www.iva.co.uk

Received a letter today (as I am sure all customers have/will do soon), with Co-Op's new t'c & c's which will take effect from 16th September (applies to ALL accounts - including Cashminder).

Page 4 of the leaflet adds a new clause 1.7:

'It is a condition of having a bank account with us that you are not made bankrupt or enter into an IVA after you have opened your account. If you are made bankrupt or enter into an IVA after you open an account, this is a serious breach of the terms of this agreement and we can close your account immediately...'

Before anyone jumps down my throat saying it only applies to new customers after 16th September, the wording of the covering letter implies retrospective acceptance of these terms:

'If you do not agree to the changes you can switch or close your account at any time without giving any notice, or paying any charge for closure. If you continue with your account after 16th September, you will be deemed to have accepted these new terms and conditions'.

As a Co-Op customer, I am concerned that they will go all HSBC on us IVA customers and close my account.

Time to start looking for a new account? Worth looking into just in case.

I think CoOp are being very short-sighted given their current financial issues.

Well hopefully I will get my CC by 16th September....

Are there any banks left who are happy with people in or who have been in an IVA?

OOh I hope they don't start closing accounts, I really like my co-op account and customer service,even though it is only a Cashminder Account[:(]

so many people on the forum are recommended to take the cashminder account as they've always been IVA friendly it will be a shame.

We received that info too. We only opened the account in May but looks like we will be changing again.

Anyone have any recommendations? LloydsTSB, nationwide and barclays are creditors of ours.

Thanks

NatWest? I was with them all through the IVA and have stayed with them since.

Am trying to work out whether once I do hav my completion certificate it will be ok for me to have been in an IVA or not. I don't especially want to change bank accounts (and XH would need to as well as he's with the Co op too).

Such a shame that yet another high street bank withdraws basic bank accounts from people who have taken a responsible route to addressing their debts.

As a board member of the DRF, I have referred this to our Chairman who has close links with the banking community and may be able to find out more about this apparent withdrawal of support.

This is appalling. I was at the IVA Standing Committee meeting last Tuesday and the Co-op Bank have a representative their who never mentioned this.

In my capacity as Chairman of the Debt Resolution Forum I will take this up and find out why the bank with a £1.5billion black hole is denying their customers in an IVA from a basic bank account. They have followed Lloyds Banking Group the same way. I will ensure that the relevant Government department dealing with consumer detriment is appraised of this.

Even those of us out of IVA's now are struggling in some cases to gain a full bank account ..... Even with the IVA closed fully and certfcate held, and removed from credit record some are being refused ..... Frustrating !

Are Llyods still closing accounts also? We've been with them throughout the IVA and had no problems and they even sent us new bank cards in January.

It will be such a shame to have to leave the Co-Op....since opening the account (for IVA reasons) I have never been overdrawn or given them any reason to question me as a customer for any bad banking practice.

I suppose its the nature of the beast that IVA customers arn't the money spinning customers that banks are looking for these days, after all we cannot get a loan and I know in my own case that toward the end of the month I have very little in my account that they can use for other borrowing to service other clients loans, overdrafts et al and as the account is "free", I suppose we dont pay our way.

I think its very short-sighted of the bank to treat IVA customers this way, after all, although we cannot take out loans or obtain their credit cards, or have savings which they can use, that is not to say that this will always be the case for us after we have (hopefully) completed our IVA.

If I were running the bank I'd see IVA customers as actually a safe investment for future years, after all they will know that we can (in the main) maintain a satisfactory banking record and also will not be planning on getting ourselves in the same debt position again, however, as I said in the previous para, I suppose they just cant see £££ signs in our eyes.

Real shame.

Hi UpToMyNeckInIt,

Thanks for the low down. I too had the T&C's but didn't read it, along with all the other bumf I get through the post.

This will be awful. I have had no problems with the Co-Op since opening my account just prior to my IVA starting.

Worrying times...... AGAIN!

I was absolutely horrified to read this post. Everyone knows how stressful this process is but I was beginning to feel that life might get back to normal (or better than recent normal anyway) and now this. We opened a cashminder account with the co op in preparation for the iva not only on the recommendations of many people on this forum but actually moneysaving expert still has on his website that they accept those in an iva but not undischarged bankrupts. I have changed our salaries and direct debits and am in a opanic now at the thought of having to do this again. Also we are in Northern Ireland so have more limited banking options than those on the mainland I think. I have also opened a small savings account with them which I hoped to put something away for emergencies every month. I know we got ourselves into this mess but it seems really unfair that we are yet again being penalised for taking the responsible attitude and trying to sort out our mess.

It is worrying.

For IVA customers, it seems that 'high street' banking is now almost impossible to attain (I believe it is even more restricted if you are bankrupt). I think the banking industry generally is looking for excuses not to offer basic accounts though (no money in it for them).

The only other IVA-friendly bank account that I am aware of is with 'Secure Trust' Bank, which will cost you £12.50pcm. Then there are the card-based accounts offered by other financial companies: ClearCash, CashPlus, Think Money etc... all with £10pcm or more in fees. Saying that, I understand that you can have these fees included in your expenditure allowances, and many also offer 4-5% cash-back deals with big retailers, which you can use to offset the fee. (I have even made money some Months with Secure Trust: 3-4% cashback for doing the weekly shop at Asda alon, usually takes care of the fee and some).

Melanie & David: Thank you both for taking the time to look into this. I am sure we would all like to know the outcome of the DRF enquiries with CoOp - particulalrly how/if this policy of theirs may be applied retrospectively. I sincerely hope they are not going actively trawl the insolvency register, and make customers close accounts, as some banks aparently do. Please keep us updated.