Hi aber87, you needn't worry. Just give them the new account details - they cannot just take what they want from your account.

I was the same with Lloyds, I had bank account, loan, credit card & home insurance and when I changed my bank account I had to give the new details for insurance and there was no problem at all

hi aber87,

Well done on taking the step to deal with your debts and enter into a Trust Deed.

Normally when speaking with a client about opening a new bank account I would advise them to avoid using HBOS Plc if they are considering a Trust Deed or Sequestration.

We deal with a large volume of cases under our Insolvency Service Contract with the Accountant in Bankruptcy and have had to implement a standard procedure for unfreezing HBOS Plc bank accounts when someone is declared bankrupt. As soon as HBOS Plc find out about the Sequestration a freeze would be put on the account and only when the bank had received a formal letter/fax from us they would then allow the client to access the funds. They then only give the client 30 days before they close the account.

I have also had some clients who have entered into Trust Deed and have had their accounts frozen by HBOS Plc and then told within 30 days to find alternative banking facilities.

As a result of this, I always advise someone to change from HBOS Plc even if they don't have any debt with them to avoid any problems.

Interestingly I was at the annual Money Advice Conference in Glasgow over the last two days and I was speaking with a representative from the RBS Group on bank accounts for people who have been declared bankrupt. His view was that eventually enough pressure will be put on the banks by the Government to offer everyone a basic bank account even if they have been declared bankrupt. He said that they would do this for someone who was declared bankrupt once but it's if it's an individual who is declared bankrupt time after time then they probably wouldn't offer them any facilities.

Thanks David,

I decided to try for a Bank Of Scotland account because my credit rating was still ok at the time and my mortgage is with them so probably naively I hoped they would see the sense in continuing to offer me banking facilities when I need to make a monthly mortgage payment to them.

I think I'll phone the Co-op about a cashminder account but I did ask my trustee about the possibility of my HBOS account being closed when I was completing my banking details with them and they said they didn't think it would happen as they had quite a few clients continuing to use HBOS accounts.

If they freeze my account its not a major disaster as long as I can access the money within a few days or even a week because my partner gets paid at the same time and I can change my banking details immediately in my work so if I have another account lined up there shouldn't be a major problem.

I had an HBOS account throughout my entire Trust Deed without a single issue or problem.... And I still have it, maybe I was just lucky.....

From experience, it seems to be hit and miss with bank accounts, some appear to be closed while others remaon open.

I know a one bank who checks through the Edinburgh Gazette to cross check against accounts, but not sure if this is the practise of all.

Mark