Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

fatbelly

sarbaz2007 wrote: »

Any suggestions?

Well, if you had balance figures but not the references then you could enter the debts with NK as the reference.

But it seems that you do not have either, no-one is pursuing these accounts and haven't done for some time. All the old correspondence seems to have been destroyed, both by you and the creditor. (I just wonder if a letter to the bank, rather than phone calls, might give them the time to dig into their records a bit more. Well it might or might not)

In those circumstances I think your AI is being a bit unreasonable. The instructions are that all liabilities should be listed - and only not listed if we have a letter confirming that the debt has actually been written off.

But we have to be realistic here - there is no record of what has been written off and no bank is going to generate a letter saying 'you do not owe us anything on any account anywhere'

This is your application, not his, and the DRO unit will see it that way. If you insist on making the application he cannot refuse but could submit it, ticking the box that says 'advised against submission'. That would generate investigation by the DRO Unit, and that's a situation no-one wants.

So I would suggest trying to reach agreement but ultimately you may have to take your business elsewhere. The existing draft application will not cause a problem.

sarbaz2007

fatbelly wrote: »

Well, if you had balance figures but not the references then you could enter the debts with NK as the reference.

But it seems that you do not have either, no-one is pursuing these accounts and haven't done for some time. All the old correspondence seems to have been destroyed, both by you and the creditor. (I just wonder if a letter to the bank, rather than phone calls, might give them the time to dig into their records a bit more. Well it might or might not)

In those circumstances I think your AI is being a bit unreasonable. The instructions are that all liabilities should be listed - and only not listed if we have a letter confirming that the debt has actually been written off.

But we have to be realistic here - there is no record of what has been written off and no bank is going to generate a letter saying 'you do not owe us anything on any account anywhere'

This is your application, not his, and the DRO unit will see it that way. If you insist on making the application he cannot refuse but could submit it, ticking the box that says 'advised against submission'. That would generate investigation by the DRO Unit, and that's a situation no-one wants.

So I would suggest trying to reach agreement but ultimately you may have to take your business elsewhere. The existing draft application will not cause a problem.

If i do go elsewhere should/need i add the statue barred debts to avoid confusion or is that a problem?

fatbelly

sarbaz2007 wrote: »

If i do go elsewhere should/need i add the statue barred debts to avoid confusion or is that a problem?

Personally I think your best option is to put a rough figure for the balance and enter NK (not known) for the reference. I saw a list you posted some time ago - you seem to have a rough idea of what was owed and the total balance is comfortably under 15k.

wba31

sarbaz2007 wrote: »

If i do go elsewhere should/need i add the statue barred debts to avoid confusion or is that a problem?

If i was doing your DRO i would put down the creditor, and ask you what the balance may have been, and put down a rough estimate, and if you have no reference I'd submit it without the reference.

It's not the intermediary's job to argue the toss on stuff like this, for example, if someone tells us to submit and they havent got updated balances, we have to warn that the creditors can still chase the difference, but if the person doing the DRO wants it submitting, we should submit it... but that's just where i work...

wba31

Beki88 wrote: »

All figures are approx a month worked out as you said (52 weeks divided by 12).

Income support: £338 (after the loan is taken off)

Rent: £50 (includes £10 towards arrears of £546.)
Water: £50 (includes £19 towards arrears of £113)
Council tax: £15
Gas: £30
Elec: £30
Mobile: £10
TV license: £13
Food, toiletries, cleaning: £110
Hairdressing: £5
clothing footwear: £12
sundries emergencies: £12

She doesnt actually spend 5 a month on hairdressing, same for clothing footwear, she does pay towards petrol each month for being taken to her hospital appointments but they didnt seem to include that. She said that she needed to apply the "spare" money elsewhere which is why she added it onto those as apparently they are allowable amounts.

From the rent downwards to food that is exactly what she spends. Although elec and gas can vary as she is on prepayment, most of the time her mantra is when its gone its gone but she may occasionally "top up" with a bit extra gas so she can cook, things like that.

Include the social fund loan in the DRO, the income support will go back to the awarded amount as they should stop taking payment from the loan. and the rent arrears is a funny one because of a recent release from the IS. Do persist in trying to get in touch with your advisors. do they have an email address you can email your question in to if their lines are busy?

alleycat21

wba31 wrote: »

1) the creditors will only appeal if they feel you are not eligible for the DRO for some reason, like you told them you own a house or they know you have made preferential payments on debts...

2) with regards to this gift of money... could you ask them to make the cheque out to your partner due to banking issues? you can have up to £300 in savings, but an exact £300, is that the limit or 1p over? im not sure to be honest, but have it paid to your partner, there then isnt £300 in your account (£150 is yours...)

with the tax credits is it a result of a backpayment? if so the total can be classed as an income and split into the number of months its paid for (so £300 for 10 months becomes £30 a month...)

Thank you wba. So it would certainly be a problem if I were to put this cheque for £500 into my account? I can't have it made out to OH as he is also under a DRO - plus he is struggling with a severe drinking problem and possibly depression, so sadly I could not trust him with that sort of money. I do have till Christmas to decide what to do about it, I guess.

With the tax credits thing, I'm not sure what it is - I think it is some sort of back-payment due to OH losing his job last year. So if I work it out as a monthly figure and it doesn't put me over the £50 a month surplus, I'm OK?

RecoveringAlcoholic

alleycat21 wrote: »

Thank you wba. So it would certainly be a problem if I were to put this cheque for £500 into my account? I can't have it made out to OH as he is also under a DRO - plus he is struggling with a severe drinking problem and possibly depression, so sadly I could not trust him with that sort of money. I do have till Christmas to decide what to do about it, I guess.

With the tax credits thing, I'm not sure what it is - I think it is some sort of back-payment due to OH losing his job last year. So if I work it out as a monthly figure and it doesn't put me over the £50 a month surplus, I'm OK?

If your DRO application has been approved, you must:
• comply with the official receiver’s request to give further information about
your financial affairs. The official receiver may not need to contact you.
However, you should co-operate fully if they ask you for more information;
• inform the official receiver of any assets you obtain or increases in your income whilst subject to a DRO, including lump-sum cash payments, windfalls, property and money left to you in a will;

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/droguide.pdf




.

Orville

alleycat21 wrote: »

Thank you wba. So it would certainly be a problem if I were to put this cheque for £500 into my account? I can't have it made out to OH as he is also under a DRO - plus he is struggling with a severe drinking problem and possibly depression, so sadly I could not trust him with that sort of money. I do have till Christmas to decide what to do about it, I guess.

With the tax credits thing, I'm not sure what it is - I think it is some sort of back-payment due to OH losing his job last year. So if I work it out as a monthly figure and it doesn't put me over the £50 a month surplus, I'm OK?

Ask for it in cash. Who else would know..?.

SingleMumOf2_3

Just a quickie.. my DRO started in February. I was told insolvency contacts all your creditors. Is that correct? One in particular is still sending me letters and harrassing me over the phone.. asking me to fax over all my DRO information. I keep asking them to contact insolvency and giving them my DRO number... to which they refuse and state its down to me to fax information over.
There is no where near me that faxes.. apart from maybe the library.. but with a baby and a toddler and a double pram it is not easy to get there with the long walk and getting into the library etc. I do not want to go to all that effort if it is not down to me to do.. hope that makes sense?

sarbaz2007

Hi guys,
I finally got all my stuff back from the stupid man as he kept asking for stupid things and he was a pain.

Can advise me the best place i should go to now as i have been to the CAB in strand and want to go to someone completley diffrent altogether.

Just one last thing i called the insolvency service and the guy told me if i wanted i could leave out the old debts if im sure that its been written off. should i do this to avoid confusion or should i just add it.

Thanks guys