Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

fatbelly

SortingMyLife wrote: »

My husband's debt is just one loan. Mine are lots of little bits.
I think I can find info on one of the ones that isn't showing - an old student overdraft. And the other there was very little left of (couple of hundred) and I think it was passed to Robinson Way so maybe I can scrape together enough info.

Student loans - does that include overpayments?
I started Uni about 10 years ago. Found out I was pregnant a week in. Stopped after 5 weeks and no one told me that if I'd have held on a few more weeks I'd not have owed anything - it's a maintenance loan that I got but didn't pay back.
I pay £5 a month I think - it isn't lumped in with my current standard student loan. Another thing I'll have to query I guess.

Yeh I guess BR isn't so different then. Our sub 1k car is in my name as the owner so I guess we'd be fine to keep it.

Thanks so much for replying. It's good to be able to talk it through with someone.

I feel so much less stressed knowing that we can sort it.

Yes it's sortable.

My understanding is that overpayments of student loans are qualifying debts but I can't find that explicitly in the regulations. So you will have to ask.

azzadle

5 years and 8 months ago.. Seems like an eternity tbh.

4 months left and the shackles are off! I can be a sensible person again :money:

Nick12345

Hi everyone.

I'll try not go on to long but my situation is complicated.

I recently closed my business down. I never really made any money from it but in a desperate attempt to turn things around cut costs and put 110% into it I decided to live in my business premises.

I closed my business down 6 months ago but I'm stuck living in an industrial unit technically "homeless" i guess. Not sure I have a roof over my head. Prob better than many of the worlds population.

I am now in full time work. Basic pay take home is about £1400 but i get some overtime. My outgoings this month are £1100. Rent for my unit, loans, overdrafts, credit cards etc. I've recently fallen into the payday loan trap. My life is a mess!

I can afford to live in a house as I'm paying rent on my business premises (i'm contracted for another 12 months!) I've lived like this for 2 years now. I do have a girlfriend but living together isnt an option until I can pay my way (I wont sponge of her).

My total debts at the minute are about £13000 although i have some older stuff (should be statute barred).

I'm stressed. My health is being affected having to work stupid hours just to tread water. My relationship is now cracking.

For the first time (after having family members suggest it many times) I'm considering bankruptsy or a Debt Relief Order.

I'm not sure if I qualify for a DRO. If i pull my belt in I guess my dispossable income is above the treshold. But I dont live in a house! If i did i would of defaulted a long time ago and probably would be in the right bracket.

I know insolvency stays on file for 6 years but so will any defaults CCJ's etc that will be coming my way.

I've made a mess and bankruptsy DRO etc might just give me a start to sorting my life out.

fatbelly

Nick12345 wrote: »

Hi everyone...

Hi Nick

Yes, insolvency is the way forward.

You can't really judge whether a DRO would work yet. You know you will have to stop living where you are and get somewhere else to live, Until you have done that you will not know your spend on rent, council tax, elec, water, gas. So you do not know your surplus income.

I assume you meet the other DRO criteria such as car worth under £1000.

So stop paying the 'Rent for my unit, loans, overdrafts, credit cards and payday loans', get a bank account unconnected to your debts and find somewhere to live.

None of those debts are priority debts for you. Do you pay business rates?

On the stress side, can you stop having to work silly hours? Is your GP any help? Are there local to you any organisations like this one?

It would be worth getting a credit report. I recommend a £2 statutory report from Experian. Any of those 'older debts' still showing would have to go into a DRO unless you have proof they are statute barred. In fact they may be a complication that would lead you to choose bankruptcy over a DRO but that's for later.

Keep posting.

wba31

fatbelly wrote: »

Hi Nick

Yes, insolvency is the way forward.

You can't really judge whether a DRO would work yet. You know you will have to stop living where you are and get somewhere else to live, Until you have done that you will not know your spend on rent, council tax, elec, water, gas. So you do not know your surplus income.

I assume you meet the other DRO criteria such as car worth under £1000.

So stop paying the 'Rent for my unit, loans, overdrafts, credit cards and payday loans', get a bank account unconnected to your debts and find somewhere to live.

None of those debts are priority debts for you. Do you pay business rates?

On the stress side, can you stop having to work silly hours? Is your GP any help? Are there local to you any organisations like this one?

It would be worth getting a credit report. I recommend a £2 statutory report from Experian. Any of those 'older debts' still showing would have to go into a DRO unless you have proof they are statute barred. In fact they may be a complication that would lead you to choose bankruptcy over a DRO but that's for later.

Keep posting.

+1 for Fatbelly's advice. In respects of the contract on the unit you're currently residing in, if you stop paying the rent, the remainder of the contract will become a qualifying debt you can include in an insolvency. So if you pay £500 a month for example, the last 12 months could be listed as a £6000 debt to the landlord. Obviously this may then affect whether best solution is DRO or bankruptcy (or anything else) along with the factors that Fatbelly has highlighted

Suzie1981

Hi I'm new to this so please bear with me! I have been advised by stepchange to do a dro,i was previously in a dmp but my tax credits dropped and I had to start paying token payments towards my debts. So I have gone through my budget with stepchange and I am waiting on my application being sent out to me! What I was wondering is do i need to do another budget when my application comes through or do they go off the one stepchange and I done the other day as I noticed there was a couple of mistakes on it,nothing major and it still would take me under the £50 threshold. Also do i need to provide my partners bank statements even though the dro will be in my name? I know that they take into account his wages. Thanks in advance for any help.

fatbelly

Suzie1981 wrote: »

Hi I'm new to this so please bear with me! I have been advised by stepchange to do a dro,i was previously in a dmp but my tax credits dropped and I had to start paying token payments towards my debts. So I have gone through my budget with stepchange and I am waiting on my application being sent out to me! What I was wondering is do i need to do another budget when my application comes through or do they go off the one stepchange and I done the other day as I noticed there was a couple of mistakes on it,nothing major and it still would take me under the £50 threshold. Also do i need to provide my partners bank statements even though the dro will be in my name? I know that they take into account his wages. Thanks in advance for any help.

Yes, let your intermediary know about the tweaks you want to make to your expenditure.

They need to know his income (I can't say what they might require as proof) so they can allocate your part of the expenditure relative to the household expenditure. Does that make sense?

There is a bit of flexibility to these things

Suzie1981

Cheers thanks for clearing that up for me! I will give stepchange a call and let them know.

Suzie1981

Oh and 1 last thing I forgot to ask! I said my rent is £400 per month but it's actually £500 but I recieve £100 give or take a few quid each month from housing benefit,should I have told them this in the budget as they didn't ask if I recieved housing benefit.

skywatcher44

When you have Paid the ( To big ! barcode ) £90 You phone your intermediary in my case Stepchange. Any alteration of balances and other figure tweaks can be done then if required
This is entered by your intermediary onto your final online application . So if altering other figures ensure you will still be within the £0-50 requirement.
My timeline with Stepchange,
Fill in details online, budget, debts, Assets ect. When ready request Application pack ( Once you request the AP you cannot alter any online figures ) Otherwise save and exit it saves for 30 days.
The downloadable Application pack has four A4 forms to complete. Also I sent my latest Bank statement highlighting my salary and Rent, A list of my debts with addresses, a copy of my credit report from Noodle ( As advised ) This was all posted on 4/10/16.
10/10/16 Phone interview.Assets, Car reg required ( they check online ) and haven't used cards in last 3 mnths ish ? ( Tried to make me wait a few months. Be Firm if Req )
My final draft with barcode arrived after 13 days on the 17/10/16.
Paid barcode phoned stepchange tweaked balances DRO Sent online to Official receiver (17/10 ).
19/10/16 DRO approved ( Not notified by Stepchange ). 20/10/16 9am listed on IS Register..