Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

fatbelly

lotsaquestions wrote: »

Umm after having my DRO approved on the 14th April I have now received a court summons from Anglian Water dated the 16th April- same amount as put in DRO. What do i do about this?

Contact your intermediary immediately - this may need a robust response. It is possible that it is a mistake. Did you put the whole 2011/2012 amount in?

fatbelly

I've had a quick look on the Anglian site and I can't see a 'bankruptcy' clause but did see this:

Where they have started a court claim in error they will credit your account with £50; where they have obtained judgement in error, they will credit you with £100.

From your dates, I think it unlikely that they will have had time to receive the letter from the DRO unit and issue a court claim

lotsaquestions

fatbelly wrote: »

Contact your intermediary immediately - this may need a robust response. It is possible that it is a mistake. Did you put the whole 2011/2012 amount in?

yes whole amount up until 31st march 2012

fatbelly

lotsaquestions wrote: »

yes whole amount up until 31st march 2012

From the Intermediary Guidance:

Water Rates

The guidance in relation to bankruptcy and the effects on water rates is quite clear and there is no reason to believe that this guidance is not equally applicable to Debt Relief Orders.

Where a debt is due and payable on a certain date, but is allowed to be discharged over a period up to the ensuing year, the amount of the debt is known as at the 1st April for the relevant billing year, that debt is a liquidated debt and thus capable of inclusion in a Debt Relief Order.

How a water rates bill will be dealt with will be dependant upon the charging regime operated by each provider, however where water is supplied under a charges scheme that is rate-based rather than metered, the charges scheme may provide that any standing charges are due and payable in advance, generally on 1 April each year.

Therefore, the whole of that year‟s charge, or unpaid balance at the date of the Debt Relief Order, may be scheduled in the application, in addition to any arrears from previous periods. As the whole debt becomes due prior to the insolvency, it is a qualifying debt.

It is the responsibility of the intermediary/debtor to establish the water company‟s position with regards to the debtors account and where the full amount for the year may be scheduled, it should be scheduled.

The Insolvency Service are aware that as a result of legal advice received by various water authorities and with the approval of OFWAT, many water authorities have now amended their charging regimes to include an “insolvency clause” which they state allows them upon the making of a Debt Relief Order, to apportion their water charges pre and post order. Intermediaries should where appropriate continue to schedule the full years water charges in a DRO application, however you must ensure that your clients are apprised of the possibility that an insolvency clause may exist within a water authorities charging regime and if that is the case, then upon the making of a DRO the water authority may apportion their charges pre and post order and issue a revised water bill for services provided subsequent to the making of the order.

lotsaquestions

i think i understand that. Was told to put the whole years water bill in and that is what they have applied for in the court summons as well- although before i set up the DRO i did fill in the forms for instalment payments- i actually have no prob payong 2011/12 in instalments, but with the previous arrears i couldnd afford the payments

scarlet55

just to update everyone on my dro...if you remember when it was submitted (and approved) 2wks ago my adviser had mistakenly put the wrong amount down for one of my creditors...instead of putting £2,925 she put £2,625...i didnt notice untill i got home and imediately phoned up the CAB, who duly wrote to the or and asked him if he would ammend it..i have been told that this is something they dont normally due once it has been approved....well this morning i recieved a letter from the dro office and included was an ammended dro with the correct amount on it, :T:T:T

Orville

scarlet55 wrote: »

just to update everyone on my dro...if you remember when it was submitted (and approved) 2wks ago my adviser had mistakenly put the wrong amount down for one of my creditors...instead of putting £2,925 she put £2,625...i didnt notice untill i got home and imediately phoned up the CAB, who duly wrote to the or and asked him if he would ammend it..i have been told that this is something they dont normally due once it has been approved....well this morning i recieved a letter from the dro office and included was an ammended dro with the correct amount on it, :T:T:T

N1 Scarlett

scarlet55

cheers orville, didnt think it was going to happen with not hearing anymore about it but really glad it has..:)

broken_spirit

scarlet55 wrote: »

just to update everyone on my dro...if you remember when it was submitted (and approved) 2wks ago my adviser had mistakenly put the wrong amount down for one of my creditors...instead of putting £2,925 she put £2,625...i didnt notice untill i got home and imediately phoned up the CAB, who duly wrote to the or and asked him if he would ammend it..i have been told that this is something they dont normally due once it has been approved....well this morning i recieved a letter from the dro office and included was an ammended dro with the correct amount on it, :T:T:T

That's gr8 news. I've nothing 2 report yet

scarlet55

broken_spirit wrote: »

That's gr8 news. I've nothing 2 report yet

well its early days yet b.s...lets hope you hear sooner rather than later :)