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WickedWitch123

Hi there, I had my appointment at Barclays on Saturday. It went absolutely fine. She asked why i wanted a cash card account and I said i'd been advised by Stepchange and she said that was fine. The process was pretty quick really, I had to give details of my income and expenditure and she signed me up. There is internet access with the account (but I think this will be removed once i'm actually BR). There are also other packages you can buy ie a Data Package, Insurance Package etc which start at around £7.00 a month.

My only worry was with the switching service that they offer. Because i'm always in my (large) overdraft I didn't go ahead with the switch because I'd leave myself penniless this month. I'm going to have to change my direct debits manually i think as the month goes on and then arrange for my next pay to go into the new account.


All in all it was very straightforward.


I also rang my local court to see how much notice I would need to give to make an appointment but the lady said that they have daily appointments from 9-10am and just to ring a few days before to book in.


Finally, I am going to apply for a grant with EDF Trust to cover my bankruptcy fee (£500). I'm not hopeful but if you don't ask ......


I'll let you know how I get on.


WW

skintoz

Won't this account be caught up in the bankruptcy?

I thought the advice given was to take any cash you have, declare it cash in hand and then open a new account after the bankruptcy. I opened my Barclays account the day after my bankruptcy.

I thought the law states you were not allowed to use any of your accounts after bankruptcy until given permission.

WickedWitch123

I'm not sure sorry, its just the advice i was given my step change.

When you say cash - do you mean my wages? Sorry if i'm being thick but i'm learning as I go along. I thought that Barclays was the only bank that would allow you to have an account once bankrupt?


Confused.com

skintoz

Yes Barclay's will give you an account, i went the day after being declared bankrupt and told them i was bankrupt they didn't seem to care.

Other banks might Santander have also given me a basic account and they know i am bankrupt (this might be closed once head office get notified but it is still open at the moment)

On the form it asks how much cash in hand you have, the day before going to court i took any money i had left out of the bank and you write how much you have in your wallet/purse/pocket or under the bed on the form.

The problem is your Barclay's account could get frozen for a short time when the OR tells them you are bankrupt and i'm sure you can't touch any pre bankruptcy account until the OR tells you so. They might tell you it's ok right after bankruptcy i'm sure others on here will know better.

Helpmeoutofthismess

Hi, glad things went ok with barclays!

Don't worry, your barclays account will probably not get frozen, mine wasn't but if it should happen, your OR will get in touch with them and they will unfreeze it once the OR says he has no interest in it.

I timed my bankruptcy to be after all my direct debits had gone out for the month. I didn't need to worry about taking any cash out because I didn't have any :sad:

They will probably tell you at the court that your OR will be in touch within 48hrs, that is when they will check which account you will be using.

H x

tigerfeet2006

Barclay's are BR friendly and we haven't had a report of a frozen account on this board in years.

WickedWitch123

Oh thank you for your reassurance. I don't know how i'd do this on my own.

The other thing on my mind is about our home. Me (and my 2 girls) have been living in this house, which is private rented for almost 3 years now and i've been paying the rent on my own since hubby walked out (he left about 5 months after we moved in). The rent is relatively high for the area at £750 a month. I could probably find something smaller at around £650-700 a month so will the OR expect us to move? Its probably not a question that can be answered that easily but I just wondered if there are any guidelines or experiences that anyone has.

The questions will keep coming haha.

Thanks again

WW

woodformoretrees

I think that there would have to be more than £50 a month difference in the rent for OR to intervene in such a disruptive way. e.g you were renting a luxury penthouse/house much larger than average but for no real reason, etc.

WickedWitch123

hmm ok, I wonder how they decide though what is the appropriate amount of rent you should pay in the area you live. I could probably find a rental place for £450 so would the OR say that I had to move there. That's a bit pedantic I suppose but how do they decide what the 'going rate' is? This house is a 3 bed town house. I've got 2 girls, age 16 and 6. My 16 year old would rather live in the front garden (we don't have a front garden) than have to share with her sister :rotfl: but will the OR expect them to share?

I know there's no straight answer - i'm just thinking out loud really.

WW

JaneDoeJohnDoe

They'd (OR) probably use an "average" rent based on what's available at the time of BR