Just Made My Court Appointment - A Few Questions

mej24

I've finally made my appointment to petition for bankruptcy (April 29th) and already feel like part of the weight has lifted off my shoulders, but still have a few questions.

1) I know most people go and open their new bank accounts after the court appearance, but do I have to wait or could I do it now? I was thinking opening a Barclays cash account, not put any money in it, but just have it ready in advance. Will I get grief for doing this?

2) I do have an unused current account with another bank with a balance of £0.00, could I just start using this one after bankruptcy or will it get closed down?

3) Creditors - Should I just ignore them or write and tell them when my court date is? I did tell them all that I was about to file, but have not confirmed details.

4) One creditor has wrote to me today saying "we have instructed xx Investigations to visit you at your home address within the next ten days to discuss the arrears on your account. In order to avoid them missing you and incurring additional costs please telephone 0845 xxxxxxx to arrange a mutually convenient date and time for them to visit". Any suggestions on how to handle this? I have already informed them I intend to go bankrupt, but hadn't given them specific details. Should I write and tell them I have a court date?

Thanks in advance

Waspeze

mej24 wrote: »

I've finally made my appointment to petition for bankruptcy (April 29th) and already feel like part of the weight has lifted off my shoulders, but still have a few questions.

1) I know most people go and open their new bank accounts after the court appearance, but do I have to wait or could I do it now? I was thinking opening a Barclays cash account, not put any money in it, but just have it ready in advance. Will I get grief for doing this? Is there any reason why you need to do this as when you go bankrupt it will probably get closed down, even if only for a short time which may cause probs?

2) I do have an unused current account with another bank with a balance of £0.00, could I just start using this one after bankruptcy or will it get closed down? This will be investigated and probably closed (they wanted full details of my A&L account which was zero balance and hadn't been used in a while

3) Creditors - Should I just ignore them or write and tell them when my court date is? I did tell them all that I was about to file, but have not confirmed details. Personally I ignored mine, have just started answering the phone again now

4) One creditor has wrote to me today saying "we have instructed xx Investigations to visit you at your home address within the next ten days to discuss the arrears on your account. In order to avoid them missing you and incurring additional costs please telephone 0845 xxxxxxx to arrange a mutually convenient date and time for them to visit". Any suggestions on how to handle this? I have already informed them I intend to go bankrupt, but hadn't given them specific details. Should I write and tell them I have a court date? I wouldn't worry too much as they can't enter your property and they chances are they wouldn't call round anyway as quite often a scare tactic, guess it depends when your appt at court is?

Thanks in advance

These are just how I dealt with mine, Someone with more knowledgeable will prob be along in a bit

dodecanese

Hi Mej24

Hope this helps....this is just my experiences

1. I openned a Coop Cashminder account in Feb- told them I would be going bankrupt- got the acc set up and did not use it. Went BR on Monday- called Coop t advise them and check the account would be ok- they were fine. Spoke to OR and he asked where my salary was going- I said Coop- telling him Id openned it before going BR to use as a post BR account. He asked how much was in it- I said zero- he was fine and said he was happy to leave it.

2.Depends on the bank- Coop and Barclays seem ok with bankrupts. If t all unsure- call and ask the bank now so you dont get any unpleasant shocks after you go bankrupt.

3. Creditors- I would not tell them you are going BR- I called the CCCS who recommended bankruptcy. I then sent all my creds a token payment letter with £1 and told them I was "looking into the matter with the CCCs". Misleading? Maybe- but I thought if I mention the word bankruptcy- they may try and get what they can out of me while they can- and you could end up favouring a creditor which is a big no no if you go bankrupt.

4. Ignore it- or call the creditor back and tell them its a waste of time the agent coming round cos youve got nothing to give. They are NOT bailiffs and cannot force entry/take stuff. Dont answer the door- its HIGHLY unlikely to happen as they seem to threaten doorstep collectors to scare people into paying- whether they send them out or not is another matter. Black horse did this with me and I must admit I was scared- thought of hiding under bed all day but no one came round.

Your court sounds like mine- took 7 weeks to get my date. I personally unplugged the phne and did not speak to my creds- I sent the token payments and ignored the snotty letters( obviously if you DO get court forms dont ignore these). I operated on a "need to know" basis with my creds- I informed them I was having difficulties and looking at "my options" but never mentioned I was going bankrupt.
Dodecanese

mej24

Thanks for your thoughts, my unused account is with HSBC, I think I'll leave it and go for a new Barclays or Co-Op one (may not get Co-Op as I owe them money on Visa)

philnicandamy

I'd try co-op as well as barclays, many members here have had co-op as creditors and opened up a basic cashminder account...barclays were one of my biggest creditors & they fell over themselves to offer a basic...and sometime later account..I kindly declined and stayed with co-op

fermi

mej24 wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts, my unused account is with HSBC, I think I'll leave it and go for a new Barclays or Co-Op one (may not get Co-Op as I owe them money on Visa)

That will almost certainly be closed down by HSBC anyway. Plus if you have another basic account, then the OR would have no reason to leave it open even if HSBC were fine with it.

mej24

Yes, I think I will not bother doing anything with it and let them close it down while I open a basic account.

Toon_Dave

mej24...regarding the baliffs etc...they can only enter the house if and when they have went via court to apply for numerous orders and interim orders etc...which will all take time to get...your BR date will be here by then and also as mentioned above, no one has the right to enter the house unless you have invited them in.

i personnally wouldnt worry and if you say you are at going for BR, if they try and use scare tactics before hand there is nothing they can do which wouldnt cost them money and if they check court dates etc (not sure if they can ) they will realise that there is no point pursuing when they will be losing money in any ways.

i hope this helps in some small way.

Good luck, Dave.

BAILIFFCHASER

Hsbc will close a account down once they are notified of a ccj/bankruptcy.