BR and benefits

susie76

Hi, This is a bit hypothetical, as i haven't made the decision to go bankrupt yet, although i am thinking about it - i get tax credits and housing benefit, paid into my bank account, so if my account gets frozen, what happens to them - do i ask for them to be paid into a different BR allowed account? Obviously i would need that to live on....I am sure there are already threads somewhere, i just can't find them!

uther_2

We get tax credits paid into a post office account.That was not affected by Br.Can't help with the housing benefit,as ours is paid direct to the landlord.

rog2

Hi Susie - If you are considering bankruptcy, I would suggest that you either ask for the benefits to be issued as a giro, or to arrange to have them paid into someone else's account, at least a month before you file.
If you are allowed to keep the same account, you can always re-arrange for payments to go back into your account, but if the account is frozen, it can be a pain to get your benefits released.

TroubledSoul_3

Hi Susie

You can get an account with the post office called simply a post office car account this was set up by the post office just for people receiving benefits, you can not do direct debits through it or go over drawn or even pay money into it yourself it is strictly for receiving benefits, it taks a couple of weeks to set up and away you go. Just ask for the form in the post office, fill it in and take it back, they will send you your account numbers and you card, you then just have to tell the TC and Benefits to pay to the new account.

As for your housing benefit, there are a number of ways you could approach this, if your landlord is and ok sort of person, and you do decide to go bankrupt, then talk to him and ask him if he will allow the council to pay it straight to him either in the form of a direct payment into his bank or and the councils will do this, send him a cheque for the benefit, I know they do this as this is how mine is paid. Unfortunately the council will not send it to you by giro cheque or cheque to give to your landlord, but there are ways round it. Talk to the council once you have made your decision, maybe they will make an exception for a couple of months until you have gone BR and managed to set up a new account, hope this helps.

Good Luck :rolleyes:

nicky7175

i get my housing benefit and income support paid by cheque and tax credits goes straight into my account. I went bankrupt last thursday. I opened a nationwide flex a about a month before i went bankrupt and was informed yesterday that the account is allowed to stay open so i was lucky

rog2

nicky7175 wrote: »

i get my housing benefit and income support paid by cheque and tax credits goes straight into my account. I went bankrupt last thursday. I opened a nationwide flex a about a month before i went bankrupt and was informed yesterday that the account is allowed to stay open so i was lucky

Yes you were fortunate, but it is always best to plan for the worst case scenario.
It is, also, advisable to wait until after bankruptcy to open a new basic account as there is no guarantee that OR/Bank will let the bankrupt keep any account open.