Bankruptcy help!

bery_451

hi,

i just been made bankrupt by my creditor and i have a 120 quid in my current account.

im afraid that the bankrupty order will freeze my money and account. i definately need that money for the christmas presents for the kids.

i like to avoid my bank account being frozen. please advise.

ClaireLR

You won't be able to prevent the account being frozen, but if you speak to the OR dealing with your case and explain that you need the money for day to day living expenses then they should be able to send a fax to the bank concerned stating that they have no interest in the account/money.

When were you made bankrupt? Could you not just draw the money out tonight or first thing in the morning, or has the account already been frozen?

HTH

Claire

fermi

When a bank is notified by the Official Receiver of your bankruptcy or the bank discovers it via one of several public records it is normal practice to freeze the account.

What notification have you had regarding the bankruptcy? They don't normally come out of the blue, but it can rarely happen. You should be able to confirm details of a bankruptcy by searching here.

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/

Who is your current account with?

Have you had any contact with the Official Receivers?

The Official Receiver's can instruct a bank to release funds if they are needed for essential living costs.

tigerfeet2006

Make sure you get a replacement bank account as soon as possible. See the sticky at the top of the front page.

fermi

tigerfeet2006 wrote: »

Make sure you get a replacement bank account as soon as possible. See the sticky at the top of the front page.

The first page of WGIAG's post is missing at the moment after the server crash last week.

I have a copy though:

As questions come up quite often about what bank accounts are available to BRs, I thought I'd put this together for everyone. Obviously, you'll have to weigh up the pros & cons of each account according to your own situation, & your original bank may have allowed you to keep your bank accounts with them (:j- lucky you), in which case the info below may not be of use to you. Hopefully it will be a help to those who won't be able to keep their accounts & need to get their money paid in somewhere asap.


Co-op Cashminder account

Good points -

• Comes with a Visa Electron card, which can be used online, high street shops, for bill payments & at Link machines.
• You can also set up direct debits on the account, & it has internet banking.
• You can pay money into it at the Post Office, as well as at Co-op branches.

Bad points -

• Can take anything from 1-4 weeks to set the account up, depending on the amount of applications they've got.
• They don't seem to have publicised it, but they seem to operate a "3 strikes & you're out" rule (see this post), so you have to be prepared to keep a close eye on your account otherwise you might lose it.
• The internet banking isn't always up-to-date at the close of business, so your online balance may not be a true reflection of what's actually in the account.
• Not all branches are open on weekends.
• There aren't many branches.

Barclays Bank Cash Card Account

Good points -

• You can withdraw money from the post office, Barclays or Woolwich cash machines.
• Transfer money to other accounts by phone 24 hours a day.
• Can pay bills by direct debit or standing order.

Bad points -

• Only comes with a cash card.
• No internet banking.

I've asked for this to be made into a sticky, so that it's easily available to everyone.

bery_451

what notification do you get when you get bankrupt? because i did not get any notification apart from a phone call from my creditor threatining me that they gonna bankrupt me straight way if i dont pay up on the day.

does the bank account freeze straight away once your bankrupt or is it a few days/weeks after notification?

cheers,

tigerfeet2006

It that case you probably haven't been made BR. I suspect that they were just bullying you.

How much is the debt for? Can you give us some more history about this problem.

fermi

For a creditor to make you bankrupt there must either be a Court Order that you have defaulted on and recovery of the debt has failed, or they must serve on you a legal document called a "Statutory Demand". So you have notification they are starting the process there This doesn't cost them anything

A "Statutory Demand" give you 21 days to arrange payment of the debt, after which the creditor can apply to the court to make you bankrupt.

It costs them from £595 to £1700 to petition for the actual bankruptcy, and a copy of the petition must be served on you. Again you receive notice.

Should the bankruptcy be grated (and you can attend court to defend it if you want), you will then receive legal notice that the order has been granted.

because i did not get any notification apart from a phone call from my creditor threatining me that they gonna bankrupt me straight way if i dont pay up on the day.

If the above phone call is the only thing you have heard then it almost certainly a creditor talking an absolute pile of ********:mad:.
They often do this to scare the living daylights out of you.

So what (if any) information have you received about a bankruptcy, or was it just this 'phone call'?

I would strongly advise speaking to National Debtline whose phone number is in my signature.

Richard_S

bery_451 wrote: »

what notification do you get when you get bankrupt? because i did not get any notification apart from a phone call from my creditor threatining me that they gonna bankrupt me straight way if i dont pay up on the day.

does the bank account freeze straight away once your bankrupt or is it a few days/weeks after notification?

cheers,

Hi bery,

You're just being subject to bullying from a creditor. By coincidence I was filing some paperwork last night and I had another look at our Statutory Demands (S.D)and our Bankruptcy Order and the time scale was almost three months.

Petitioning for a debtor's bankruptcy is lengthy and costly; HMRC will go that route for relatively small amounts but commercial organisations are more reluctant to "throw good money after bad".

An S.D is the first step to petitioning for a debtor's bankruptcy and it's issued by a Court and unless it's got the Court's Stamp on it, it's just a scare tactic.

Regards

Richard

tigerfeet2006

bery_451 wrote: »

what notification do you get when you get bankrupt? because i did not get any notification apart from a phone call from my creditor threatining me that they gonna bankrupt me straight way if i dont pay up on the day.

does the bank account freeze straight away once your bankrupt or is it a few days/weeks after notification?

cheers,

Thanks Fermi and Richard. As soon as I read this post it was 'uh-oh bully boy tactics' but I didn't have the nescesary info to post. As soon as I read the his first post I did wonder.

Bery I strongly suggest you ring National Debtline as Fermi recomends, also if you are not sure about anything just post here.

Richard_S

Richard_S wrote: »

Hi bery,

You're just being subject to bullying from a creditor. By coincidence I was filing some paperwork last night and I had another look at our Statutory Demands (S.D)and our Bankruptcy Order and the time scale was almost three months.

Petitioning for a debtor's bankruptcy is lengthy and costly; HMRC will go that route for relatively small amounts but commercial organisations are more reluctant to "throw good money after bad".

An S.D is the first step to petitioning for a debtor's bankruptcy and it's issued by a Court and unless it's got the Court's Stamp on it, it's just a scare tactic.

Regards

Richard

EDIT:
I've made a glaring mistake here and thanks to fermi for pointing it out.:eek: :eek:

A Statutory Demand does not have to be issued by a Court, or even a solicitor. If you haven't responded within 21days the creditor can apply for a Bankruptcy Order; which does have to be issued by a Court. (I'm sure fermi will correct me if I'm wrong.:D )

I'm sure the Statutory Demands issued against us were stamped by a Court, and served on us in person and checking that will be the first thing I do when I get home;:eek: :eek: well maybe second.:beer:

Richard

2nd EDIT:

Not stamped by the Court but served in person.

The debtor has 18 days to apply to the Court to have it set aside, either by an offer to pay or because of a material error; I think that's where I managed to confuse myself.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: