www.iva.co.uk

I have debts with MBNA, Egg, LLoyds TSB, Smile (co-op) Nationwide, Barclaycard,Citi, Capital One, plus a few small catalogue companies - these would be my creditors. I also have an account with First Direct which i have not used yet.
If i go the IVA route then could First Direct be my bank - OR will that account also be frozen.?

Hello and welcome

First direct have been known to close the accounts of people in an IVA.
If your current bank are one of your creditors then you would need to open a basic account with no overdraft or credit cards etc. If this is the case (you owe money to your presrnt back) then they reserve the right of offset and can claim money in the account against what you owe them. I hope this helps. In an IVA there is no OR.

Good luck and keep posting
LILY

Hi,
As far as I know... If you don't have debt with a bank you could continue to use their company to bank with.
HOWEVER.... When my IVA was agreed, I had an account with First Direct that was opened to replace my Natwest account as we had debt with Natwest. After a few months, First Direct wrote to me to inform me that they do not provide any banking services for anyone in an IVA. I had been totally honest with them from the start, but they gave me 30 days notice before closing my account. After panicking, I tried to open accounts with a couple of banks and successfully opened an account with CoOperative Bank who have been excellent. Apparently it's a fairly new clause for First Direct and HSBC meaning that they now close accounts to anyone in an IVA. So my advice is to "get out before they boot you out"!! Sounds harsh I know, but I'd hate anyone to go through the same hassle that we had when our account was closed.

Hope that helps a little!
Ricki.

I concur with the postings of the other contributors. Avoid First Direct if you are going to do an IVA.

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

Thanks for your comments - but i'm still not sure what to do - it looks like using the first direct account will be a no.
Obviously the IVA is a way to sort out my debts, but i need to open an account with a seperate bank to any of my old creditors. How then do i know who is what???
Or should i go with the first direct for now (and begin transfering my direct debits and wages etc) and worry about them closing my account down later after the IVA is in place??
Can anyone suggest a bank that is not linked to any of my creditors - what about NatWest?
The touble with the creditors is that one can own another (ie, like hsbc and first direct, so presumably (for example) if you had a debt with an hsbc credit then first direct could freeze your accounts!!)
I need to transfer all my wages, disability payments etc. to an account which is not linked to any of my creditors, otherwise i will find myself with nothing at all if they freeze that account too.

Hi ricki

Can i ask how long you had your account with them for?

I have a basic HSBC account for the past 6 months and have been in a iva for 5 months just wondering if the same might happen to me?

Thanks

l morris

Hi Info, it might be worth trying NatWest as I know other people who post on here have accounts with them. Another one that has been recommended is Abbey.

Onwards and upwards!!!
View my blog at: http://skippy13.blogs.iva.co.uk/

Hi laleanne1
I've only been told via this site that First Direct A.K.A HSBC will not tolerate IVA'ers !!

I'm trying Natwest as we speak!!

I am with Natwest and I think they have been fine just go for the normal step account .... you can easily set this up over the internet and do not even have to go in. They have a good online banking system as well so you can keep a very close eye on things.

Hi Sarah
I've jsut been accepted online for a steps account. I'm going to use my first direct until they tell me to sod off (and if they do) then i can use the steps account!! - trying to cover all the angles!!!

Yeah def best to.... Natwst also do a solo card which is accepted in most places now. Good luck you never know you may not need Natwest but atleast you now have a backup.

Info
you have done the right thing.Better to keep your options open and save "running" around at a later date.