Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

Hi guys

Have found myself in a very difficult and stressful time of my life recently. I have been suffering from a gambling addiction and depression which spiralled out of control the past few months.

It has left me in a very bad state of mental health and around £11k in debt, almost all due to gambling.

I cant afford the various monthly payments anymore on loans, payday loans, credit cards etc after my general living expenses and have missed payments.

My debts are
£7500 natwest loan
Overdraft £1000
Credit cards £1000
Payday loans £1000

I went through the process on the stepchange website, which at the end recommend DRO as the best option for my circumstances as i had around £45 surplus income left on my low income.

At first glance i do meet the requirements.
Debt under £20k, no car, no assets over £1000 etc.

My concerns are that do you think the dro agency or natwest themselves are likely to reject due to the history of my gambling and that the loans were very recently took out. (2-3 months ago)

Also what kind of proof if any is needed on your monthly expenditure? I tried to be as accurate and honest as possible. I normally pay board/rent etc to my parents in cash. Is this likely a problem.

Thanks for any advice

Hi

stepchange advised me about 8 days there current waiting times. This was around 3 weeks ago.

good luck with your application.

Confuzzledhelp wrote: »

Hi all,

Hoping you can help! Spoke to CAB but no one seems to know the answer. I'm self employed as well and employed. My question is, how will a DRO affect my self employment? It is not a LTD company, and I am in partnership. Can I still run my business as usual? The debt I have is personal btw, nothing to do with the business.

Thanks!

I don't know why the CAB found that so difficult.

It won't affect you, except that it will put a mark on your credit file and you may find getting credit more difficult - but then you probably had defaults on file anyway.

Full list of restrictions (from the CAB site)

Debtors who have had their DRO application approved will be subject to the same restrictions as bankrupts. The main restrictions are as follows:


• The debtor must not obtain credit of £500 or more, either alone or jointly with another person, without disclosing to the lender that they are subject to a DRO. This restriction applies not only to the borrowing of money, but also to the obtaining of credit as a result of a statement or conduct made with the objective of securing credit, even though the debtor has not entered into a specific agreement for it. This would include, for example, ordering goods without requesting credit but then failing to pay for the goods when they are delivered
•  The debtor may not carry on a business (directly or indirectly) in a name that is different from the name under which they were granted a DRO, without telling all those with whom the debtor does business the name under which they were granted a DRO
•  The debtor may not be involved (directly or indirectly) with the promotion, management or formation of a limited company, and may not act as a company director, without the Court’s permission
•  The debtor may not hold certain public offices4, or hold offices as a trustee of a charity or a pension fund
•  The debtor will not be eligible to apply for a DRO again for six years

Flyright wrote: »

Doesn't a DRO have the effect of severing a partnership though?

How would it do that?