Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

jak

Hiya. I saw a lady at the cab briefly and she gave me an information pack with a list of evidence I need. I've set up a cash card account at Barclays, the lady was sooo lovely. It was brilliant. I've got my cab appointment on 3rd April so i'm writing down reference number and making lists of bills so hopefuly I can pay them out of my lovely shiny new account rather than the old one. I've an appointment at the bank on Thursday to set up internet banking and direct debits.
I feel better already. I think I should be eligible for a DRO so fingers crossed.
Any idea how long it takes once the paperwork is sorted out?
Thanks again for all your help, I will be returning to ask for advice i'm sure!
X

fatbelly

Sounds like your CAB is organised. The slowest part of the process is usually getting the Experian report. If you want to impress them, you could probably get yours before 3 April and slap it on the table! The £2 statutory report is probably the least problematic.

Keep us posted

RainbowDreamer

Can none help with my previoud post please?

fatbelly

RainbowDreamer wrote: »

It also says my credit rating is good. I'm confused. Is it wrong? Or do my debts not show up on my credit file now?

Some debts will have dropped off, some were never reported in the first place.

I didn't respond earlier because I'm not sure what the problem is with having a good credit rating.

RainbowDreamer

Could it be that some are listen on a different credit scoring company? Or do they all share the same information? I was confused by the good credit rating as i thought it would be terrible until the 6 years were up?

ethan123

Hi guys,
This looks like a great (& v. useful) thread. Not many like this on the net.

I have tried to find the answer to my queries by searching this thread, but couldn't find the info I'm looking for.

If I owed £10,000 to one bank (Lloyds for example), and couldn't repay because the interest started to take more than I could put in...
... yet my relationship with another bank (say Barclays for example) was absolutely fine, and my PayPal account was linked to it, and they had also issued me with a credit card, ...
... would the DRO force me to close "all" my accounts, both good and bad? ... And, would I also no longer be allowed to keep using my PayPal account? (baring in mind it needs to be linked to a UK bank account to be of any use)

Also, [sorry to ask so many questions in one go] after the 6 years are up, and I am no longer DRO... can the bank I owe money to, force me to start repaying them again? ... or is all this debt written off completely?

Thank you for reading

Orville

ethan123 wrote: »

Hi guys,
This looks like a great (& v. useful) thread. Not many like this on the net.

I have tried to find the answer to my queries by searching this thread, but couldn't find the info I'm looking for.

If I owed £10,000 to one bank (Lloyds for example), and couldn't repay because the interest started to take more than I could put in...
... yet my relationship with another bank (say Barclays for example) was absolutely fine, and my PayPal account was linked to it, and they had also issued me with a credit card, ...
... would the DRO force me to close "all" my accounts, both good and bad? ... And, would I also no longer be allowed to keep using my PayPal account? (baring in mind it needs to be linked to a UK bank account to be of any use)

Also, [sorry to ask so many questions in one go] after the 6 years are up, and I am no longer DRO... can the bank I owe money to, force me to start repaying them again? ... or is all this debt written off completely?

Thank you for reading

Do you owe any money to the barclays account, and credit card?. If so then you would have to declare it. If you don't owe any money, that does not mean you can keep the account either, they may find out and close it down. However i have a current account with Santander which i had before the DRO and that never got closed down, infact it is still my main account today. Just to be on the safe side though still open a basic account and i am sure you'd still be able to use paypal on it if the need ever arrose.

You statement about what you owe to Lloyds is a bit vague. To qualify for a DRO you have to meet certain criteria.

You need to do a income/expenditure sheet WITHOUT including your debts. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html (So basically just imagine you don't have any debts). If you fill that out and after you have paid all your bills out etc for the month your left with under £50 you would qualify on that count. But for instance you own a car with a value over 1K you would not qualify.

Also i think you have misunderstood what you have read.

A DRO ends after 1 Full Year from the date it is issued.

A DRO does not last for six years, it is just your credit file is affected for six years from the date the DRO ends. But if it is found you have lied or entered misleading information the dro can be revoked at any time.

Orville

jak wrote: »

I've left aprs blank as i dont know them.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 1
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned....................
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 398
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 919.2
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1317.2
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 665
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 98
Electricity............................. 24
Gas..................................... 20
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 30
Telephone (land line)................... 22
Mobile phone............................ 22
TV Licence.............................. 12
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 21
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 200
Clothing................................ 10
Petrol/diesel........................... 0
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 0
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 0
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 120
Other child related expenses............ 10
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 14
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 10
Haircuts................................ 5
Entertainment........................... 0
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Total monthly expenses.................. 1283

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
over draft.....................3000......70........0
credit card....................3650......80........0
loan...........................3033......100.......0
comet..........................699.......25........0
housing overpayment............1285......0.........0
council tax....................492.......0.........0
cat............................365.......10........0
Total unsecured debts..........12524.....285.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,317.2
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,283
Available for debt repayments........... 34.2
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 285
Amount short for making debt repayments. -250.8
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -12,524
Net Assets.............................. -12,524
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Just a brief note (fatbelley pls feel free to correct me).

Your housing overpayment and council tax won't get written off when you go for the dro. I think you would still be liable for them.

Orville

fatbelly wrote: »

Some debts will have dropped off, some were never reported in the first place.

I didn't respond earlier because I'm not sure what the problem is with having a good credit rating.

I am in much the same situation. My DRO isn't even on one of my credit files (Experian) i think it is.

ethan123

Orville wrote: »

Do you owe any money to the barclays account, and credit card?. If so then you would have to declare it. If you don't owe any money, that does not mean you can keep the account either, they may find out and close it down. However i have a current account with Santander which i had before the DRO and that never got closed down, infact it is still my main account today. Just to be on the safe side though still open a basic account and i am sure you'd still be able to use paypal on it if the need ever arrose.

You statement about what you owe to Lloyds is a bit vague. To qualify for a DRO you have to meet certain criteria.

You need to do a income/expenditure sheet WITHOUT including your debts. makesenseofcards_com / soacalc (So basically just imagine you don't have any debts). If you fill that out and after you have paid all your bills out etc for the month your left with under £50 you would qualify on that count. But for instance you own a car with a value over 1K you would not qualify.

Also i think you have misunderstood what you have read.

A DRO ends after 1 Full Year from the date it is issued.

A DRO does not last for six years, it is just your credit file is affected for six years from the date the DRO ends. But if it is found you have lied or entered misleading information the dro can be revoked at any time.

Thank for your speedy and comprehensive response Orville,

Just to clarify;
1. I owe nothing to other banks... only to one bank.
... so I hope to be able to keep my basic visa debit account with the good bank, and paypal connections.

2. It's OK, I have no intention of hiding any of my bank accounts. After all, I don't want to get into any trouble.

3. Citizens Advice have already informed me of the max. £50 / m excess etc. I will also meet the requirements of the income/expenditure sheet, if indeed I do go ahead.

4. I am assuming that if I do go ahead with DRO, and I have to conduct my financial affairs in a certain way for one year, then providing I do this properly, all my debts (as declared in my DRO) will be written off?