What now?

sacha28

I have just received notification that I have been awarded a grant to pay bankruptcy fees. I have filled in the online application however I am holding off from finalising until after Friday as I have a (very small but very needed) amount of money going into my account as I know my account will be frozen.
What is the best course of action once the fees have been paid? How long until I apply for a basic bank account that my wages can go into? And who do I go to in order to get the account?
Sorry if that's a stupid question.

mwarby

You can get your basic account at any time, although if you get it before you go bankrupt the account maybe frozen for a few days. You can get a basic account from most banks(make sure it is the basic account, tell them you are going bankrupt, you don't want a full account which might get closed), I would avoid HSBC and Santander as they seem more anti bankruptcy than others. I've used Nationwide flexbasic account and Bank of Scotland cashminder, lots of people say Monzo are also good (but also bear in mind there no branch network)

thevdm

I knew that my accounts would be frozen and possibly closed when I went bankrupt. I applied for a Nationwide Flexbasic online the day after I submitted the forms, it was never frozen and is still open and in use today.

It may take a week or two for your new account to be set-up so unless your employer is able to hold a payment until it is set up then it may be worth waiting until just after pay day if that's convenient.

Co-op are good as you can do all your banking at the local post office, the downside in your situation is that you can only apply by post and it can take a few weeks.

Here is a list of banks that have options for bankrupts - https://debtcamel.co.uk/bank-accounts-after-bankruptcy/ 

sacha28

At the moment my main wages go into my husband's account but I want that to change....plus he is also filing for bankruptcy (the last year has been financially horrendous following a very large non payment for works he completed and the contractor himself going bankrupt. This is how we got into this mess) so his account will be frozen too.
How would it work if I applied for a new account now then? Would that not be frozen forever more? 
It's payday today so my wages are safe for now but I really need to be proactive for next month.

sacha28

Just another quick question, whilst it's just in my head...I pay into an NHS pension and have done for almost 19 years. On the bankruptcy application it asked for the value of my pension however I was unable to see this on my TRS dashboard, the only thing I could see was "hypothetical annuity cost". Is that what I'm supposed to put down? The CAB specialist has said she *thinks* that's what I should be putting so I have put that but is it right?

luvchocolate

On your last pension statement it would give you the value 

sacha28

luvchocolate said:

On your last pension statement it would give you the value 
I'm guessing I'm just being a bit stupid, I cannot see it anywhere on my TRS statement.

luvchocolate

Sometimes shows as transfer value 

thevdm

If you can both stagger going bankrupt by a couple of weeks then you could switch your payments over so they are always going into a safe account. It's a bit of a pain having to change bank details multiple times, but it would keep everything safe.

I'm not 100% sure on the pension, but I would imagine it would be the value that it currently holds.

sacha28

I'm really confused re bank accounts...I only have a basic account with Halifax so will that be frozen and closed? Or will they unfreeze it? Trying to figure out if I need to open a new basic account once the petition is granted?

mwarby

If it really is a basic account with no overdraft or chequebook, and you don't have any debts with Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, Halifax the what will likely happen is this - your account will be frozen shortly after you go bankrupt, the OR will then tell Halifax they have no interest in the account(assuming it not got a large sum of money in it and you tell them its the account you want to keep using), Halifax then unfreeze the account. This whole process could take around a week, it's best to have cash in hand to see you through this

If it's not a basic account or you owe the banks listed, it's likely the account will be frozen and ultimately closed