Bankrupt today!! Not sunk in yet, i'm confused

hj_uk

Hi all,

Only discovered this site last night and was a little late as was made bankrupt this morning :-(

I'm a bit confused as to what happens now. When do things start to happen? I had a telephone conversation with the OR and they told me they would send an appointment in the post. They took my bank details and said my bank account may or may not be frozen, so who decides? What happens about direct debits? And do i still continue to get my wages paid in the same account or do i attempt to find someone to allow me to open an account elsewhere? Can someone please help hj_uk

bluezone

get online now and try to open a basic account. I managed to get one with Natwest - a step account. Applying online was very quick. This account also allows you to have DD and SO but with no overdraft. Do you have much money in the account of the ba you gave the details of to the OR?

Waspeze

Hi and Welcome

hj_uk wrote: »

Hi all,

Only discovered this site last night and was a little late as was made bankrupt this morning :-(

I'm a bit confused as to what happens now. When do things start to happen? I had a telephone conversation with the OR and they told me they would send an appointment in the post.
They took my bank details and said my bank account may or may not be frozen, so who decides? They said to me that they would freeze them initially but it was upto the bank whether the account was closed.
What happens about direct debits? If the account is frozen then these will fail.
And do i still continue to get my wages paid in the same account or do i attempt to find someone to allow me to open an account elsewhere? Coop or Barclays do a basic account for undischarged bankrupts, open one asap and get your pay paid into it!

Can someone please help hj_uk

Hope this helps initially, someone more experienced will be along i'm sure to give more detailed advice!

skylight

First. Get a cup of tea....

Call Co-Op (get their details online) and open a basic Cashminder account ASAP. They are very BR friendly and the account allows direct debits/standing orders/visa debit - just no overdraft or cheque book. It does take some time though for you to get all the paperwork through. I opened mine weeks ago and although I can pay in, I haven;t had my visa debit yet!

In the meantime, I would ask your wages office if they could pay you by cheque/cash or into someone elses account temporarily. Do NOT have your wages paid into your old account until you know whats happening with it.

Depending on the type of account and who its with, it may or may not be allowed to stay open. The OR will decide if he has an interest in it. Either way, he will write to yoru bank and tell them about BR and to freeze or not. However, the Bank can also decide at this point whether they want you as a customer. Generally, if you old account has an overdraft on it, you will not be allowed to keep it. Some have a Natwest basic account and have had it closed by the bank - whereas I have not.

As its not crystal clear, get another account open ASAP and get these next wages paid elsewhere until its sorted one way or the other.

And relax until you get your letter from the OR with your appointment date/time. It may be a face to face appointment but more likely to be a telephone interview.

hj_uk

thanks for your quick responses. The account that i have at the moment is a Natwest step account, I told them that i was about to go bankrupt when i opened it and it was the one that they reccomended. It only has a grand total of about £4 in it. hj_uk

skylight

Well. That £4 is very important to the OR. It will keep him in coffee for the morning! (I jest)

As I said, Natwest may or may not allow you to keep it. Some on these boards have had a problem with that. I would still suggest opening an account elsewhere. If you don't need to use it, then no worries.

Toon_Dave

Hi HJ_UK,

If Natwest opened the account after you already mention were going bankrupt then i would suspect it would be fine as someone previously said it is the bank who decides to freeze the account so that should be fine.

However i would recommend to have a back up plan just incase it takes a while for the bank to un-freeze the account as you would not be able to withdraw monies etc and DD's would fail...if you still have to pay certain companies that you normally do via DD then contact them and ask if they can send you payment slips etc for the short term so they will still be paid, ie phone companies etc...this would show good willing on you that you want to continue to pay them.. either tell them there was a mix up at the bank etc and will arrange the DD's again as soon as sorted.

Hope that helps. Dave.

Toon_Dave

hj_uk wrote: »

thanks for your quick responses. The account that i have at the moment is a Natwest step account, I told them that i was about to go bankrupt when i opened it and it was the one that they reccomended. It only has a grand total of about £4 in it. hj_uk

lol....Four pound beats mine!!!....i've left about a £1 in my account just to keep it open....i'll like to see them get much coffee with that!!

Dave.

Waspeze

Toon_Dave wrote: »

lol....Four pound beats mine!!!....i've left about a £1 in my account just to keep it open....i'll like to see them get much coffee with that!!

Dave.

LOL.. had £1 in mine too.. would have had it if I could but they wouldn't let me withdraw it without closing the account!

Toon_Dave

yep, same here....bloody banks!!! i could have got a half with that!!!

lmao..D.

tigerfeet2006

Your account will be frozen by Nat West and they will not let you keep it. The only 2 banks who offer accounts to BR's are the Co-op and Barclays as mentioned by Skylight and Waspeze.

See this thread,
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=474254

I would get my wages paid into someone elses account this month. Cancel your DD's and pay by cash. Open a new account, set up DD's and have wages paid into it.

All the best with the OR interview when it happens and any questions just post.