Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

wba31

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Just be prepared to wait a bit with CCCS, they've got long waiting times!

Apparently telephone appointments have a 24 hour turn around and the online system is instant of course.

I've heard that once that have received paperwork, providing all is correct the turn around is approx 4-5 weeks...

whoever you speak to start saving for your fee now, and i know with CCCS they like to check your experian credit report so if you can print it somewhere, start the online application for the report now (remember to cancel your membership once you have your report otherwise you'll be charged after 30 days). that way, if you do speak to CCCS you may have most the info you need already to send in to them

immoral_angeluk

Orville wrote: »

Hi, just a quicky.

As i am on JSA i am still having to apply for work. One such job i have applied for is a Christmas Temp at Royal Mail. Where do i stand with regards to this where my DRO is concerned should i be offered a temproary job. A friend of mine said he was told he could work if it was on a temporary basis last year for another company which i gather he did and this wouldn't affect his DRO, which as far as i know it didn't.

It's not working that's the issue, it's
A)Whether your disposable income after all of your expenditure is taken into account, is or becomes over £50 at any point in your moratorium period. You don't have to inform them of changes of expenditure, just income once a DRO is granted and they would obviously then look at whether you're still under the £50 limit.
B)Whether you've ever paid into an occupational pension, as the amount of this pension is deemed as an asset and if it's over £300 you would not be eligible.

Orville

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

It's not working that's the issue, it's
A)Whether your disposable income after all of your expenditure is taken into account, is or becomes over £50 at any point in your moratorium period. You don't have to inform them of changes of expenditure, just income once a DRO is granted and they would obviously then look at whether you're still under the £50 limit.
B)Whether you've ever paid into an occupational pension, as the amount of this pension is deemed as an asset and if it's over £300 you would not be eligible.

So this stands even if it's only a temporary job. Once the £50 surplus has been reached the DRO gets cancelled even if it's just a temporary job..? No going back on it after it ends..?

immoral_angeluk

Orville wrote: »

So this stands even if it's only a temporary job. Once the £50 surplus has been reached the DRO gets cancelled even if it's just a temporary job..? No going back on it after it ends..?

The guidance isn't specific on temporary jobs, just that any change of circumstances which affect eligibility need to be reported and can lead to the DRO being revoked. If you were then to reapply for a DRO it would be rejected as you can only have one DRO in 6 years...

Orville

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

The guidance isn't specific on temporary jobs, just that any change of circumstances which affect eligibility need to be reported and can lead to the DRO being revoked. If you were then to reapply for a DRO it would be rejected as you can only have one DRO in 6 years...

Kinda sucks a bit dosen't it. I am sure my friend worked though while in a DRO and to be honest i am sure he would have been better the £50 a month off. I'll have to get in touch with him and see exactly what was said.

immoral_angeluk

Orville wrote: »

Kinda sucks a bit dosen't it. I am sure my friend worked though while in a DRO and to be honest i am sure he would have been better the £50 a month off. I'll have to get in touch with him and see exactly what was said.

Question is, did he tell them? If he didn't they would only really find out if they decided to do a random check... although of course one of the conditions of a DRO is that you inform them of such changes and remain contactable if they DO want to do a random check so it's not something you should consider doing.

Orville

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Question is, did he tell them? If he didn't they would only really find out if they decided to do a random check... although of course one of the conditions of a DRO is that you inform them of such changes and remain contactable if they DO want to do a random check so it's not something you should consider doing.

Oh i would have thought it would be linked somehow. Say if you worked some sort of flag would come up.

immoral_angeluk

Orville wrote: »

Oh i would have thought it would be linked somehow. Say if you worked some sort of flag would come up.

Not that I'm aware of. The official receiver does have the power to make any checks should they have any suspicions of anything, but this is rarely the case unless they are tipped off I'd imagine.
You presume that all government departments talk to each other... :P

fermi

I know that for bankruptcy the OR often gets sent the monthly earnings/tax paid summaries for the year at the end of the tax year by HMRC.

Or so I'm told anyway.....

So if you fibbed (or didn't disclose) to the OR about what you were earning during the year, then you may well come unstuck when they eventually get those through.

I don't know if the same applies to a DRO? Do you sign a tax record disclosure authority when you start a DRO?

immoral_angeluk

fermi wrote: »

I know that for bankruptcy the OR often gets sent the monthly earnings/tax paid summaries for the year at the end of the tax year by HMRC.

Or so I'm told anyway.....

So if you fibbed (or didn't disclose) to the OR about what you were earning during the year, then you may well come unstuck when they eventually get those through.

I don't know if the same applies to a DRO? Do you sign a tax record disclosure authority when you start a DRO?

No, the only details they take are your NI number and your local tax office details. There's nothing in the guidance about it either. From what I'm told they rarely make any checks at all so long as the criteria are met and nothing on the form has triggered a manual check of the application after submitting.