www.iva.co.uk

Does the Official Receiver come and look around your house? I am a bit concerned that they may start rummaging through my drawers!!!

No, the OR won't come to your house so don't worry about your drawers!

Don't they come and check that you haven't got the odd Picasso on the Wall, or some nice Crystal Chandeliers??

They don't visit unless they suspect you have assets of value, they will probably get a good idea of any assests that you may hold from your bank and credit card statements.
Just out of curiousity, how many Picasso's do you have hanging on your wall??? lol

I 'd tidy your nicker drawer just in case though.I cleaned the house very time the health visitor used to call just in case they took my kids away! Now I write to them asking them to come and take them back on account of thier lip[:D]

My health visitor always asked to go to the loo, I think she was checking it out to see how clean I was!!!! lol

If they took the Kid's away at least it might reduce my outgoings!! they eat more than I do.
Fresh out of Picasso's though and no chandeliers. Don't have any assets to speak of at least nothing worth selling unless the OR is into car boot sales!
Thank god my knicker drawer is safe from prying eyes at the moment then. He/She might get more than they bargained for!!

Can anyone give me some advice about a basic bank account and when is the best time to open it?
Many Thanks
Stuffed!!!

We have the cashminder with co-op. We opened it in Dec 07 and filed in Feb 08. The account wasn't touched/frozen when we went br. No affect on it at all.
Direct debits and a visa electron card, no charge and easy deposits/withdrawals at any post office......great little account, unless of course, co-op is one of your creditors...
xx

Is it easy to open after you have become bankrupt?

You can either apply on the phone or in the branch. Don't try to open it online, it'll be the current account. We told them about us being in the process of br and they were fine. We were referred but the lovely girl promised she would phone us as soon as she heard the decision. The next day she phoned and said we'd been accepted.
They have phone and online banking too.

I can recommend the Co-op account as well. I have heard that people who had a debt with the Co-op have been able to open a Cashminder account after bankruptcy.

That wouldn't surprise me Skippy, as the girl in my branch told me that they had a policy of not socially excluding anyone.

I always had the feeling that if a creditor bank gave you a basic account, then one day, be it 10/15years down the road, you may be in a stage (credit card/savings/insurance/loans) where you may in theory be paying back a creditor through interest/charges on new products!

Of course I understand the once burnt, twice shy theory of creditors too!