Welcome to the trust deed forum mummy2twins.

Opening a new account so that you have control over your money is certainly urgent if your trust deed has already been signed.

Most banks offer basic bank accounts which are available to persons that are in trust deeds. While they are called "basic accounts" in fact many are perfectly functional for the needs most of us have.

There may be a risk that Lloyds take the payment due soon but your trustee is likely to require it to be paid back. Prevention is better than cure though; is there a way to get your next pay sent to another account that you have control over?

Our suggestions about good accounts to use during your trust deed (and the reasons why) are at:

https://www.trust-deed.co.uk/bank-accounts.html

I don't have another account that I can have wages paid into, also reply on Tax Credits, Child Benefit and Housing Benefit which all need to be transferred too.

I have had a look at the accounts suggested on the link and although it has a monthly fee, Think banking looks a good option as I have found it difficult to budget in the past.
Do you know how long it would take to set up?

I am thinking I should maybe just go to Santander as planned and hope it is ok, but has anyone had experience with them and if so were there problems once they found out about the trust deed? It's just I've heard of banks closing accounts when they do find out.

In terms of the Think Banking account the monthly fee may be justified if you often find yourself in a position where you get hit by monthly bank charges for missed payments etc. Those penalty fees don't exist on the Think Banking account.

In terms of getting the account open quickly, much depends upon whether they can ID you electronically. This removes some of the work and time involved in getting the account open.

If you're on the electoral roll etc the chances are probably quite good that they can do this and that the account can be opened reasonably quickly.

In terms of Santander, I'd just point out the dreadful customer feedback they consistently get on banking surveys which get carried out from time to time. That's not really a "trust deed" related point though.

If co op isnt a creditor their cashminder account is brilliant. Remember to give benefits type people plenty time to switch payments to new account. We had to fight tsb for £80 of child allowance that went into old defaulted account 5 weeks after we gave them our new account details!!!

Yorkshire bank is also trust deed supportive

Paul

I am on the electoral role so I'm hoping it wouldn't be a problem for think banking and it could be done quickly

Paul - co-op isn't a direct creditor but not sure if they are connected with anyone else?
also need one set up quickly and since there isn't a local branch it would need to be done by phone

tax credits are paid tomorrow so have 4 weeks to get them updated - providing I can get new bank details quickly
Housing benefit is 7th May & child benefit is 8th May so this will still need to go into Lloyds account then I'm sure that would be enough time for next payment

I opened the coop cashminder over the phone and had my card within 10 days. You can use post office counters to pay in and any cash machine. my direct debits are all set up on time with the exception of one and my standing order to my trustee was late too but just checked and all good. I found the coop customer services to be spot on and very helpful.

Yes - Co-op cashminder is great.

Drawback are: 3 strikes and you're out - unauthorised DD's etc - I had one once that went a day before i got paid - was fixed though.

Visa 'debit' is really visa 'electron' and doens't work with some online retailers and shops. Unless this has changed.

Just be careful lloyds tsb dont freeze your account with funds in it(as they did with us). Child benefits agency took ages to switch our account details,although did give us a £25 cheque for the problems they caused by being so slow at updating our details.

Paul

Hi mummy2twins.

In terms of your earlier question, we understand that if you have Smile or Britannia amongst your creditors the Co-op Cashminder account may not be appropriate.

The "three strikes and you're out" point about Co-op mentioned by leeper1974 may be relevant if you do find that you attract penalty charges from time to time.

This is one of the downsides of what I otherwise think is a really excellent bank account to use during trust deeds and other debt solutions.

Barclays are fantastic, they have no objection to trust deeds or bankruptcy. I recommend them to all my clients, and never had a rejection yet.

Which specific account at Barclays do you suggest Shona?

I'd imagine that they have a specific basic bank account for these circumstances?

Well I had my appointment with Santander today and got account no problem - I'm so glad!!
now I can start changing things over and I'm hoping in about 6 weeks time I can relax a bit and stop worrying

Great news mummy2twins.

Having control over your money is extremely important and I'm sure you'll feel much better when this is all in place.

I had so many creditors that finding a new bank account was a problem.

I went with ThinkBanking which is available to everyone. Yep, there is a monthly fee which isn't something many will want to pay. But they have this whole thing where they hold back money for bills and put the rest onto a card for you to spend. They're basically managing the whole thing for you, and are great at keeping you informed if there's not enough money to cover bills or if something bounces through lack of funds (for which there are never extra charges) or if an expected payment doesn't arrive when it should. It does take a bit of getting used to but I really like it now as I feel someone is managing it all and I just need to fund the account then forget it until next month.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Cheers

DebtFreeWannabee