www.iva.co.uk

Is it best to create a new basic bank account before or after the IVA is approved and set up? Also, is it guaranteed that a bank will stop your present account once you enter an IVA?

It is best to set up an alternative account prior to entering the IVA. Choose a bank that is not related to any of your creditors.

If you owe your current bank no money ( overdraft, cards etc) then they might be OK, as long as they are not prone to closing IVA'ers accounts for the sheer hell of it (HSBC, First Direct, now Lloyds it seems).

Many of us use a Co-Op Cashminder account.

Before the IVA is in place - Nationwide asks about IVA etc even on the basic account - you can truthfully answer NO to this if applying

Hi

As others have said get a new account in place before starting the IVA and before stopping payments to creditors

if you already have an account that is not in overdraft and not linked to any of your debts then you can keep this active

Regards

I have a basic co-op account but it is NOT a cashminder account. There is no overdraft facility and I have never gone overdrawn on it. However, I have read that maybe these accounts cannot be used once you enter an IVA? It's an account with a debit card and cheque book (again, never use it).

If your credit file hasn't yet been damaged by your debts then I would apply for a full bank account rather than a basic account. Make sure is't not with one of your creditors or with HSBC, First Direct or Lloyds.

has anyone got any firm evidence of the Lloyds thing as I've found them(lloyds and bank of scotland) to be helpful and none judgmental, and they were both told of my IVA

Martin

Over the last 12 months there have been numerous accounts from former Lloyds customers in IVAs that they have had their accounts either frozen without notice or closed, on this forum and on several others.

Agree with others get another account in place even if you don't need it straight away as it's best to be prepared.

Thank you so much everyone, off to the bank early next week for us.

Can only echo what others have said - the challenge I faced was finding a bank that didnt have some connection to any of my creditors! [:(]
However, Santander made it really easy - applied online, full bank account, online facilities, and they even gave me an overdraft facility of £3500 bizarrely when I was 2 years in to the IVA [:0]