Dro jul 2015 advice please :)

debtorwithaquestion · 26 July 2015 at 11:25PM

Hi guys new to this forum so I hope I am posting correctly and in the right place!

Basically after getting some advice from Payplan they have advised that a DRO is the best solution based upon my circumstances. I do have a few questions however....

1)

I get a standard salary that appears as BASIC PAY on all my payslips. This amount is always the same

I also get London Weighting Allowance which is also the same every month.

Now I take this as my regular, guaranteed income.

However my employer is a big employer and therefore there is a bonus scheme based upon how each team (store) achieves targets ect. This changes every month and can range from £0-£50 (which was the bonus I got this month) and £200.00 (which I got three months ago). There is no guarantee of any bonus and it varies as I said. I have in the past done overtime but this has completely stopped now.

In regards to my budget do I just put down my GUARANTEED income which is the BASIC PAY and LONDON WEIGHTING ALLOWANCE, as this amount is fixed.

If the bonus took me over the £50.00 surplus limit in one month, I may recieve no bonus again the next month.... so how does this work guys any advice would be really appreciated!!!!

It is really annoying because my basic pay never changes and that is fixed but this bonus structure is unreliable but I dont want the OR to question why my wages are higher some months.

2) Next question is:

At the moment regardless of what I've said above I am in a defecit and dont even have enough to cover my main bills. I know this used to be impossible to complete a DRO as you needed to have a surplus but no more than £50.00. Is this ok? Payplan still reccomended the DRO so I am guessing that even though my income doesnt cover my essentials they beleive the DRO will go through because there is no way I can pay my debts.

3) Bank accounts:

My main bank account is in an overdraft which I am obviously including in the DRO and therefore this account will of course be closed.

I know the general advice is get a basic cash card but I owe Barclays money so cant go with them and Co Op do not accept undischarged bankrupts so theyre not an option. I do however have another bank account with a completely different bank (no ties or parent companies attached); no overdraft facility, no credit card, no loans with this bank and no contactless card it is simply an everyday current account. Will this be closed? I am worried my salary will get lost if they close this account after the DRO goes through??

4) Payplan have sent the forms for the DRO to me. I understand I pay the £90 and fill in the forms, but providing I complete all of these this week, how soon before they submit the application?

5) What evidence do I need? I imagine it is 3 months payslips, 3 months bank statements showing my salary going in and then proof of all my debts and their balances- do these have to be statements or can they be what I have confirmed by calling the creditors up on the phone to make it quicker.

6) What happens in 12 months after the DRO finishes. If my situation is still the same, how do I proove that? do they ask for the last years bank statements? payslips? or is it simply that once the DRO goes through it remains unless you inform them of a change to income ect.?

SORRY for all my questions... I am just apprehensive, nervous, relieved and curious all at the same time. I am being totally honest about everything because I dont want anything to come back and bite me, but I just would like to clarify these points so I am in a position of understanding where I am at.

Many thanks

Carl
x

bell123321 · 28 July 2015 at 12:40PM

I can not help with all the questions hopefully others will be able to input

2. That is fine as long as you dont have £50 surplus it is fine for DRO to not have any surplus.

3. I might be wrong and hopefully others can help but I have barcalys even if you have debt that was included you can get a basic account with no overdraft etc but do check.

In regards with the other bank account are they linked to any banks you owe money too? I would also warn you I had a bank account with Halifax who I owed nothing too, no overdraft, and owed nothing to their financially linked banks. However within 4 days of the DRO being granted they blocked and closed my account without any warning which left me in a mess with incoming and outgoing payments. They said even though I owed nothing their policy was not to accept anyone with any form of bankruptcy.

As a worse case you could get mycashplus card. I did this whilst I was trying to sort out a bank account. You get a sort code, account number so can do normal banking with them and use the card in shops etc. Only downside is they used to charge a £5 monthly fee for the account (Or they had other options which could work out cheaper depending on what you needed account for). It may have changed now as that was 2 years ago.

4. I did mine with step change, as long as they have all the paperwork sorted I then paid the £90 fee and it was sudmitted the same day (I telephone step change to say I paid the fee) and the DRO was granted the following day.

5. This is the longest bit, you need to send in statements showing the debts you have and on the day you pay the £90 get an update debt figure to inform whoever is dealing with your DRO to ensure they have the right balance. I also had to get an experian report to send to step change. They also wanted other information such as student loans number, water bill and council tax details. Gather as much information as possible. I had to give in actual statements or online statement print outs.

6. After the 12 months is up you need to go onto the insolvency register website and print off your details. You do not hear or receive anything in the post. Your name will only appear on the register for 3 months after the DRO finishes and this is the proof that your DRO has finished. If your circumstances changes you need to inform them to see if it effects the DRO but if everything is the same it just finishes 1 year after the DRO has been granted and your be able to see that on the insolvency register.

Sorry I can not help with question 1 I have no idea about that.

owlet · 28 July 2015 at 2:12PM

If you haven't actually got your DRO yet, you can apply to the co-op for the cashminder basic account.

Don't mention your DRO - it hasn't happened yet. Just say it's for budgeting.

Don't rely on other accounts apart from Barclays or coop, almost everyone who has had other accounts has had them closed despite what staff say.

Lucy5781 · 28 July 2015 at 3:00PM

I had to go with CO-Op as I was leaving Barclays with an overdraft that went into the DRO and a Barclaycard that had taken over my old Egg card.

Also, I had a similar problem with my bonus pay, not sure about the DRO rules but basically I was in another job with flat-rate pay by the time I applied for my DRO, just didn't think it would be easy to argue the point with them at the time.

Lxx

debt_doctor · 28 July 2015 at 10:14PM

Hi,

My answer to your 1st question is that you take an average of the additional bonus received (perhaps over the last 6 months) and add this to your other earnings.
A negative monthly surplus should not prevent you obtaining a DRO, but you need to think as to how you will move forward debt free.
Are you claiming all potential benefits etc?
DD

Graydem · 2 March 2017 at 1:02PM

Hi. Do you need to send any info over the course of the 12 months. If so, what info? Thanks in advance.

National_Debtline · 2 March 2017 at 2:26PM

Graydem wrote: »

Hi. Do you need to send any info over the course of the 12 months. If so, what info? Thanks in advance.

Hello Graydem

You're more likely to get answers if you click on "New Thread" at the top of the forum page to create your own separate query.

In terms of sending info during the 12 months that a DRO would last, you're simply required to inform the authorities if something happens that may mean you no longer meet the qualifying criteria e.g. a wage rise, a windfall/inheritance etc etc. They would advise you whether they required any paperwork and whether it was likely to result in the revocation of your DRO.

Dennis
@natdebtline

sourcrates · 3 March 2017 at 1:52AM

Guys this thread is over two years old.

If the OP was granted a DRO, it will of ended by now.

Dro jul 2015 advice please :)

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free