New start.....

[1NightInIbiza]

Finally went bankrupt today, a number of factors in the end - but feel glad to have finally done it. Was supposed to happen yesterday, but the judge couldn't come so I got to court to be turned away!

Court were very helpful in rebooking me for today (before the 10am opening time too so I'd be first on the judge's list and could get out of work easier). Everyone at court was very helpful.

A word of warning that Barclays have a 2 week wait (at least around here) for an appointment for their basic account. May see if I can get an appointment somewhere else by ringing around local area.

Rang Santander and they were very understanding, added notes to my accounts that I want to stay with them - asked for causes of bankruptcy etc and said that it's up to the OR if I can use the account. If the OR says yes, then I need to talk to customer services who will see the notes added by collections (I went 38p overdrawn somehow!). Hoping the official receiver can hurry up and declare no interest in it so I can carry on using that, really don't want to use Barclays!

Really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - official receiver has already tried to phone me too! Thanks for all the help and advice on here too! Will keep people updated on BR progress if it's something members would be interested in - seeing another option (albeit extreme, and one hopefully too many don't have to do).

[PlanB]

Re: New start.....

You sound mightily relieved to have got shot of all your financial hassles in one swoop

Please update this thread as the year goes swiftly by. You might want to read this guy's thread to see how painless going BR can be

http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...l=1#post126887

I'm happy for you

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

Thanks Yea, worried about the SOA and OR looking at that. I'm on an ok wage now and I image they'll want quite high DRO payments, don't want to be in a situation of having ridiculously little money - before I always relied on credit but obviously can't and won't do that again!

Just asked Co-Op if I can have a cashminder because of my old accounts there I owed money on, so that means I'm not a new to bank undischarged bankrupt. They've sent me the application form, so will see what the new account team have to say! I'd much rather them than Barclays!

[SXGuy]

Re: New start.....

It really is an easy process, and not at all scary as some people may think. From my own experience, I found everyone very helpful and understanding, including the judge, who I thought would give me the third degree before deciding. Which was the complete opposite, in fact his words were. "oh your never going to pay all that, bankruptcy approved" lol

I would say though, that helpfulness does end at this point. The OR may appear to want to get everything in order moving forward, but any complications you may encounter in the future, will turn out to be a bit of a headache in terms of asking the OR to sort it.

The main thing is, its done, and you can now relax in knowing that you are free from your debts. 6 years, and you can start rebuilding your credit again.

[Sapphire]

Re: New start.....

How come is six years ? I thought that Bankruptcy only last one year now, or am I getting it wrong ?

[ScabHunter]

Re: New start.....

Six years to the bankruptcy coming off your file. Possibly one year to discharge, although that is not guaranteed.

It is better to say that it CAN be relatively painless. There are certain circumstances where it can still be extremely difficult. Hopefully, they can be avoided here.

SH

[SXGuy]

Re: New start.....

6 years till bankruptcy order comes off credit file. No longer than waiting for defaults to drop off just less stressful lol

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

My plan was to wait for defaults - but the likes of Natwest seem to be sending my debts round in circles - a CCJ being added on in (say) 4 years scares me, as thats then effectively 10 years of bad data.

Also I looked at sub-prime mortgages - with outstanding defaults it's not possible (unless they're small). Otherwise it seems generally that it's possible after 4 years (3 years post discharge) subject to max 85% LTV. Obviously market conditions and FCA rules help dictate that, but if anything things will hopefully pick up in the next few years - leading banks to start lending more to sub prime people again

I wouldn't say I have plans for a mortgage etc, especially not right now, but that's generally a major goal and will enable me to achieve other things I life I really want to do. As I had non-bank debts it seemed the least painful way to go. If all my debts were bank related it would probably be a different story as they have less powers in regards to high court enforcement etc!

[IF]

Re: New start.....

Hi 1NightInIbiza, -- > The BR friendly Basic Bank Account ~ [Updated Sep 2012 re: Co-op Cashminder withdrawal] did you read this sticky, unfortunately there are only '2' BR friendly banks, sometimes on rare occasions as long as your Bank isn't a creditor in your BR, they 'may' downgrade your account to a Basic one but don't rely on this being the case. The coop won't now you are BR, so I would open a Barclays Cash Card Account to be on the safe side.

Best wishes and here's to your new start
IF

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

Thanks, yea Co-Op are the best, but I'll struggle with the no New-To-Bank undischarged rule.

When I used to work there (post the Sept 2012 rule changes) we'd take existing customers that went BR, even if they owed us money, by downgrading their current accounts to cashminder/opening up a new cashminder. I'm hoping that'll be the case with me - as I'm not new to bank, but given that I owe them money they won't be too keen to help me on a technicality, so I won't know until I send the forms off.

I've got an appointment booked with barclays but it's not for another 2 weeks. Hoping to get the OR to let me use my existing santander account, then at least if money is paid in (and santander shut it down) I can still get it.

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

Spoke to the official reciever today - phoned the number left for me last night and got through to someone as as mine was on the phone. She asked for my number - I thought she meant case number so told her that. We were both laughing and she was saying "I thought that's an odd number!".

OR phoned me back, had a chat for about 10 mins, causes of bankruptcy, my limited company and that I'm not allowed to touch it etc unless I want to apply for permission (which I don't). Said she's fine for me to keep Santander account and would send them a letter, so I've messaged santander again. I want them to agree to leave my account open... also want this money I owe them wiped (it's gone up, but the guy in collections said don't worry because of the BR date it'll get wiped)

Got a telephone interview booked for next week - I thought due to the amount and trading I'd be 'type 2' (face to face) interview????

All in all very helpful, she said we'd go through the SOA next week. I can see that being chopped down a bit because I've included everything (including my ridiculous car insurance)

[ScabHunter]

Re: New start.....

I hope it all works out for you. The year you have to go through before discharge is by far the toughest, but there are ways to make it less hard than it often is. Getting your main bank account sorted out is obviously the most important issue, but I'll just throw in a couple of other things to think about.

Although you can't qualify for a credit card, you can qualify for a prepaid Mastercard. If you read the fiscalfool thread which Plan B linked to, you'll find that he used an Orange Cash Card. That is one of the two best, the other one is the Kalixa Pay card, which I have used myself since 2012. Most of the other prepaid cards are poor and have extortionate charges for using them.

In all honesty, there is very little difference between using a prepaid card and using a credit card. With a credit card, you do your monthly spend knowing that you need to have cash in the bank to cover it. When the bill becomes due, you pay it. With a prepaid card, you just load the money onto the card in advance and then spend it. Not much difference.

I am at completely the opposite end of the cycle from yourself. I never went bankrupt, but I had to go through the six years of impaired credit and needing to find alternative products. Now, my file is clear again. I started with a Kalixa Pay prepaid card, then went to a Vanquis card when I had enough recent good history, and just this week I was approved for a Lloyds card with a £1,000 limit.

In all honesty, I nearly didn't go down the road of trying to rebuild my credit. The Kalixa card does everything a credit card can do, without the inherent risk. Kalixa also has better customer service than the High Street banks, and a million times better than Vanquis! It was only the remote possibility of wanting a mortgage in the future which made me go through the credit rebuilding phase. So far, everything is working out.

Another thing to think about is the possibility of saving £100 (£2 a week) during your first year, so that you can apply for a Bank of Baroda saving account when you get discharged. Unless the bank changes its policies, this would give you a cheque book and a VISA card function for the other five years that the bankruptcy stays on your file, irrespective of what happens with High Street basic accounts. I've got one of those accounts, and I can't recommend it highly enough. The combination of a good basic account like a Cashminder or the new TSB account, and the Bank of Baroda account, is actually better than a High Street current account, because you get two VISA cards and two accounts on which you can set up Direct Debits.

Another possibility that you may not be aware of is the one bank in Great Britain which credit scores business accounts but not personal accounts. That is the Turkish Bank. Their current account comes with a cheque book and a VISA card, and you would have every chance of getting it once you were discharged. The only negative aspect of the Turkish Bank is that they do require you to have a connection with Turkey or Northern Cyprus before they will open an account.

Of course, if you state such a connection on the appo form, they are hardly likely to launch an FBI-style investigation to check it out. So , if you went on to one of the Expat forums and started showing an interest in emigrating to Turkey, it is more than likely that you could make enough connections to get over this hurdle.

I'm not necessarily recommending that course of action - just making you aware of possibilities which are not even considered by 999 out of every 1,000 people who go bankrupt. This is unique AAD research. Unless you are quite exceptional, you will have more possibilities open to you than you realise.

Also, I notice you mentioned a limited company in the previous post. If you need to know how to get full business banking facilities with a completely knackered credit file, just let me know and I'll tell you how it is done.

SH

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

Thank you, that's very detailed!

I was hoping that once the main bit was sorted out (the creditors report (9 weeks?), the SOA being agreed and consequently me agreeing to a BRU) that would pretty much be it for the year?? Hence the early discharge which used to exist - although it now seems that 1 year is the norm where it used to be more selective

It's strange - looking on the IIR for my surname, someone else has been bankrupt since somethying like 1994, and had a BRO for years so it just says bankruptcy discharge suspended. He has had about 6 previous names though, so I don't think it takes a DCI to work out that he's probably been involved in suspected fraudulent activity!!!

I do have a orange mastercard actually, I opened it up a few years ago when they were giving away free fivers every other month for topping up £100. I need to see if that's still active and if I can keep it I guess - that'd be one hurdle overcome!

I did hear of Bank of Baroa before and them not credit checking/not being too harsh - I'll certainly look at that next year if Santander don't leave my account open. Although I realise Bankruptcy will restrict me, I'll be pushing Barclays/Santander/Co-Op (wherever I end up) to upgrade my account ASAP - I want a cheque book etc just in case, especially as some jokers still demand cheques!!

The limited company won't be an issue regarding continuing, but wondering if anyone knows about winding it up? As the company owe money the OR said possibly see if creditor's will wind it up for me - but a quick look and it's something like 1500 for them to do it, and the company doesn't even owe that much to all of them combined. If it didn't owe money it's just the £10 to get it struck off the register - as it does, I'm assuming the process is a lot more costly and expensive, so the OR will have to whack that in my SOA (alternative is possibly I don't pay the tax or file returns and HMRC wind me up... OR will pay my HMRC penalties anyway.....)

[1NightInIbiza]

Re: New start.....

Barclays took me for a cash account, very quick decent application too - also, nowadays you can add the 'packs' to the cash account - e.g. travel insurance, tech cover etc etc. It previously wasn't available unless you had a full current account (I've tried it on a basic account before it never worked). Some people see them as a con, but for £14 I get breakdown, mobile, ipad & travel insurance. Going to check the full t&cs so backed out of joining now, but I'm paying £17 for home insurance at the moment, just to cover ipad, laptop & phone.

In my view that now puts it above Cashminder. Got my account number there and then too. They linked my record (shame!) to my existing one, so they're always going to have a record I've defaulted on a card (it came up with BARCLAYCARD INITIAL and then closed & DMP). Don't know if that will affect me in future in terms of lending (mortgage specifically), as obviously they're going to be my main bank for now with the hope of building a decent internal score. She was asking about future plans etc and I said full CA, mortgage etc but obviously that can't happen for a while yet. Opening a savings account too, although I'll be rate chasing if anywhere will take me.

Barclays are a strange bunch and won't give you online banking until you're discharged. She put the request through anyway, but my mobile banking is all setup and that's virtually the same.

Gotta speak to the OR in a minute, that'll be a barrel of laughs! Scared!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: New start.....

can you apply online or does it have to be in branch still - used to be branch only, just wondering if it's the same.....