Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

PandaPaws_3

I'm ignoring phone calls (at least for now) at the advice of my intermediary, but I will do as you say and quote the number at them if they continue to call after the next few days.. Santander in particular have been relentless over the last week, calling from 7 in the morning to 8 at night. I shall be snapping the postman's hand off in the morning to see if there's an important letter for me!

immoral_angeluk

PandaPaws wrote: »

I'm ignoring phone calls (at least for now) at the advice of my intermediary, but I will do as you say and quote the number at them if they continue to call after the next few days.. Santander in particular have been relentless over the last week, calling from 7 in the morning to 8 at night. I shall be snapping the postman's hand off in the morning to see if there's an important letter for me!

Start making a log of the calls, might be worth reporting them for harassment if they continue.

immoral_angeluk

PandaPaws wrote: »

Hmmm... just got home and checked emails and phone.. no word yet from the IS as to whether my DRO has been approved (on tenterhooks).. and then I checked the online insolvency register, and I'm on there... I wonder if I can take that as confirmation... I have had a LOT of phone messages today from my credit card companies and my current account so they must have had some notification... I'm so nervous, been cleaning the house like a mad woman to try and forget it, the carpets are starting to change colour (as is my hair)... I don't want to bother the CAB again, I know I need to just wait for a letter to arrive, I'm just impatient! Aagh...

It won't got on the IS register unless it's approved...

immoral_angeluk

DanDoc72 wrote: »

Hello I have just lost my job and with 2 credit cards and a loan I am Considering applying for a RDO.

I was just wondering because I will be making a claim for Jobseekers allowance on monday, my wife gets £80 per week child tax credit and £130 family allowance per month.

will my Wifes £80 per week child tax credit and her £130 family allowance per month be counted as my income ?

It depends on your intermediary and how they prefer to do financial statements. Some do whole household income, some do your sole income. A DRO is a sole thing though so in most cases it's on personal income.

DanDoc72

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

It depends on your intermediary and how they prefer to do financial statements. Some do whole household income, some do your sole income. A DRO is a sole thing though so in most cases it's on personal income.

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.:)

I was just going through my household expenditure adding my wifes child benefit and child tax benefit to my possible jobseekers allowance and it worked out that it was just enough for us to get by and there was no £50 left over.

Should I do another one that is just my income alone ?

immoral_angeluk

DanDoc72 wrote: »

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply.:)

I was just going through my household expenditure adding my wifes child benefit and child tax benefit to my possible jobseekers allowance and it worked out that it was just enough for us to get by and there was no £50 left over.

Should I do another one that is just my income alone ?

It won't make much difference either way, I'd imagine the whole amount of your JSA would go towards housekeeping anyway, so if you haven't got more than £50 leftover either way then I wouldn't worry about it. You will need to get debt advice and referred to an approved intermediary to make sure you fit all the other criteria though...

DanDoc72

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

It won't make much difference either way, I'd imagine the whole amount of your JSA would go towards housekeeping anyway, so if you haven't got more than £50 leftover either way then I wouldn't worry about it. You will need to get debt advice and referred to an approved intermediary to make sure you fit all the other criteria though...

Thanks again.:)

I will be going to the CAB monday morning to see about getting an intermediary aswell as applying for an experian credit report over the weekend.

Ive been pouring over this thread for days and I do believe that I fit the Criterea though I know that it's not for me to decide.

immoral_angeluk

DanDoc72 wrote: »

Thanks again.:)

I will be going to the CAB monday morning to see about getting an intermediary aswell as applying for an experian credit report over the weekend.

Ive been pouring over this thread for days and I do believe that I fit the Criterea though I know that it's not for me to decide.

Well.. it's YOU who will be making the application, the intermediary's role is to assist you and ensure you are aware of all the alternative options/pros/cons and advise you on whether they think you fit the criteria. If you want to apply you can apply regardless even against the intemediary's advice, it's your application, so you have to ensure that you are aware of everything and that you have included everything in the application as it's your responsibility to ensure it's correct really. The intemediary is just there to help and advise

immoral_angeluk

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Well.. it's YOU who will be making the application, the intermediary's role is to assist you and ensure you are aware of all the alternative options/pros/cons and advise you on whether they think you fit the criteria. If you want to apply you can apply regardless even against the intemediary's advice, it's your application, so you have to ensure that you are aware of everything and that you have included everything in the application as it's your responsibility to ensure it's correct really. The intemediary is just there to help and advise

Oh and here's the general eligibility criteria in on section.. hope that helps!

Who can apply for a debt relief order

4

A debt relief order will only be available to a client who satisfies the following criteria:-

• s/he is unable to pay her/his debts
• s/he has debts of £15,000 or less at the date when the application is determined by the Official Receiver (excluded debts are not counted in this total)
• her/his available income, after paying her/his normal household expenses, is £50 a month or less
• the gross value of her/his assets is £300 or less (vehicles worth under £1,000 are ignored when assets are valued)
• s/he lives in England or Wales, or has been resident or carrying on business in England or Wales in the last three years
• s/he is not subject to any other formal insolvency procedure at the time of the application for the debt relief order
• s/he must not have had a debt relief order within the previous six years.

If, during the term of the debt relief order, the client’s circumstances change sufficiently to enable her/him to make contributions towards her/his debts, the debt relief order can be revoked.

It's worth nothing that generally having ever paid into a pension will exclude you under the assets rule, as the majority of pensions are worth more than £300. Also having made any transactions at undervalue or preferences to creditors can also cause an order to be revoked. If an order is revoked, you lose your £90.

PandaPaws_3

Hello everyone,

I received a letter in the post this morning confirming that my DRO has been approved. I'm not sure how to feel about it yet, I've been so stressed for such a long time, it might take a while for the relief to set in and for me to finally get my head round not having to live, breathe, work, sleep 'debt' any more.

Somehow, a simple 'thank you' does not convey just how grateful I am to every person on these boards who takes the time out of their own lives to respond to all the oh-so-many questions posed by people in debt crisis. The kindness of people on this board has been a lifeline to me, and the knowledge gained from those in the know and from people sharing their own personal experiences has helped me to get where I needed to be today.

To anyone who is in debt crisis who might just happen to come across this post - please ask for help. The hardest step can be to pick up the phone (in my case I chose to call the Citizens Advice Bureau) and tell the person on the other end that you need help. No-one wants to feel like a financial failure, but hey, stuff happens and things get out of your control, and the wonderful people at the CAB were incredibly professional and supportive. At no point did I feel like I was being judged. Don't bury your head in the sand, just take the first step and get some advice as to what is the best route of action for you. It's scary, but hiding from your problems is scarier, believe me.

No doubt I will have even more questions when the time comes to start cleaning up my credit file!

Thank you.
Much love to all. :beer: