**updated** OR interview now 4.1.2008 - 10.00am

loopy_lou1

I have my OR interview on Thursday at 8.00am. At the moment I still have a normal bank account with a visa debit card. Does the OR ask you to downgrade your account and cut that up?

My account wasn't frozen by Lloyds because I was still in credit.

Ooops. Happy Christmas everyone. It's been a weird few weeks.

Anyway, I am getting nervous about this now. I don't really know what to expect. I have bank statements etc., in some sort of order - I just don't know what she'll ask really.

Any advice?

Thank you and a Happy New Year.

tigerfeet2006

You should not be using your bank account at all. You need to open a Co-op or Barclays account.

You'll be fine with the interview, you will just have to go through your soa and how you got into debt.

All the best.

squirrel_pigeon

Hi Lou. It may be a good time to look for another account. Whilst the OR won't make you close the account, Lloyds will probably close it as soon as they find out you are BR. If you don't owe money to Barclays, Barclaycard, The Woolwich, The Co-op or Smile, you can open an account with Barclays or the Co-op and they will let you keep it.
xxxx

madoldbat

Hi Loopy, Hope you had a peaceful Christmas!
Your interview will not be as bad as you anticipate ,just make sure you have your paper work to hand so you can refer to it if need be,make sure your comfy cos it can take about 1/2 hour,have a pencil and paper so you can take notes or jot down thing you have questions about.Oh! make sure you have a cumfort stop before you start;)
Originaly we were with Lloyds and RBS both of who requested all cards and cheque books back once OR had been in touch.
We set up a new account with COOP ,basic one that allows you to use a Visa/Electron card and have wages paid in DD paid out so long as you have funds in the account to cover.Have found it acceptable everywere so far.Paying cash in is great cos you can use Post Office and to draw out as well.
Its the banks that freez your account and most dont like BR at all but some will allow abasic account no cheque book no credit card no over draft (would you realy want those anyway?).
Missed you over v the hols,nice to see you back Good luck.:beer:

Richard_S

Hi loopy_lou,

An interview at 8:00am, that's an early one.:eek:

It's the banks not the O.R that close or downgrade bank accounts, and unless there's a pile of money in there the O.R won't mind whether you've got a debit card or not.

All the O.R will do is try and establish the reasons you got into debt to the point where bankruptcy was the only solution. It's like a summary of the events leading up to your bankruptcy. It's nothing to be concerned about, and the best approach is to keep it as superficial as you can and let the O.R go into depth when they feel the need.

The O.R will be helpful but if there's anything you'd rather didn't come to light then don't make the mistake of saying too much; they're friendly, but they're not friends.

Don't worry about any missing documents because they'll be able to get hold of copies, and that's about it really.

They give you plenty of breaks and the whole thing is quite civilised really. A bit like an understanding head master asking how you managed to smuggle laxative into the school kitchen and mix it in the custard.:D

Regards

Richard

wherediditallgo

Hi Lou,

It's not the OR who decides whether an account should remain open or not, it's the bank. You can tell the OR that you need to keep the account & ask them to send a fax to the bank advising that they have no interest in the account & no objection to keeping the account. My experience of LTSB is that, once the details of your BR filter through to the right department, they will downgrade your account to one with just a cashpoint card & will cancel your visa debit card - the fact you were in credit when you went BR won't make a difference.

Given that it took them months to do that with me, if you can do without the account, I would suggest that you ring LTSB & ask to be put through to the department that deals with customers who've gone bankrupt - they have more than one insolvency department, which is why I suggest phrasing it that way to get put through to the right one. By rights, you should have stopped using the account anyway unless you'd previously had confirmation from the bank that it was OK to keep doing so. Tell them you're BR, give your case details, then speak to Customer Services - tell them you've spoken to the other department, & ask them to cancel the card & issue you with a cashpoint card for the account. What you don't want to happen is LTSB to drag their heels, then change your account provisions at a time that doesn't suit you.

As for the OR interview itself, don't worry - it won't be aggressive at all, just a conversation really. It'll be based around the info that you put in your SOA, & will just be about clarifying some points with you. If you don't know the answers, just say so & say you'll have to get back to them when you've got the answers they need. Sometimes they'll prefer to get the info from you, but can get it another way if it saves time, & they'll let you know that too. The interview can be as long or as short as they feel necessary - mine was so short, I didn't even realise I was having it until he told me I'd be getting an IPA, which I knew anyway.

Good luck.

loopy_lou1

Oh thanks everyone. So nice to have some help. I told a lady on the phone the day I went BR and she told me to go into the branch but I don't like going into the local bank in person when to be honest they've been relatively good with me.
Maybe I should just close it anyway? I have a current account with benefits but I don't have an overdraft etc., on it.
As BRs it's the work of the individual for a lot of this sorting out creditors because none of mine have been informed or is that done after the interview? I've told a couple and they've been nothing but nice to me - ALL my accounts had been passed on to agencies. Apart from Lloyds.
So the basic ruling is that everything happens AFTER the OR interview because nothing's changed before it and it's a month next week. Bloody hell - A MONTH - already??? WOW!


I'd like to keep my account as it is. If that's not possible then I'll be forced to close it. I have stopped my salary going into it but because I am BR my money's going into my mum's at the moment. I'm still amazed that three weeks today I was sitting here surrounded by papers and palpitations and now I'm going to the next stage.

wherediditallgo

I'm afraid LTSB won't let you keep the account as it is - I was with them over 20 years, was in credit & it made no difference whatsover. My only reason for saying to call them yourself is to speed up the process so that things get done at your convenience rather than theirs. And you don't have to go into the branch to pass on your BR details to them, but you will probably have to if you want to close the account.

The OR is supposed to notify all of your creditors, but one of mine still hasn't had any contact from the OR & I've had my ED now! :eek: Sometimes the OR will do it before the interview, sometimes afterwards, but some creditors may slip through the net simply because the letter didn't arrive in the post. There's nothing to stop you giving your BR case details to any creditors that do contact you - you don't have to enter into a conversation with them, just tell them the case details & say they should contact the OR if they want to know more. Some creditors may ask for a copy of your BR order, but you don't have to give it to them - if you read the details out to them & tell them to contact the OR, that's sufficient.

Well done so far.

Richard_S

Hi loopy_lou,

One of the original posters on this forum banked with Lloyds TSB, and his position was the same as yours; the account was marginally in credit, and he didn't owe them anything on cards and loans. He kept the account, complete with debit card, cheque book and cheque guarantee card.

In fact, when a group of us met up last year he was the only one that could make the overnight reservations and pay for the meal.:rotfl: :rotfl: Eight bankrupts and one debit card between us.:eek: :eek:

I would just not say anything and see what happens. Open another account as a back up and leave it to fate.:D

Richard

loopy_lou1

I did owe £1000 to Lloyds on a card but my normal account is running as per usual and the card has gone from the summary.

I did something yesterday which I am a bit worried about Knowing I was in 31k of debt (please don't let the trolls be out) I thought that once I had a job I could go into an IVA so in June I had 1k on that particular card and I used to it to live as I was on benefits. I told the OR this yesterday and I think it's going to go against me because with the level of debt I already had I ran up more. I think I am scared of a BRO but if I have to have one I do.

I'm scared of completely putting my foot it in it tomorrow. I am sure I'll say something stupid that I'm not supposed to. And ANOTHER creditor rang my house last night. So obviously none of them have been informed yet but the bankruptcy cancellation companies know about it because I've had a couple of letters starting with "Sorry to hear you're bankrupt - it's not too late to cancel it"

fermi

Hi. Sorry to hear you were ill over Xmas, but believe me you were not alone.

Re: The Card:

I've heard of many people who did things 10 times worse not even get a passing comment from their OR. And in all honesty I think the worst you will get is a verbal "slap on the wrist" or a "tut tut, that was naughty". The OR's are used to seeing people do the odd slightly naughty thing to survive. They even often turn a blind eye when people are forced to take the BR fees out on a card!

I can't tell you not to worry at all because you will. I can't tell you that every fear is unfounded, because you never know 100% (although here I'm 99%).

What we can tell you is that whatever happens everyone here will help you through it and give you some great advice and support.

Good luck with tomorrow, and try not to worry to much.