www.iva.co.uk

I've had my iva for about 6 months and want to open a new bank account, nobody will approve, have tried nationwide and co op, hey have both turned me down.

Hi Dawn

Many of my clients have accounts opened with NatWest and Alliance & Leicester. I would have thought that your IP would have advised you to open a new account before the IVA was on record. Was this done?

And do make sure that you choose a bank that you do not owe any money to.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

And if you still have no luck try think banking website. they don't do credit checks but there is a fee of 12.50 per month as they give you two accounts, one for the bills, one for you. They keep back enough of your income to pay the bills and give you the rest.

Hi Dawn,
Good luck with getting the account sorted, the best advice I can give, is make sure you are applying for their basic account, with no credit facilities. I made the mistake of applying for normal current accounts and was always turned down, but was soon accepted by Natwest for their basic account (Step account)

As gimmewine says above think banking will give an ac over the phone and there is a debit card with it . I have just had mine. You cannot overspend as it only allows what is in your ac. The ac is designed for people with money probs its the best thing I ever did. There is a charge but as explained in another post about credit cards it can work out cheaper than a pre paid also they separate bill money etc for you and transfer what is left into another ac so you know just what you have. It is called a managed ac.
All the best

Ang

I have a question

I was given a basic cash card account with lloyds for IVA purpose, (thats all they would give me). Is it worth considering asking for a debit card as I am due to inherit and will need to make large payments to my creditors, I dont have a cheque book either. Although I have two prepay cards, they have a 3500 limit and I dont fancy walking into the post office with that amount as a load. Any suggestions? If not would I be eligible for the think banking account?



LILY

I asked God for a solution and have to live with his reply.

Lilli

I dont think there is anyone who is not elligable for this ac as I think its design is for people who are bankrupt or in iva. There is no cheque book but the card is maestro and was fine this morning when I used it. Your bill money is tucked away so you cant spend it and the card will only let you use whats in the ac, no credit.; It took about ten mins and I had my ac no.

Hope this helps

Ang

thanks argise,

I only need a maestro, no overdraft or cheque book required. If Lloyds will not consider this then will change. Its just getting to be too much to keep finding Lloyds only cash machines also.

LILY

I asked God for a solution and have to live with his reply.

Hi Lily

I have a basic Natwest account, I went in and explained my situation and what I would like, I got accepted and now have a Maestro (basically the old Switch) which all the shops I use take, a cheque book and internet banking. There are no overdraft on this account, which is perfect.
I would reccommend this to anyone looking for a basic account. If this is not for you, then as gimmewine and aguise say, think banking may be a way to go, but you may have to pay a monthly fee.

Cheers, Mark.

View my IVA story blog at: http://sopty.blogs.iva.co.uk

Co-Operative Bank make a lot of noises about being ethical and 'socially aware', however I have found them to be very hit and miss when opening accounts for people in bankruptcy or IVA's especially if they were owed money.

-Best

Please view my blog at www.go4broke.blogs.iva.co.uk

'6 years sticking my head into the Lion's mouth of debt !'

hello lily, Co-op has a cashminder account which uses the electron card.
You may find that it will not be accepted everywhere, but it will stop you from having to find an ATM to withdraw cash. I recently opened a Gregory Pennington thinkbanking account because it offered a maestro card. A card accepted anywhere I happen to be. There is a £12.50 a month fee though because it is a managed account. It is impossible to be overdrawn though. [:)] It's two accounts rolled into one. Once your direct debits(account 1) have been deducted, the remainder(account 2) is your money to spend as you please.

Real simple to open as well. The number is:0845 056 6715.

Take care.

All I have left is my humour.

DD, this might sound a silly question, but how do they sort out the money? I have 2 direct debits (the bills are in Dave's name), and one goes out early in the month, and one goes out late. Does this mean that they won't transfer the money to account 2 until the direct debits have been paid?

Onwards and upwards!!!

hello skippy13, you will be assigned an account manager. you give this person the details of your direct debits and s/he sets them up. your deposit will have the direct debits deducted leaving the rest for you. for your two direct debits can you make them both be on the same day of the month or you could pay extra that amount of one of them that way you always have that 'reserve' set aside for the direct debit monthly.

Hope that answers your question. Take care.

All I have left is my humour.

Hi skippy can answer this for you. When you are paid they just hold back the amounts for the debits that month and transfer the rest over. If you are paid weekly I am sure they would explain how they would do this. I dont think it matters whose name the debit is in. I have a joint ac with my husband so they just keep all the bill, iva money back and transfer the rest. I am then paid weekly so they just transfer it by 10.30 that morning thought I think they say it will be done quicker now.

Hope this helps

Ang

Thanks Ang and DD - I had visions of not being able to get at my money until the end of the month!

Onwards and upwards!!!