Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

Hampshire345

:mad: I am really disappointed now, I went to my appointment at the CAB and they said that they were too swamped at the moment and recommended that I use stepchange to do my DRO instead

I will do my dro with stepchange instead now

Hampshire345

I have completed stepchange's online debt remedy and have requested an application pack

strangely when I put in my benefits of 114.7 per fortnight( 229.4 per month), it said that I receive 250 per month in jsa, it would not let me change this figure even when I put 229 monthly instead of 114.7 fortnightly

Jonj1611

£114.70 x 26 / 12 = £248.51 per month

I think it depends on how busy these people are, when I got my DRO I tried Stepchange first and National Debtline both said they were extremely busy and to try CAB which I did

fatbelly

Hampshire345 wrote: »

:mad: I am really disappointed now, I went to my appointment at the CAB and they said that they were too swamped at the moment and recommended that I use stepchange to do my DRO instead

I will do my dro with stepchange instead now

Each CAB will be different - some will not have access to an Intermediary and so will be unable to offer DROs. Things have certainly got more difficult for them over the past 12 months since (a) the effective withdrawing of LSC funding for debt work and (b) council funding being squeezed.

Keep us updated with progress with Stepchange.

StepChange_Pavan

Hampshire345 wrote: »

I have completed stepchange's online debt remedy and have requested an application pack

strangely when I put in my benefits of 114.7 per fortnight( 229.4 per month), it said that I receive 250 per month in jsa, it would not let me change this figure even when I put 229 monthly instead of 114.7 fortnightly

Hi Hampshire345,

We calculate income and expenditure monthly, as there’s not always 4 weeks in every month.

It can be difficult to explain but if you receive £114.70 every 2 weeks it works out as £248.51 per calendar month. (57.23 per week x 52 divided by 12)

You can use the chat facility within Debt Remedy, or give us a call if you're still unsure and want to discuss it in more detail.

Hope this helps,
Pavan

Hampshire345

I have now received the application pack.

It says "all debts must be included in the application stage as any that are omitted cannot be added later and therefore will not be included in the dro...
Only the balance given in the DRO application will be written off, so it is important to provide accurate balances of all amounts owed"

I provided all details about my debts and did not leave any out of the dro application, however does this mean that the amounts that I listed in the online application are the amounts that they will use for the dro, as the amounts will change in a day or two as interest will be added.I was going to post the decleration along with copies of my statements which will show the total and accurate figure, the statements will all be issued by the 14th and then there will be no changes to the amounts for about 3 weeks until the new statement for my store card is issued.

I have waffled on but the thing I am asking is if I provide them with all the latest statements will the figures in the statements be the figures that the dro is based on

misssunshine1

Hi all,
I spoke to StepChange this week and was surprised that a DRO was not recommended for me, but rather I should contact my creditors and make token payments of £1 per month as a temporary payment arrangement. Having gone through everything with the debt advisor my income was LESS than my essential outgoings each month so obviously I have less than £50 spare per month. The reason I was given that I could not have a debt relief order was because I was in negative amount...does that mean you have to have between £0 and £50 exactly spare per month? It seems really strange that I was not given the option as it was something I wanted to pursue, as this debt stress has been going on for some time and I thought there was an end in sight. I am on benefits so I cannot see how even token payments are really possible. Advice/info appreciated. Thanks!

longtermplanner

hi misssunshine1,

my guess is that Stepcchange don't think your current situation is sustainable. If your budget doesnt balance with no debt repayments, then how are you going to live without taking on more debt? Something needs to change, and it is when you have a balanced budget that you should go for the DRO. Up until that point, your debts may be increasing.

How much is your budget negative by? Is anything likely to change in your situation?

wba31

longtermplanner wrote: »

hi misssunshine1,

my guess is that Stepcchange don't think your current situation is sustainable. If your budget doesnt balance with no debt repayments, then how are you going to live without taking on more debt? Something needs to change, and it is when you have a balanced budget that you should go for the DRO. Up until that point, your debts may be increasing.

How much is your budget negative by? Is anything likely to change in your situation?

I agree with this, the budget needs to be sustainable in the long term, otherwise the Debt Relief Order is a short term option as you will need to borrow to meet your standard living costs and end up in debt again. I wouldnt offer a DRO to anyone spending more then receiving as income, I would be looking at the budget with them, seeing where reductions can be made in expenditure, but also seeing if extra income is available.

Hampshire345

I have finally posted off my completed dro application to stepchange today,
how long will it take them to process it and decide if I can do a dro?