Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

longtermplanner

All your debts that can be extinguished by the DRO need to be included. This included any arrears for utility bills.

I think you will find that you won't be put forward for a DRO in your debt total is only a hundred or two below £15,000. You need to be clearly under as they don't want the interest added to take you over the £15,000.

If you are in a DMP with StepChange and your expenses are being underestimated, you need to call them and discuss this.

Jonj1611

If they move quickly then yes you can be a couple of hundred under, I was £100 under when I had mine.

wba31

Gordie1975 wrote: »

Can someone advise me with a few question i have with the debt order i intend to do when i am sure i qualify.

I have done a credit report with equifax and there are 2 totals, one delinquent balance" and one "current balance" for all my debts, which one is the correct amount i owe?, as the difference is only a few hundred pounds but one total is below 15k and the other is above it.

Also i am currently in a DMP, and budgeted £40 gas a £40 elec, now 8 months later i have discovered that i was underpaying, and so have a deficit of probably £300, will this need to be included in the DRO, or can i simply not mention it and pay a bit extra every month, i dont think power bills show on a credit report.

Also, i need to re-do my budget, like i said my power bills were way out, but so also was my food bill, and a few other things that i initially guessed at.

You see, the reason i am worried is because i dont really want to phone up step change to re-do my DMP as, if i do, they will realise i am way wore off that i initially said i was, so will be unable to afford the DMP, and then my creditors may start adding interest on, meaning i would definately be above the 15k.

Its annoying, as the only reason i didnt do a dro lat year was because i was over the 15k, now due to paying the dmp, i may be under, but i dont want it to look like suddenly because i want a DRO, my expenses have gone up.

Any adive would be great.:)

You will need to call them anyway because in reality your DMP is something you cannot afford, you need to increase your payment to gas and electric to at least be breaking even with them. You should also mention your food situation too, they will understand that after some time of trying to live on the budget it may need adjusting...

I have known clients on Step Change DMP's ring for their annual review with the expectation that the DMP will continue and Step Change have advised the clients that they can now do a DRO and encouraged these clients to consider the option.

Your arrears will go into the DRO, so you can continue paying for current usage only.

I don't have much experience of Equifax credit reports, the DRO Unit check Experian so that's what i check. If Experian shows debts over £15k but you have statements evidencing that the debt is under £15k as Experian is out of date then you should be ok to proceed.

Jonj1611

When the DRO is complete what happens to the companies that were listed in the DRO on credit reports, does the status change to satisfied or removed or something else? As mine are all the same as before.

Thanks

Jonj1611

Can anyone help me with my question above please? Thank you

fatbelly

Jonj1611 wrote: »

When the DRO is complete what happens to the companies that were listed in the DRO on credit reports, does the status change to satisfied or removed or something else? As mine are all the same as before.

Thanks

Yes, they should be marked satisfied or settled

Fermi's thread explains the process

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/677875

Jonj1611

Ok cool, thank you.

Jonj1611

Out of interest I was just looking at Fermi's advice, his letter is for bankruptcy and mine was a DRO, do I send the same letter or is there another to send do you know?

Thanks again for your help

fermi

You mean for clearing up credit files?

If so, this recent thread may help.

---> https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4921240

Jonj1611

Yes, clearing up the file and that has helped immensely, thank you.