes out.

....which is exactly what happens with Co-op...! I know from experience [having had Barclays accounts for decades] that if the funds ain't there, in accordance with the T&Cs, then the DD doesn't get paid, and charges accrue [and Barclay's charges weren't small either!]....and trying to appeal in person in branch toget charges removed had little impact.

Co-op's policy is quite rigid too......it has to be, for a basic account. However, a phone call to Manchester explaining what has gone wrong invariably led to charges [and 'strike'] being deleted by the Customer Advisor on the spot!

The '3-strikes' rule is in any given 12 month period!

The only 'discrimination' that takes place concerns the failure to comply with T&C's.....something that all banks enforce. Especially Barclays [where they exclude Undischarged BR's from accessing convenient methods of account management..ie internet and phone banking?]

All Co-op have done [and they even advise as such on the website]....is to compel those who are heading [potentially] towards Insolvency to plan ahead [for once?]...and set everything up beforehand....just in case?

Those who ignore the warning signs, and enter into Bankruptcy, for example, without simple, prior preparations [as has been, and is continually advised on this forum, and by the Debt charities].....will inevitably find financial life more difficult.

It never ceases to amaze me how many folk still come on here for advice after the fact......'trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted?'

alastairq

FTAO Fermi - I was confused by conflicting advice when I went BR about when to open bank accounts - in the stickies there is this advice: IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO OPEN YOUR NEW BANK ACCOUNT FOR USE AFTER BANKRUPTCY AFTER YOUR BANKRUPTCY HEARING AT COURT, IF AT ALL PRACTICAL.

This advice is directly from the Insolvency Service.....and probably used to be the case decades ago, but time, rules and circumstances have long since moved on.


Contact with any of the Debt Advice charities will yield more accurate advice.

Obviously, the IS cannot enter into specifics when it comes to 'which' bank to use.

But much confusion stems from the mix-up over who actually freezes, or closes, bank accounts.

However, as we know on this forum, neither Barclays or Co-op will freeze/close their basic bank accounts upon being informed the customer has become an Undischarged Bankrupt.

All the others will close/freeze basic accounts...which is where any sort of discrimination against BR occurs...[not with Co-op or Barclays [to an extent].]