Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

debtorwithaquestion

Yes fatbelly you clearly have the experience of what happens to NatWest accounts- I appreciated the heads up though as that was the account I used the most pre DRO. Still can't work out why RBS gave me a contactless card though seeing as they're based on credit rating!!

LEO83

debtorwithaquestion wrote: »

Yes fatbelly you clearly have the experience of what happens to NatWest accounts- I appreciated the heads up though as that was the account I used the most pre DRO. Still can't work out why RBS gave me a contactless card though seeing as they're based on credit rating!!

be carful with rbs they are part of natwest also.. i fear it will only be a while before they also do the same.

LEO83

Just to let people know nationwide is bringing out there new fee free basic bank account on 30th November.
My cash card account will be changing to it.
It will be a basic account with contactless card.

Many of the banks are bringing these out this year which I believe if you are bankrupt pry of a dro or iva you will be eligible for these accounts.

fatbelly

The nine banks that have agreed to offer basic bank accounts are: Barclays, the Co-operative Bank, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group (Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds), National Australia Group (Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank), Nationwide, RBS Group (NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank), Santander and TSB.

Each bank has committed to offer the improved accounts by the end of 2015.

The move comes ahead of the EU Payment Accounts Directive, which requires member states to provide access to a basic payment account from 2016.

AFAIK Barclays are still the only bank that will give a basic account to an undischarged bankrupt.

chocolatecake3

hello everyone. My husband and I are considering a DRO. I know the limit is 20,000 and our debt is under that amount. We private rent, so that shouldn't be a problem. I was wondering about the £50 a month after essential outgoings and the car though.

I was wondering what kind of things are considered essential outgoings and how much can they be? For example if we said our food budget was £600 a month and it's just my husband, myself, and my 3 year old, would that be seen as too much and questioned? Is there a maximum amount that they think is reasonable? Some of our spending habits are higher than normal because of my husband's disability, but wouldn't be inherently obvious without an explanation. For example we regularly spend money on things that are essential for us, but not for other households, things like extra cleaning supplies, insect repellents/killers, extra food, storage bags/boxes, etc. Are we able to explain our expenditure or do they just accept it for what it is?

Also I receive Carer's Allowance for being my husband's carer, but he would be the one applying for the DRO so do we need to add my carer's allowance into our income? What about child benefit, which is a benefit that I receive?

My last question is about our car, our Car is worth £4000, but because of my husband's disability we would not be able to use public transport, his disability is not a physical disability though. Do they ever let your keep your car for a disability that is not physical?

I really appreciate your help, I've been trying to do some research and to make sure we are making the right choice for our young family. It isn't always easy to find the answers that go into more detail. Thanks.

fatbelly

There's discussion on car valuation in DROs here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5336091

A car valued at £4k would exclude the owner from a DRO, but not the partner of the owner.

Carers allowance in your name (likewise child benefit) would not count as your husband's income.

Expenditure is as agreed with your intermediary. Anything outside the trigger figures should have an explanation. Generally the intermediary would do joint expenditure and then it would be applied to the individual proportionately to their income.

I don't have the trigger figures to hand for food & housekeeping for two adults and a child. I think £600 is high but it might just squeeze in.

You're aware that his DLA (or PIP) does not count as income? What income does he have in his own name?

chocolatecake3

If he transferred the car to his Mother, would that be okay? My mother in law is also disabled and relies on us to take her where she needs to go, so it doesn't matter if the car is in her name, we use it equally for our needs and hers. If we have to though we can just downsize with part exchange and use the rest to pay equally towards our debts.


He gets ESA, income related in the support group, DLA middle care/ lower mobility, local housing allowance, council tax credit. We receive child tax credit, both of our names are on the paperwork, I'm not sure who actually receives it though. Yes, I was aware that his DLA wouldn't count. Thank you so much for this information.

fatbelly

chocolatecake3 wrote: »

If he transferred the car to his Mother, would that be okay? My mother in law is also disabled and relies on us to take her where she needs to go, so it doesn't matter if the car is in her name, we use it equally for our needs and hers. If we have to though we can just downsize with part exchange and use the rest to pay equally towards our debts.


He gets ESA, income related in the support group, DLA middle care/ lower mobility, local housing allowance, council tax credit. We receive child tax credit, both of our names are on the paperwork, I'm not sure who actually receives it though. Yes, I was aware that his DLA wouldn't count. Thank you so much for this information.

One of the questions is 'have you, in the past 2 years, sold anything for less than it was worth?' He later has to declare that all the answers are true as of that date.

So no, transferring ownership for £0 is not acceptable. Selling it to her for a market price would be OK. Buying another one worth <£1000 is OK (see that link for how they're valued) and retaining <£1000 in savings/other assets is also OK.

So it's quite a generous and flexible scheme really. But any surplus cash over and above the allowances should be used to pay down the debts pro-rata.

malnuman

hello all, my DRO just ended Nov 3rd, massive relief been debt free at last :-) anyhow I just want to know if there is anything else I now need to do, do I need to contact my ex creditors and ask them to amend their records or will this be done automatically? I have not had any letters from them over this past year so I assume they are not chasing after me anymore.

fatbelly

It's worth checking your credit file in a month or so to check everything is correct.

For now, you should go on to the insolvency register

https://www.insolvencydirect.bis.gov.uk/eiir/

and print off your entry as it will only show as completed for 3 months.