Hello BlooTooner and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that this has happened, and especially for it to happen at this time of year.

NatWest obviously intend to hand the cash to your trust deed company, unless your Trustee agrees for the funds to be put back under your control. I think you need to speak to your Trustee as soon as possible. They'll want to secure the part of the money that you would have handed over as your trust deed payment anyway (had the cash not been frozen) but I'd hope that they'd quickly ensure the return of the remainder to you. They obviously know exactly what you need to cover your living costs having recently gone through it with you in detail.

Trust deeds are a formal insolvency, and the acceptance criteria for some bank accounts (even some of the basic ones) exclude people who have become insolvent. The Co-op Cashminder account does not, nor do several others that get mentioned in this forum by visitors from time to time.

I really hope that all of this is resolved for you very soon. Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks for the welcome and information TDA.

I'll be trying to speak to my Trustee first thing on Wednesday to try and resolve this.

What has caught me out is there is no mention in the STEP account T&C's that the account may get frozen if declared insolvent (only joint accounts for business purposes are mentioned). The fact that Natwest have no connection at all with either my creditors or the Trust Deed has obviously given me a false sense of security, especially as the account was running as normal right up to yesterday (trust deed was originally signed back in October).

Another big (and potentially expensive) lesson learned in the world of finance/debt management.

I'll add updates to the thread as I try and resolve this, to hopefully prevent others from suffering the same fate.

An update to my previous message.

I went into my local Natwest Branch, today, who knew nothing about my account being frozen. They then spoke with their Recoveries/Credit Management department who confirmed the account was frozen, however no information as to why, except they said a letter was sent out to me on the 23rd December (which hasn't arrived as of today - 29th Dec).

The presumption, both by the branch and the Recoveries team is that it is because I have entered into Trust Deed that has become protected.

My Trustee has faxed the bank and the bank has now informed me that the account will be 'unfrozen' over the next 7 working days, however I've had mixed messages as to what happens next. The branch has told me to expect to have to close the account as soon as the money is unfrozen, the Recoveries team said the account should operate as normal.

Considering the way this issue has been treated I've taken the precaution and opened a basic account with Barclays, as they have a local branch. It took all of 30 minutes from stepping into the Barclays branch to having an account up and running and they know my full financial situation, including the fact I have a protected trust deed.

The one thing that has caught me out with this whole saga is that Natwest do not explicitly mention in their T&C's that an account will be frozen if you have a trust deed that becomes protected. If I had known at the time I signed my trust deed this might happen, I would have made alternative arrangements. As I mentioned above I have no debt with the Natwest or RBS group of companies and the trustee did not have an issue with said bank account.

Moral of the story is to confirm with your bank that they will allow you to continue banking with them if you enter a trust deed.