Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

Smart_Mart

Just sent off my paperwork for the CCCS and now just waiting (and waiting by the sounds of it...:) ).

Also took the advice on here and wrote to the council cc'ing the bailiffs at the same time to let them know I am going for a DRO. I really can't believe the attitude of some bailiffs - if all this goes through they will get nothing whereas if they (and others) had been a bit more flexible, they would have been receiving payments, albeit small ones, all the way through.

Rant over!

immoral_angeluk

Smart_Mart wrote: »

Just sent off my paperwork for the CCCS and now just waiting (and waiting by the sounds of it...:) ).

Also took the advice on here and wrote to the council cc'ing the bailiffs at the same time to let them know I am going for a DRO. I really can't believe the attitude of some bailiffs - if all this goes through they will get nothing whereas if they (and others) had been a bit more flexible, they would have been receiving payments, albeit small ones, all the way through.

Rant over!

Bailiffs are funny creatures, all the ones I've spoken to have been lovely and more than happy to help but I've read some right horror stories on here :eek:
Just shows it varies from bailiff to bailiff!

DavidP24

I was considering one of these, what I want to know is whether you can negotiate them direct? Also how much can I get away with paying realistically?

mumof1and1ontheway

The divorce is going through at the moment, but debts are not included. I have been told if we wanted to do that I have to wait until the divorce has gone through. So I am applying for DRO now rather than wait. So have been told all joint debts will have my name taken off and will end up going to the ex

RobertoMoir

Smart_Mart wrote: »

Just sent off my paperwork for the CCCS and now just waiting (and waiting by the sounds of it...:) ).

Also took the advice on here and wrote to the council cc'ing the bailiffs at the same time to let them know I am going for a DRO. I really can't believe the attitude of some bailiffs - if all this goes through they will get nothing whereas if they (and others) had been a bit more flexible, they would have been receiving payments, albeit small ones, all the way through.

Rant over!

Bailiffs, real actual bailiffs who are chasing council tax or a fine or something like that are instructed by the council or court to chase a debt and that is who they take their instructions from.

It's got nothing to do with their attitude (though clearly some of them can be jerks, and some of them can be especially unhelpful if they're not prepared to discuss how this works with you like a decent human being and I'm not going to try and defend those types of people, I dislike them myself) and everything to do with their instructions.

When I chased council tax in the past, different councils had policies about how hard they wanted debts to be recovered, ranging from rules that made it virtually impossible to actually enforce a debt to some occasions where I've phoned the council to discuss what I thought was an error on the council's part which would disadvantage one of their citizens to be told "Why are you phoning me? I don't care what they're claiming, your instructions are to get full payment today and I don't care how you do it, am I making myself clear?" by one council's head of recovery.

immoral_angeluk

mumof1and1ontheway wrote: »

The divorce is going through at the moment, but debts are not included. I have been told if we wanted to do that I have to wait until the divorce has gone through. So I am applying for DRO now rather than wait. So have been told all joint debts will have my name taken off and will end up going to the ex

That's correst yes. The only way to have it the way you'd like (50/50) would be to have such an order included in the divorce which would mean you waiting for that to go through.

immoral_angeluk

DavidP24 wrote: »

I was considering one of these, what I want to know is whether you can negotiate them direct? Also how much can I get away with paying realistically?

Debt relief orders have to go through an approved intermediary so no you can't do it yourself. What do you mean by 'get away with paying realistically'. Do you mean to your creditors or for a financial statement?

UnderPressure

Hello everyone I am new here and have just spent the last day or so reading this entire thread, firstly thanks to everyone that has posted here it really is a wealth of informtation, it is great to hear of people's personal experiences with such matters and it is also great to see that this has worked out well for so many of you

OK I find myself in a terrible mess debtwise, it has been this way noe fro around 2 and a half years to the extent that my doctor now wants to put me on anti-depressants it has had that much of a negative impact one my life I dont want pills and have always been so strong, I see this as a blip and the only true way to cure the way I fell is to deal with the problems causing it head on which is what I intend to do.

I had a failed sole proprietor business 2 and a half years ago, this resulted in quite a large amount of personal unsecured debt from various sources and suppliers, as I was a sole trader it is all in my personal name, I have been guilty of burying my head in the sand in the beginning and have around 6 CCJ's totalling around £6500, I stupidly did not respond to any of the court paperwork so they were all awarded by default, since then I have had many a batlle with the baliff's, none of them have got onto my drive let alone in my house and most of them have now sent the case back to the creditors.

I have tried to sort out as much as possible but the creditors will not accept small payments and seem to prefer the debts to be unpaid than accept token payments so with these I am in a state of limbo. I also have another 2 CCJ's from oil companies, I live rurally and dont have access to gas so oil is what we use, I have arrangements with these people of £50 per month the least they would accept but I cannot afford this and am constanlty juggling and not paying this that and the other it has all turned into a compete nightmare.

I am now on incapacity benefit due to ill health and also now depression, I have a partner who is self employed although her business has been failing for the last 12 months or so again due to ill healt, she is severley diabetic, she is very soon going to be stopping self employment and I will claim for her within my incapacity benefit. We have 3 young children, we are at the moment in receipt of working and child tax credits and my incapacity benefit, housing and council tax beneift and child benefit.

My total debt to be confirmed should be around the 12k mark a DRO would be a god send to me and my family and would really enable us to make fresh start, my life is a living hell at them moment, I changed my tel numbers as couldn't cope with all the phone calls anymore, and I sit in our dining room 12 hours a day watching the front of the house waiting for the next baliff to turn up, I am slowly losing the will too live the only thing keeping me going are my partner and children

OK thats my background, my initial question can I tie up the sole proprietor busines debt in a DRO? WHy are creditors happier to get nothing than have a small payment? They know I know my rights with baliff's none of them have gotten anywhere no matter what scare tactic's they use surely it is better me paying something than nothing?

Life is rubbish at the moment and not great for my family, they have seen me change from the once outgoing confident friendly person I used to be, to an absoulte nervous wreck I need to sort this out. If a DRO is not an option the maybe bankruptcy? Either way I need to find a solution and move on with my life

Geeessh I feel a little better just getting that off my chest Thanks in advance for any answers to my questions, I have requested bot my Experian and Equifax credit reports yesterday so I can get a true answer to how much I owe.

Thanks again

EDIT

Forgot to mention, we live in a rented property, we have a car worth under £1000 and we have no asset's ie nothing I could sell now for more than £300.

RecoveringAlcoholic

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Bailiffs are funny creatures, all the ones I've spoken to have been lovely and more than happy to help but I've read some right horror stories on here :eek:
Just shows it varies from bailiff to bailiff!

A friend of mine thought that the bailiff was a really nice guy and she invited him in for a cup of tea,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

You can guess the rest..........................!


,

SouthCoast

An alternative to bankruptcy a debt relief order was introduced last April, but various restrictions limit those who can apply, such as not owning your own home and having debts of less than £15,000.
There were 5,662 of these orders during the first quarter, up 5 per cent on the previous quarter.

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/record-numbers-of-britons-declared-insolvent-tele-d73c8ebfce33.html?x=0