Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

go_away_debt

i was just wondering if this is right for me. i appear to fit the criteria but i was wondering, would this affect my girlfriend. i haven't told her about my debt problems and if possible want to keep it that way. i've been in a dmp coming up for a year now but its starting to get to much as i don't have enough to pay the bills.
our council tax comes out of my account (but has been missed a few months) but we are both named on the bill. would that mean if i cant pay she would have to or can i enter in to a dro to clear this with my other debts?
also would her things be considered when calculating the assets?

fatbelly

go_away_debt wrote: »

i was just wondering if this is right for me. i appear to fit the criteria but i was wondering, would this affect my girlfriend. i haven't told her about my debt problems and if possible want to keep it that way. i've been in a dmp coming up for a year now but its starting to get to much as i don't have enough to pay the bills.
our council tax comes out of my account (but has been missed a few months) but we are both named on the bill. would that mean if i cant pay she would have to or can i enter in to a dro to clear this with my other debts?
also would her things be considered when calculating the assets?

If you have joint financial products with your girlfriend (like a joint currennt account), then her credit rating will be affected.

If you've defaulted in respect of a reminder notice, the council tax can go in and she will receive a revised bill for the arrears in her name.

Each District Borough Council levies and collects a tax, called a council tax which is payable in respect of dwellings in its area. The occupiers of the dwellings have joint and several liability for council tax.

Council tax is charged on a yearly basis from 1 April each year but the liability to pay council tax is determined on a daily basis. The billing authority is required to make a demand for payment of the council tax separate to the notification of the amount of council tax and the tax becomes due when that demand is made but most council tax payers agree a statutory monthly payment scheme for payment of council tax.

Any amount due and unpaid under the instalment agreement prior to the insolvency order is an unsecured debt in the proceedings. If the debtor‟s council tax is up to date under the instalment agreement at the date of the debt relief order, no amount can be scheduled in the order as it relates to future occupation of the dwelling.

A recent High Court decision R (Mohammed) v Southwark LBC [2009] EWHC 311 (Admin) the Administrative Court concluded “that if a resident to whom a demand for a payment on account of council tax is properly addressed fails to pay an instalment on time, or fails to respond quickly enough to a reminder notice, or a final notice, he may become liable to pay the whole balance of the estimated amount of tax for that financial year within a short period, normally 7 days. The council will then be entitled to seek a liability order against him for that amount if it is wholly or partly unpaid”

Therefore when applying this judgement to Debt Relief Orders, if the debtor has defaulted in respect of a reminder notice the whole of the amount is due and payable and therefore a qualifying debt (whether or not the council has obtained a liability order), if the debtor has maintained their instalment agreement in accordance with the demand notice, or no reminder notice has been issued only sums accrued and unpaid up to the DRO are a „qualifying debt‟.

Where a liability order has been obtained by the council, prior to the debt relief order being made the whole debt as notified within the liability order becomes due and it is therefore a qualifying debt.

Those creditors that the debtor does not provide details of, will not be included within the DRO, and consequently will not be prevented from pursuing action in respect of those debts that they are owed.

Only your assets are considered towards the £300 limit.

Myfamilyaremylife

I felt i had to post a comment ( my first ever might i add lol ) just to say a massive thankyou to everyone on here who uses their own time and must spend hundreds of hours helping and advising people with financial problems.

I was in debt to the sum of around 8k and found myself getting more and more depressed and feeling low, not knowing where my next payment was going to come from.

I found this site one day whist browsing for debt help and can honestly say i have managed to turn my whole life around.

After reading comments on here i decided to swollow my pride and do probably the hardest thing ever and admit defeat.

I contacted CCCS and laid my cards on the table.
They advised my to go for a DRO as i only had a small income from tax credits and at home with the children and my partner being on such a low wage also.

My DRO was accepted March 2012 and for the first time i actually looked forward to waking up and facing the day ahead :T....
Dont get me wrong i hold my hands up to my stupidity and the last 7/8mths have been by no means easy, but i finally have my life back with my family and things WILL only get better!!!:rotfl:. I have followed this thread for almost 2 years in total and just want to say to anyone with debt worrys....DONT PANIC!!!! ther is ALWAYS help out there...no matter what your circumstances are:).

AGAIN...A MASSIVE THANKYOU TO YOU ALL WHO HELPED ME THROUGH A AWFUL PART OF MY LIFE WITH YOUR SOUND ADVICE!! :T:T:T:T

Myfamilyaremylife

Oh and can i just add that if i can help anyone with my personnal experience of managing a DRO i will do Any questions or queries...just ask away! .

brems88

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me? I'm currently going through the process through an intermediary of applying for a Debt Relief Order. I attended University last year and have just passed my Masters course, and have landed my dream job. However at the moment this job is relatively unpaid, just expenses etc, and I am having to work a second job. I took out a Career Development Loan to cover the costs of my course, as well as having maxed two overdrafts, and currently my debts total £13400, (£10,000 loan and £3400 overdrafts). This puts me under the £15000 limit for a DRO, and though I don't really want to go down this route I see it as my best option. I have not currently started paying back the loan, so have paid no interest or anything on it, and the first payment is at the end of this month. However the loan has a £2000 interest amount payable over the 5 year period of repayments. My question is is this £2000 included in my debt amount, putting me over the £15000 total and therefore not eligible for a DRO??

fatbelly

brems88 wrote: »

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help me? I'm currently going through the process through an intermediary of applying for a Debt Relief Order. I attended University last year and have just passed my Masters course, and have landed my dream job. However at the moment this job is relatively unpaid, just expenses etc, and I am having to work a second job. I took out a Career Development Loan to cover the costs of my course, as well as having maxed two overdrafts, and currently my debts total £13400, (£10,000 loan and £3400 overdrafts). This puts me under the £15000 limit for a DRO, and though I don't really want to go down this route I see it as my best option. I have not currently started paying back the loan, so have paid no interest or anything on it, and the first payment is at the end of this month. However the loan has a £2000 interest amount payable over the 5 year period of repayments. My question is is this £2000 included in my debt amount, putting me over the £15000 total and therefore not eligible for a DRO??

The question is 'what figure would need to be paid today to discharge your liability?' Let your intermediary check your paper work and maybe get confirmation from the lender.

Has your intermediary made any comment on this?

brems88

fatbelly wrote: »

The question is 'what figure would need to be paid today to discharge your liability?' Let your intermediary check your paper work and maybe get confirmation from the lender.

Has your intermediary made any comment on this?

Thanks fatbelly. I've checked and the type of loan it is allows an early repayment before the first payment is due without any charges of interest being applied. She just mentioned it in passing today so I thought I'd better find out the answer. So if I've got the right to repay the loan early, in effect paying back the £10000 I borrowed, this will be the figure that is used in calculating my eligibility for a DRO yes??

babyrosie101

Well it certainly looks like dro is the way forward for me - but can anyone tell me what happens to catalogue purchases that are either not paid off or are on buy now pay later? Had to buy a fridge freezer back in February and then bought a kindle as a gift back in June. Will the catalogue companies ask for them back? Thanks for any help.

Orville

babyrosie101 wrote: »

Well it certainly looks like dro is the way forward for me - but can anyone tell me what happens to catalogue purchases that are either not paid off or are on buy now pay later? Had to buy a fridge freezer back in February and then bought a kindle as a gift back in June. Will the catalogue companies ask for them back? Thanks for any help.

Just include them in your DRO. There maybe a chance they would ask for them back, but i doubt it.

joshtwo

Hi everyone, could anyone tell me how long it take to process a dro once you've pd your £90?
many thanks