Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

immoral_angeluk

gspec312 wrote: »

many thanks, I haven't had the meeting with them yet, if I am to use it to buy a car for less than £1000 and then have the other £1000 declared as income would this be sufficient, as on the first meeting I had said I had a car, but since then I have had it written off and the car is a necessity for work...the car was worth less than £1000 originally and i am due to receive around £700 for the car and £1300 for the personal injury.

The car would be find, but the 'income' no, because it's not income, it's a lump sum payment which would be an asset over £300 which would exclude you from a DRO.

immoral_angeluk

gspec312 wrote: »

Yeh i see what you mean, even if it goes down as an income over the space of the year? Also the application for a Dro has not yet been submitted, I have only just gone through the budget which can be amended, and if I was to pay back the family members straight away before the dro is submitted would that be fine, because id then no longer have the assets?

Or if i was to cash the cheque at say cash converters then no one would know anything about the cheques anyway...correct....as i wouldn't put the money in an account?

Paying your family would be a preference to a creditor, and again, would be likely to affect your eligiblity and you would be legally obliged to declare it for the OR to assess.

Cashing the cheque at cash converters and not telling them would be fraud as you would be purposefully withholding an asset and lying on your application. A BIG no no as you could be in serious trouble and face criminal/civil sanctions. Don't.

gspec312

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Paying your family would be a preference to a creditor, and again, would be likely to affect your eligiblity and you would be legally obliged to declare it for the OR to assess.

Right, after some thought I think I have come to a conclusion. If I bank the cheque, and then buy my new car and pay for my insurance and tax outright, it still leaves my car under £1000 but the new car is more expensive road tax and insurance. If I then put this £2000 down as another annual income, and make amendments to my budget, this still brings me under the £50 a month mark. Would this be sufficient enough and would my DRO be turned down as I have declared the money and then spent it on a necessity of a car needed for work and what was needed to put it on the road as my original car was written off this week???

Any ideas on this?

wba31

gspec312 wrote: »

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Paying your family would be a preference to a creditor, and again, would be likely to affect your eligiblity and you would be legally obliged to declare it for the OR to assess.

Right, after some thought I think I have come to a conclusion. If I bank the cheque, and then buy my new car and pay for my insurance and tax outright, it still leaves my car under £1000 but the new car is more expensive road tax and insurance. If I then put this £2000 down as another annual income, and make amendments to my budget, this still brings me under the £50 a month mark. Would this be sufficient enough and would my DRO be turned down as I have declared the money and then spent it on a necessity of a car needed for work and what was needed to put it on the road as my original car was written off this week???

Any ideas on this?

So, do you work, and subsequently need a car for work? need being the key word in meaning there is no alternative, not that it just makes the journey a little easier than the bus that stops a 5 minute walk from your house? buying the car for less than £1000 is fine in my opinion, and tax is a necessity, if the insurance is such that it takes up the remainder £800+, thats £67 a month back in your budget, taking your surplus up again?

gspec312

wba31 wrote: »

gspec312 wrote: »

So, do you work, and subsequently need a car for work? need being the key word in meaning there is no alternative, not that it just makes the journey a little easier than the bus that stops a 5 minute walk from your house? buying the car for less than £1000 is fine in my opinion, and tax is a necessity, if the insurance is such that it takes up the remainder £800+, thats £67 a month back in your budget, taking your surplus up again?

I do work, and definately need a car, as I work unsocial hours and my place of work is nearly 120 miles from where I live, its impossible without a car. I have re-calculated my budget, and if I am to declare the monies as a £2000 annual payment not just a monthly one, then regardless of my buying the new car, with the increased tax and insurance then this spread over the course of the year brings my budget back below £50 a month. Would this be considered ok?

Smart_Mart

Had some great advice on here a few months back re my potential DRO but I still haven't gone through with it yet. But in the interests of de-cluttering my life and reclaiming my sanity, I'm going to try again with a call to the CCCS on Monday.

One question I do have. One of my creditors will be my electricity suppliers who are British Gas. I owe them a tidy sum and they have threatened to disconnect although the last correspondence from them following my call said they had agreed to a repayment plan to clear it off.

My questions are...

1. Should I change suppliers now and then include the debt in my DRO?

2. If the answer to (1) above is yes, am I likely to get any hassle from them if the new suppliers come to fit a different meter... ie telling them not to fit new one as money owed on old one.

Thanks in advance

Martin

caz2003uk

Smart_Mart wrote: »

Had some great advice on here a few months back re my potential DRO but I still haven't gone through with it yet. But in the interests of de-cluttering my life and reclaiming my sanity, I'm going to try again with a call to the CCCS on Monday.

One question I do have. One of my creditors will be my electricity suppliers who are British Gas. I owe them a tidy sum and they have threatened to disconnect although the last correspondence from them following my call said they had agreed to a repayment plan to clear it off.

My questions are...

1. Should I change suppliers now and then include the debt in my DRO?

2. If the answer to (1) above is yes, am I likely to get any hassle from them if the new suppliers come to fit a different meter... ie telling them not to fit new one as money owed on old one.

Thanks in advance

Martin

Hi,

Having had some nasty dealings with british gas regarding my debt with both electric and gas i know what your going through.

Firstly...you can not change suppliers while there is a debt owing.

Secondly...if your applying for a DRO this debt is included! If you dont go through with the DRO I would advice asking to change to pre-payment meters now while it will be free to do so, they will set up a weekly amount to be paid from your meter and this can be arranged around your available income, mine was at the lowest it could go of £4 a week per utility.

IF ... it is left to british gas to do, they will take it court and the meters will be changed by bailiffs at a cost of £360 each meter added to your debt.

I hadn't been receiving mail from british gas, including the fact it had gone to court and a warrant to force entry given. The first i knew was when a neighbour rung me at work to say 3 men were breaking into my flat ... i rushed home to find this was british gas changing my meter to a pre-payment one. This was extremely distressing and scary to arrive home to my home being forced into.

Are you eligible for a DRO? If you are, get straight onto getting it organised, the sooner the better and the relief is unbelievable.

Since my DRO was approved, both the figures of debt on my meters has been removed and also the repayment plan removed from them. Im on my countdown to the 12 month momatorium ending, and in 1 weeks time Im 3 months in! I wish i had got this sorted out sooner, infact i wish i had never got into the situation i did in the first place and could have paid it back myself but there is just no way it would ever have got paid off

This website is brilliant for answering the questions we all need the answers to!

Smart_Mart

Thanks Caz. I'm actually quite genned up on the DRO system; I've had two phone interviews with the CCCS previously, one last year and one about five months ago but my lack of motivation has meant they've never gone any further I'm afraid.

Will ring CCCS on Monday and book a phone interview then get on with paying the £90 off in instalments so that I'm ready to go through with it this time.

caz2003uk

Smart_Mart wrote: »

Thanks Caz. I'm actually quite genned up on the DRO system; I've had two phone interviews with the CCCS previously, one last year and one about five months ago but my lack of motivation has meant they've never gone any further I'm afraid.

Will ring CCCS on Monday and book a phone interview then get on with paying the £90 off in instalments so that I'm ready to go through with it this time.

I hope you can get it sorted out soon! The earlier you can find the £90 the better cos it will be sorted out quicker! I've heard CCCS are processing DRO's in approx 4 weeks at the moment. Unfortunately for me I went through my local CAB and it took 9 months had it been done in 4 weeks, i'd be approaching the 12 months now... ah well least its done!

Anymore questions feel free to ask and im sure you'll get the help you need!

immoral_angeluk

gspec312 wrote: »

Right, after some thought I think I have come to a conclusion. If I bank the cheque, and then buy my new car and pay for my insurance and tax outright, it still leaves my car under £1000 but the new car is more expensive road tax and insurance. If I then put this £2000 down as another annual income, and make amendments to my budget, this still brings me under the £50 a month mark. Would this be sufficient enough and would my DRO be turned down as I have declared the money and then spent it on a necessity of a car needed for work and what was needed to put it on the road as my original car was written off this week???

Any ideas on this?

You can't put the money down as annual income because it isn't. However, if you spend the money on getting the car (under 1k) roadworthy and spend it on essential domestic needs (ie car insurance, tax, repairs) then that would be ok as far as I would be concerned. Anything leftover would be an asset, not income so if over £300 would rule you out of a DRO.
But if you were declare it as this it would need to be the case that you actually did that and didn't just say it for the purposes of obtaining your DRO as that would be fraud.