Need a credit card for a bankrupt

Fair enough.

Fair enough. But I have noticed a lot of students that don't see things this way. They've been bankrupt once with nothing to lose. And because they come out with nothing to lose, they don't mind doing it again. Even those that aren't students, I see many sly people out there that wind down their companies through bankruptcy and see the value of goods from one company with a new one that they have started as a way of shrugging off debt.

Ok - I take your word for it.

I don't dispute that. However, bankruptcy in other countries which stop bankrupts ever starting up again has a good effect of ensuring that bankruptcy is something you don't hear in abundance like you do in the U.K.

No - that's not true. They pretty much all accept Switch and Delta debit cards.

I don't need to.

Your Electron card - is it Delta? If so, it will work. If not, then upgrade.

I have noticed that cards such as Solo (purple) are a cut down version of the Switch card that is restricted. These cards are given to international students and bankrupts.

They are not accepted at some websites. Anyway, the point of it all is that if you get a decent Switch / Delta card - which you can with the bank that holds your 20K, then you won't have any future problems.

AMO

Unfortunately the Visa Electron is the only card offered on my Abbey National account, so the only way to get a Switch or Delta would be to change banks, a process that is painful these days even for non-bankrupts (2) and difficult for bankrupts. The electron card can only be used for electronic payments, cashpoints and some over the phone stuff, and its 16 digit number is printed not embossed, so it cannot be used on the paper clunk-click type of manual machine.

When I got it 4 years ago only 50% of retailers took it, but now most do as they upgrade to chip and pin systems.

1) Forgot to add this to a previous thread - it is illegal to obtain credit of more than £250 as a bankrupt without telling the lender - who of course probably won't lend once it is made known. 2) Tried to open a business account with Barclays, had to produce tonnes of proofs of ID for the money laundering regs, then they sat on them whilst staff were off sick for 4 months, then lost the forms and asked us to start again!

Not really true, many people (like me) pay off the full bill on their credit cards every month so pay no interest to the bank/issuer. The bank/issuer still makes quite sufficient money from the amount they charge to the retailer for accepting your card in payment.

Can they tell the difference between a Visa Credit card and a Visa Debit card?

I think that is more the issue than 'car hire forms won't accept anything except credit cards'. They won't accept *your* particular debit card.

I forgot to add the (1) - added to a later message. Basically, yes you can get credit over £250 as long as you inform the potential lender, and it is illegal not to tell them. In practice though, I think sanctions would only be used against the bankrupt if 'shit hits fan' and the borrowing is defaulted so someone gets upset enough to complain to your receiver. Not sure what penalties would be used as a punishment.

You are far too moralistic about bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is inevitable in a capitalist economy. It is said that half of all businesses in a given year will fail within 18 months. Thousands go under every year. Every bank has an annual allowance for bad debt, it is just a fact of life.

Far from tightening the legislation, the Government wants to make it easier for people to get back into business after going bankrupt in order to encourage dynamism and risk-taking in the economy.

In the US many successful entrepreneurs have been bankrupt once or even twice before making it big, it is considered just part of the learning process.

With the UK currently loaded up with 1 trillion pounds in consumer debt I think people should be encouraged to go bankrupt when their debts get on top of them -- it might encourage the banks to adopt more sensible lending policies.

Yes, probably true.

However, I have finally had some success , I phoned the customer services desk for one of the online car hire brokers, who confirmed that none of them take Electron - BUT she found me a deal with Europcar who will take the deposit (some £350) in cash, so I'm sorted!

(Europcar being the only car hire co on their list to do this apparently).

I think when the charge is accepted the printout says what it is but a lot of people don't know simply by looking at their own card. My debit card has it in big letters though!

I think the statistics hide the reality. Most of those business don't exactly fail. Someone may lose their job and go freelance for a few months and then be offered another job. They would be included in your category of failures.

I think we should make more effort to distinguish between genuine business failures and crooks. Nobody really tries to penalise the crooks presently.

More sensible lending policies would seem to translate into only lending money to people who don't need it. Maybe that's a bit harsh but there could easily be an argument to say that people should save the money before investing it rather than get it from others. The world seems to be split up into savers, spenders and entrepreneurs pretty clearly, though.

Why can't you pay the rental in cash as well?