Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

antonic

carla981 wrote: »

I am civil seervant with the tx office , would I have o declare to my employers that I have a DRO? Would it affect my job?

Check your staff handbook, I would recommend that you do notify your employer because if you dont and they find out later, it may cause you problems. (I`m a CS as well).

fatbelly

morleyboy wrote: »

My question is, would I not be eligible to seek a DRO until I have found employment and somewhere to live? I want to avoid full bankruptcy as I feel this is an absolute last resort.

I filled out the online questionnaire on the CCCS website and they are sending me the DRO application. (I input my projected 20 hour income and £500 rental costs),.

Please help guys, I think I have hit rock bottom in my life. The only way is up as they say.

I'd appreciate any advice and support.

Thanks

You can apply for a DRO as soon as you like. In fact,the one thing that caused me a bit of concern about your post was the fact that you think you owe 12k to Payday lenders. At the interest rates they charge, it may well be more by the time you do the application and so the 15k limit is looming large.

When you get your accommodation, get on the electoral roll at that address as soon as you can as the one thing that might slow down your application is the Intermediary getting your credit report.

morleyboy

Thanks for your advice. The Payday loans total around £3400. I have emailed all of them and most are freezing the interest till the end of next month.

Thanks for the heads up re the electoral roll too.

morleyboy

Any other advice from people who have been or are going through the process, including timescales would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

Mouk_2

Hello

It's my first post here. I'm slightly nervous but from what I've seen of the site, you seem very knowledgeable and willing to help. I'm looking for some help/advice please?

My husband is applying for a DRO, with help from the local CAB office. The calculations are being made using all the household income, including child benefit and child tax credits that are in my name. However, there is no allowance being made for my bills/ commitments. This means that it appears we have about £100 a month spare. My bills total more than that. I'm really worried my husband will be turned down for the DRO as a result of it looking like there is a spare £100.
Is it right that all our joint household income can be used for the calculations but not any of my bills? If he is turned down as a result, what should be his next step? Or mine?

Thank you.

fatbelly

Mouk wrote: »

Hello

It's my first post here. I'm slightly nervous but from what I've seen of the site, you seem very knowledgeable and willing to help. I'm looking for some help/advice please?.

Well, we try...

I can't believe any Intermediary (esp a CAB one) would be thinking about trying to submit an I/E statement showing £100 surplus.

The guidance tells us that the application should be made on the basis of the debtor's income and the debtor's expenditure. It doesn't prescribe how joint income and expenditure should be split, which gives some flexibility.

I'm sure if you ask the Intermediary or look at a draft application that they might send you, you will find they are separating the numbers to give an individual surplus less than 50

Otherwise there would be no point going down the DRO route.

j0annepsi

I'm being hassled by Halifax. I took out a DRO last October and a debt with them was included. They didn't contact me until around Feb this year when I got a statement (I have never received a paper statement before) showing my debt was now almost 3 times the original size because of fees.

I called them and they denied all knowledge of my DRO, even though The Insolvency Service told me when their letter was sent to them.

I sent Halifax a copy of my DRO.

2 months later I start getting letters from a debt collector! I contacted them and posted them a copy, and another to Halifax who again claim to know nothing about my DRO.

Since Feb Halifax have sent me a text message about my debt every single morning at 8am. This is causing me considerable stress and I feel harassed.

What can I do?

wba31

j0annepsi wrote: »

I'm being hassled by Halifax. I took out a DRO last October and a debt with them was included. They didn't contact me until around Feb this year when I got a statement (I have never received a paper statement before) showing my debt was now almost 3 times the original size because of fees.

I called them and they denied all knowledge of my DRO, even though The Insolvency Service told me when their letter was sent to them.

I sent Halifax a copy of my DRO.

2 months later I start getting letters from a debt collector! I contacted them and posted them a copy, and another to Halifax who again claim to know nothing about my DRO.

Since Feb Halifax have sent me a text message about my debt every single morning at 8am. This is causing me considerable stress and I feel harassed.

What can I do?

The creditors are still allowed to contact you during the DRO, but harassment for payment is not allowed.

Now the debt has been passed to a collector inform the collector of the DRO, give them your DRO number, and a photocopy of your approval notice, and they may play ball...

j0annepsi

The debt still belongs to Halifax. The debt collection agency were very nice about it and apologised. I haven't heard from them since.

It's Halifax who are harassing me.

zenseeker

My wife recently cleared her debts by way of a DRO. She would like to take an Open University course but we are unclear whether this would count as a loan and if she can apply.

We're a little confused anyway because last year there was a way to get completely free funding, but now they just seem to defer repayments until after you earn £21k or more.