Bank account

Djem6

Hi, we will become bankrupt on Monday , we have a basic account with natwest which we have had for approx 12 years and we are hoping to keep , if the account is frozen how soon will this happen? Will it be on Monday or a few days later ? And how quickly does the OR contact us? , we are being made bankrupt by Hmrc if that makes any difference .
Thanks

alltaken

Being made bankrupt by your creditors makes no difference in terms of banking.

In 2 weeks you would be able to keep your account. Long story short the UK Treasury agreed a deal with the major UK banks to offer basic accounts to everyone (including bankrupts) by December 2015.

Natwest will be among those banks and will be offering a "Foundation" account.

The bad news is that currently Natwest are 95% insolvency unfriendly and often close accounts when aware.

My advice would be to open this account immediately, Yorkshire Readycash:
http://www.ybonline.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/standard-current-account/

The time it takes for the bank to become aware differs, it could be immediate on the day if Natwest run a routine check, it could be weeks after, perhaps they will be unaware until the OR writes to them. Either way I would open up the above account and use it for main banking.

In the meantime, once the account is open with Yorkshire Bank, contact Natwest and let them know the situation. Explain that you know about the upcoming Foundation account and wish to have yours converted to that account instead of outright closure.

Hope Monday goes smoothly. The OR will contact you within 48 Hours as standard practice. A short phone call to ask a couple of preliminary questions and book a telephone interview/face to face interview.

Cobalt77

Djem6,

Here's how it works, based on my own recent experience:

1. Make sure you mark your Natwest account as a BASIC account on your financial BR questionnaire.
2. Take out sufficient cash to tide you over, as you should NOT touch / access your Natwest account from the second you go BR until instructed it's okay by the OR (also, don't leave lots of money in the account, as the OR could pinch some of it, lol)
3. Also check you have no direct debits etc going out early next week. If you do, consider temporarily cancelling them - but ONLY the ones imminently due (don't touch any going out at the start of next month onwards, as your account should be unfrozen by then)
4. You will be having a quick telephone chat with the OR on Monday / Tuesday. During this chat, they will ask about your bank accounts. Ask them to unfreeze your Natwest Basic one.
5. They will contact Natwest's insolvency department and tell them they have no objections to you keeping the Natwest account.
6. Your account should be unfrozen again, and back to where it was before.
7. If there are any problems, only bother contacting Natwest's Insolvency department directly (your OR will give you contact email & telephone) Branch staff are useless, as only the Insolvency Dept guys can remove the BR account marker.

If all goes well, you should get account access back around Thursday (if not before)

Prior to going BR, I had a "normal" Natwest current account which I expected to lose (I'd opened a Co-op to be on the safe side) However, Natwest just converted it into a Basic account without even being asked - so you should be fine (although I would still take alltaken's advice and open the Yorkshire Bank account to be on the safe side!)

HTH

Djem6

Thank you that's a great help , we will not be attending the court hearing , will the bankrupcy show on the same day on the insolvency website and the gazette?
We assume we will have a face to face interview with the OR as we were self employed until August ? Really anxious about this , both myself and my husband will be being made bankrupt , we were business partners, does anyone know if will we have individual or joint interviews? Sorry for so many questions, it's all I can think about at the moment !

alltaken

Cobalt77 has given some excellent advice above, Natwest may keep your account active especially with the new account offering coming in 2 weeks. Play it safe though and don't 'bank' on the account staying open. Natwest are notorious for closing accounts in the majority of cases.

Have you been in touch with Business Debtline? I'm sure they can put your mind at ease. The insolvency register often takes up to 7 days. Usually within 48 hours as the OR receives the paperwork from the court.

The Gazette is updated after the IS register in my experience.

Cobalt77

1. Your BR will appear in the Gazette about 2 / 3 weeks after going BR (or at least mine did - it seems it gets added once the OR has finished doing the preliminary paperwork)
2. You'll usually only have telephone interviews unless you've been BR before, owe a lot of money (6 figures plus) or have been really naughty.
3. The "long" interview is a huge anti-climax. All the OR's admin person (called an "examiner") will be doing is going through all the figures on your financial questionnaire (so have it to hand when you have your "interview")
4. I suspect you and your husband will have separate "interviews".
5. Being self-employed makes no difference. Ideally, make sure you've got the last couple of years accounts done as the OR will want them (if not, you can always do your own and give them to the OR using the reason "we can't afford to pay an accountant", lol)

HTH

Djem6

Thank you to everyone that has replied giving advise or personal experiences, we really couldn't afford an accountant lol ! Will be so glad to get this over and move on with a fresh start ! Thanks again