Will my corporate AMEX be affected by Chapter 13 filing?

[realestatee]

I have a sales job where my company provides me with a corporate American Express credit card for business expenses, they reimburse my business expenses each month directly to the credit card after I file it with my company. If we file Chapter 13 will this corporate credit card under my name be affected and which way it may be affected in? What are some ways of dealing with it?

[lrprn]

If we file Chapter 13 will this corporate credit card under my name be affected and which way it may be affected in? What are some ways of dealing with it?

Whether your card will stay active typically depends on whether the card was issued as a personal card to you through your company, and if your company agreed to pay anything on the card if you default.

Unfortunately AmEx is not very forgiving about bankruptcy. If the card is issued to you, then it may not survive filing unless your company will guarantee it. There's no automatic guarantee even then.

However, on a more positive note, there have been several members in your exact situation (me included) who had a corporate card that survived filing Ch 13. Mine has even been renewed once since we filed. My cc company (not AmEx) stated clearly that if they EVER saw any non-business charges on the card, they would cancel it. I've been very careful to avoid that. So far, so good.

We've had many other threads asking this same question. Try doing a Ch 13 forum search using 'corporate credit card' and see what turns up.

Worst case scenario - even if you would lose the card, companies do have back-up plans. Not every employee that needs a card can qualify for it, bk or no. Ask around quietly and find out what your company's alternative plan is for this situation. Good luck!

[flower04]

We had to close ours out and gets a "secured" card. The card had to be paid completely paid and we had to show record of this. Check with your attorney though.

[catleg]

My wife and I both work for "big corps" and have corporate Amex and neither has been closed as far as I know. I have seen soft pulls on my credit report from Amex in the meantime so I know they have checked.

[realestatee]

Catleg, how long ago did you guys file chapter 13?

[hopefullori]

Hi - I got to keep my AMEX card - it was not issued by my company - I just did not report it for my chapter 13 - because I explained to my attorney and the trustee I needed it for work and that my company had a strict policy for usage.

[catleg]

About 3 months ago. I've used my card since then, but my wife hasn't.
Amex already hassled me about non-business charges about a year ago, so I'm currently restricted from making some kinds of retail purchases.

[MommyMc]

My husband has an AMEX card through his company. It's issued to his company but has his name on it and we get the bill in the mail. He uses it only for travel expenses. He files the receipts with his company, they deposit the funds into our checking and we make the payment on the card when it comes each month. He has never been hasselled about it and the trustee did not have a problem with it, since it was for business expenses only.
We just completed our first year of a 5 year BK! I'm so excited. The year went so fast!

[pa308]

Amex already hassled me about non-business charges about a year ago, so I'm currently restricted from making some kinds of retail purchases.

Not to sound critical, but isnt a corporate card for business expenses only?? Not a big AMEX fan, but dont think it's hassling if your using the Corporate Card for non-business charges. My company specifically states that I should not use the card for non-business expenses.

[MyBailOut]

Thanks for the information MommyMc, my situation mirrors your husband's. The Corporate Amex question has been in the back of my mind since I've been thinking of filing Chapter 13.
I've just started the BK process less than a week ago. (Filed petition on March 18)

[ednasouth]

I work for a "big corp" and My Corp AMEX was canceled. I did not report it on my Ch. 13, was used only for company travel, and always paid on time. My attorney was aware of it. I did have two personal AMEX cards (30K total) I declared in Ch 13. It didn't really impact me since our company had already switched to another Corp CC for company travel at the end of 09. Received the new card and have been on two business trips since. AMEX notified me it was cancelled due to filing Ch 13 in Jan 2010. They notified me in Feb. 2010, but the card had already been cut up since we started using the new one in 2010. Probably just their way of trying to "get back" at me.

[olivies]

My husband has an AMEX card through his company. It's issued to his company but has his name on it and we get the bill in the mail. He uses it only for travel expenses. He files the receipts with his company, they deposit the funds into our checking and we make the payment on the card when it comes each month. He has never been hasselled about it and the trustee did not have a problem with it, since it was for business expenses only.
We just completed our first year of a 5 year BK! I'm so excited. The year went so fast!

Same situation here, too.

[Flamingo]

I work for a "big corp" and My Corp AMEX was canceled. I did not report it on my Ch. 13, was used only for company travel, and always paid on time. My attorney was aware of it. I did have two personal AMEX cards (30K total) I declared in Ch 13. It didn't really impact me since our company had already switched to another Corp CC for company travel at the end of 09. Received the new card and have been on two business trips since. AMEX notified me it was cancelled due to filing Ch 13 in Jan 2010. They notified me in Feb. 2010, but the card had already been cut up since we started using the new one in 2010. Probably just their way of trying to "get back" at me.

No, you declared bankruptcy on two other AMEX's so their policy was to close anything else they had open with you at the time of your filing, and since your SS# was tied to that corporate card, they closed it. It's just business - they don't do things to "get back" at a customer...it's because you filed. You will realize that once you get over the denial - we all go through it...

[SMinGA]

Not to sound critical, but isnt a corporate card for business expenses only?? Not a big AMEX fan, but dont think it's hassling if your using the Corporate Card for non-business charges. My company specifically states that I should not use the card for non-business expenses.

He didn't say if the expenses were legitimate business expenses or not. Just because things look non-business doesn't mean they are. I have a corp. credit card (not Amex, billed to company in my name and has not been a problem - not even tied to my SS#). Some of what I purchase could be mistaken as 'personal' but its not.

[jamesalip]

My wife had her corporate Amex closed because of the bankruptcy, but only becasue we were advised by our attorney to tell them about the BK. If we had never said anything to them, then it would have stayed open. Just do not say anything to them on the phone. My wife had to cotact her company and Amex issued her another card because her company did an override to get it approved. Now they use Visa and there was no problem with that.