Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

wba31

cd36uk wrote: »

I hope interest and charges have/will be frozen?

I was quite horrified at how much was added every month to my debts in charges etc. I was worried that if my DRO wasn't granted I would be left with even bigger debts than when I started!

So it makes sense to get that sorted or your £2 a month will get you nowhere.

As mentioned by thepurplegoldfish, the possibility of staying out of work for 12 months and applying for a DRO is something perhaps worth considering.

Surely you could do the DRO anyway just to protect yourself from the potential of anything like a CCJ and the harassment from the creditors. If you get a job within 12 months, rebudget, come to some form of arrangement or enter a repayment plan, if you dont find a job, hey-ho, all your debt is written off! or as other people have said, simply wait 12 months anyway if you can manage on what you currently have as income.
I'd be very surprised if creditors agreed to £2 a month, stopped sending the letters and making the phone calls, and cancelled interest and charges...

gavinh_2

thepurplegoldfish wrote: »

If you are going to be working within the 12 months, you'll probably have more than £50 disposable income each month, which means your DRO would be cancelled and you'd have to pay back all the money anyway, so you'd be better off saving your £90 DRO fee.

However if your in a hellish situation with debts etc, maybe staying out of work for the 12 month period ( not ideal, nor am I suggesting that people do this) but maybe it would be better in the long run, really depends on people individual circumstances.

thanks for the reply to you and later posters

i have been told by family members i should just do the DRO and see out the next 12 months, and it does make sense but i really dont want to spend the next year on the dole and in poverty. iv been struggling for ages but not signing on as i was living with my partner, but now im on my own and i need to get my life back on track so im hoping to find a job soon.

Orville

gavinh wrote: »

thanks for the reply to you and later posters

i have been told by family members i should just do the DRO and see out the next 12 months, and it does make sense but i really dont want to spend the next year on the dole and in poverty. iv been struggling for ages but not signing on as i was living with my partner, but now im on my own and i need to get my life back on track so im hoping to find a job soon.

Don't know if you know this.. But even if you do get a job, that does not mean a DRO is automatically cancelled. Take my situation. I am now claiming benefits for rent, council tax etc. Now if my job was a low earning one, because i would be working i would then be liable to pay the rent etc, and those payments, plus the added travelling expences to/from work etc could very well leave you in the same position with less then £50 surplus. If that is the case then dro carries on without interuption.

gavinh_2

Orville wrote: »

Don't know if you know this.. But even if you do get a job, that does not mean a DRO is automatically cancelled. Take my situation. I am now claiming benefits for rent, council tax etc. Now if my job was a low earning one, because i would be working i would then be liable to pay the rent etc, and those payments, plus the added travelling expences to/from work etc could very well leave you in the same position with less then £50 surplus. If that is the case then dro carries on without interuption.

i did wonder about things like this, but my lagal aid person dismissed it and just basically said the DRO would fail so no point bothering.
there are always complications :mad:

Orville

gavinh wrote: »

i did wonder about things like this, but my lagal aid person dismissed it and just basically said the DRO would fail so no point bothering.
there are always complications :mad:

No it would not fail. (At least according to the CAB advisor i spoke to). She said it does not matter if you are employed or unemployed. It's the leftover money you have at the end of the month after all the bills are paid that matters.

preciousillusions

gavinh wrote: »

i did wonder about things like this, but my lagal aid person dismissed it and just basically said the DRO would fail so no point bothering.
there are always complications :mad:

Like Orville said this is incorrect. I am sorry you are being given such 'advice' , perhaps you can call up the CAB and speak to someone else who may be able to provide a different opinion?

I have an eating disorder which means my outgoings for food are very high. This means that although my surplus per month could appear to be more than £50, because i spend a lot on food the amount i have less is in fact significantly lower than that. So the fact i do receive a regular income may have created a problem, however because the person who processed my application explained these circumstances i was thankfully able to go ahead with the DRO. He also said if the situation changed and i was getting even more money coming in from employment etc, the DRO would still stand as i would in effect be spending more if i was receiving more, still leaving me with less than £50 surplus after outgoings.

immoral_angeluk

gavinh wrote: »

i did wonder about things like this, but my lagal aid person dismissed it and just basically said the DRO would fail so no point bothering.
there are always complications :mad:

With the greatest of respect, your legal aid person is talking nonsense. It depends on your circumstances and your expenditure. You could be working 40 hrs per week but still have high expenditure and still qualify for a DRO. You have to inform the OR of any change of circumstances during your DRO, and they will want a new SOA to make sure you still qualify, but so long as you do and the expenditure is still within the trigger figures, then it won't make a difference.

gavinh_2

thanks all, seems my suspicions were correct. its not one size fits all, and i think my legal aid person forget that. and she didnt explain much in details but i had a feeling it was not black and white.
it was the citizens advice bureax who i spoke to first, they referred me to this legal aid.

as things are just being put into place now for £2 minimum monthly payments, and its taken 2 months of correspondence going back and forth between creditors to get to that point, i think im gonna carry on for now. and if i start working again soon, then i will re-consider the situation - depending on what income is left over.
thanks for the advice all

imatt

Well, got my DRO approved! Recieved the letter today! "I attach herewith a copy of your approved order which schedules all of the creditors that are subject to this order".

I also got a letter from a creditor named on the DRO saying they want payment. Best to ignore them or phone them up telling them about the DRO?

immoral_angeluk

imatt wrote: »

Well, got my DRO approved! Recieved the letter today! "I attach herewith a copy of your approved order which schedules all of the creditors that are subject to this order".

I also got a letter from a creditor named on the DRO saying they want payment. Best to ignore them or phone them up telling them about the DRO?

Send them a copy of the DRO then ignore them