How long until they freeze my bank account

Upthecreek

If we submit our forms online on a Monday, how long will it be until our bank accounts are frozen?

Thank you.

luvchocolate

If you only have a basic account for your day to day living this may not be frozen..mine wasn't. This is up to the bank tho

The_Real_Cheddar_Bob

make sure you open a basic account as soon as you can, ideally just before you submit the forms.

its all about minmising risk. You want to make sure you have access to money. If you have the cash draw out £400/£500 or what you will need for a few weeks food for example.

There are rules to adhere to, but look after yourself, make sure you are prepared.

london1973

My Lloyds account wasn't frozen until about 5 weeks after I was declared BR, it can take ages- but per the other advice here open a basic account with someone else, I waited until I was declared BR to avoid any issues with the new account possibly being frozen too-opted for Barclays, told them about the BR, they didn't blink an eyelid, visa debit, contactless, online banking etc- no difference to any previous bank 'experience' I have had, bar of course no overdraft or credit....
Once Lloyds was frozen it was a nightmare trying to get them to release the meagre funds I had left in there, so my advice would be once you have the new account open move everything over-

EdwardB

Upthecreek wrote: »

If we submit our forms online on a Monday, how long will it be until our bank accounts are frozen?
Thank you.

Great username, I guess we all are!

Thanks for asking one of my questions. I have seen advice to open a basic account first but it made no sense to me as I figured it would be frozen.

My money is so tight that I have to do mine at exactly the right time, the hardest part will be cashflow, I currently have an overdraft but I have been told the account will likely be closed.

I have a second current account and a savings account, I used to use the second current account for anything I wished to claim on expenses or private loans. There is no money in it, nor the savings, which I use to save up for energy and water bills.

It is a shame I can't keep those accounts, even if demoted to basic.

I will need to find the cash to live on, right now trying to come up with the money to go bankrupt, I think I will get part of fee reduced but even that is massive for me.

I hate this, no dignity left as it is.

elljay

I opened a Co-op Cashminder before going BR, made sure all my ins and outs were set up in it as I knew my First Direct account would be closed as FD are not BR friendly. Once I was BR, nothing happened at all with the Co-op account, it carried on operating as before, nothing frozen, ins and outs all working fine and still does. Online and phone banking continued as before too. I see no reason to change to any other account.

I believe there are now more options for basic accounts which won't freeze either, when I became bankrupt ago there wasn't so much choice. However I am perfectly happy with this account and now have an online saver account too.

If you want you've still got time to pop into a branch to organise it, no credit checks undertaken but make sure you get the right account. Don't tell them you're planning on going bankrupt, just say you want it to help with budgeting or something, they're not really bothered why though.

EJ

EdwardB

I used to have a business account with Co-Op, the account was great, they actually paid me £25 a year to have the account. However, their IT and internet banking was dire, one of the worst I have seen.

Would you say that building societies are less likely to shut down your account?

elljay

At the time I went bankrupt I think the only choices were Co-op before becoming bankrupt and Barclays afterwards. I think there has been some more recent ruling that says banks have to offer basic accounts but no idea about building societies (aren't they all the same anyway now?).

Co-op online and mobile banking seems fine, I suppose it depends what you want from it but it does what I need - there seem to be regular upgrades. I used to have a Natwest business account and the mobile banking was dire - I even got into someone else's account once.

I know some banks allow you to keep your account but remove the online and mobile access. Seems daft but there you go. I know there has been quite a bit of discussion on this here so worth digging back a bit.

EJ

kation

I had a Lloyds bank account prior to going BR (in early 2012) - as I had no OD facility, there was little money in the account and Lloyds weren't a debtor in my BR it was left open (& I asked the OR if he objected to me having it).

Indeed I still use it to this day as my main account (and also have my Ltd company banks with Lloyds).

woodelhouse

I opened a basic account online 2 days after my bankruptcy in July 2016 with The nationwide building society its bankrupt friendly/
its no different to a current account really , contact less payments , chip & pin , online transactions etc
even set up direct debits. took about 4 weeks to fully open & get the card through.

EdwardB

Thanks!

I would have thought them to be BR friendly.

I wonder what they would be like if they were the incumbant bank?