Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

Smart_Mart

Mummytobe2011 wrote: »

Thanks poormummy. So I shouldn't mention the DRO?

Does anyone have any info on CCCS? I was planning on going with CAB but after reading the above, I think 9 months of applying would drive me crazy! Is it done all over the phone? What documents do you need to send in?

Thanks

Hi, have a look at my post further up there... ^^^^^^. I had my phone interview with the CCCS about a week or ten days after I contacted them. They said that the waiting times are about three weeks but the bulk of that is waiting for Experian to send your credit report through. Some people are getting their DRO's really quickly; in fact, so much so that I reckon I'll get my bar code before the £90 fee...

The initial phone interview will be a number crunching exercise lasting about half an hour dependent on your circumstances. At the end, the counsellor will tell you what they recommend; DRO, Bankruptcy, a debt management plan, whatever! They will then send you your paperwork through to sign and check, let you know what to send back in the way of statements etc and then once you've sent back your stuff, you'll get a barcode back which you submit with your fee.

radio-jo

My DRO was granted in September. For the last 6 weeks i've been receiving daily text messages from Halifax demanding I pay money into an account to pay off an overdraft that was included in the DRO.

Should I just ignore the texts or should I contact them and tell them to stop sending the messages?

caz2003uk

radio-jo wrote: »

My DRO was granted in September. For the last 6 weeks i've been receiving daily text messages from Halifax demanding I pay money into an account to pay off an overdraft that was included in the DRO.

Should I just ignore the texts or should I contact them and tell them to stop sending the messages?

Mine was also approved in September and one of the creditors on my DRO was Halifax I just rang them and told them the DRO number and approval date and I've not heard anything more!

Just give them a ring

radio-jo

caz2003uk wrote: »

Mine was also approved in September and one of the creditors on my DRO was Halifax I just rang them and told them the DRO number and approval date and I've not heard anything more!

Just give them a ring

Oh - I thought the insolvency service contacted all my creditors to inform them?

fermi

radio-jo wrote: »

Oh - I thought the insolvency service contacted all my creditors to inform them?

They do, but it's the usual thing of one bank department not informing another, automated systems just sending them out etc.

If it bothers you then complain.

Otherwise, just ignore, as the DRO renders them meaningless.

caz2003uk

Yes they do, but as fermi said and was confirmed to me by a few of the companies communication between departments is pretty useless!

A quick phone call will end the issues your having

sherbie

hi, sorry to ask, but i just cant find the answer to my question anywhere! of course it doesnt mean it isnt somewhere obvious, but my heads spinning, been at this since 8am today alone! ive been looking into various options for a while now, and didnt really want to go the dro route ( but who does!). ive tried to get a consolidation loan 3 times this year from my bank, the last time the lady seemed to think it would go through if i waited a few months for my credit report to catch up, (the monthly repayments would be tight), but i feel i should sort my own mess out (and before random strangers pass judgement on me, im sick and disabled, and lost my job 8 years ago, and have been struggling since then. its now become impossible to keep my head above water, and my elderly parents are in trouble financially too. i used to work flippin hard, sometimes 3 jobs, frequently 7 days a week, and i feel nothing but shame about my situation, in general, not just the debt). anyway, didnt mean to ramble, the question...

i owe £16,108, and just did an online thing with cccs. it says my best option would be a temp repayment plan. if i do this, and am able at some point to get below the magic £15,000, would i then be able to apply for a dro, or would one cancel the other out? i would need them to freeze the interest to make this in any way realistic, and im not sure if theyd do that ( b/c cc, natwest cc, natwest o/d).

thanks in advance for any help. its so scary posting things like this, isnt it?:(

fatbelly

sherbie wrote: »

i owe £16,108, and just did an online thing with cccs. it says my best option would be a temp repayment plan. if i do this, and am able at some point to get below the magic £15,000, would i then be able to apply for a dro, or would one cancel the other out? i would need them to freeze the interest to make this in any way realistic, and im not sure if theyd do that ( b/c cc, natwest cc, natwest o/d).

thanks in advance for any help. its so scary posting things like this, isnt it?:(

Hopefully it gets less scary the more often you do it...

You can apply for a DRO as soon as you meet the basic criteria:

1. Debts under 15k
2. Assets under £300 (so not a homeowner) but car can be up to £1000
3. Surplus income under £50 per month.

You should also have treated your creditors equally in the run-up to a DRO so if you're on a DMP making pro-rata offers then that is covered.

There may be an issue (in your creditors eyes) if you are making payments over £50 per month on the DMP and then claiming under £50 surplus for your DRO.

However, if you receive DLA as one of your benefits you may choose to use that money on a DMP but when it comes to the DRO the instruction is that it must be shown as both 'income' and 'expenditure'.

So in theory if you were receiving £80 per week DLA you could be paying £350 per month on a DMP but still qualify for a DRO.

chelle73

Hi,

A couple of questions regarding DRO that I can't find the answer to.
We are a married couple who were self employed until July this year, my husband has now found another job and I currently work part time (although not for much longer as nearly 7 months pregnant).

Some of our bills are in both our names..... what happens to these, can we split them if we both apply for DRO's????
Also, some of our debts are tax and vat related, will they be included in the total amount, we have contacted Inland Revenue and have offered them repayments in the past but they will not accept anything less than £200 a month and obviously we can't afford that???

Thanks in advance.

fatbelly

chelle73 wrote: »

Hi,

A couple of questions regarding DRO that I can't find the answer to.
We are a married couple who were self employed until July this year, my husband has now found another job and I currently work part time (although not for much longer as nearly 7 months pregnant).

Some of our bills are in both our names..... what happens to these, can we split them if we both apply for DRO's????
Also, some of our debts are tax and vat related, will they be included in the total amount, we have contacted Inland Revenue and have offered them repayments in the past but they will not accept anything less than £200 a month and obviously we can't afford that???

Thanks in advance.

There are very few debts that are 'excluded' (CSA arrears, court fines, Student loans). Where debts are joint, the full amount must be scheduled in each person's application.

If only one of you goes for a DRO, the liability squeezes over to the other party in full.

I'm guessing you're struggling with the 15k limit.