Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

JonVarnas

Shame the surplus income is only £75. I thought it was going to be £100.

fatbelly

So did we. They changed it last-minute.

Tiggsy40

I am trying to help my son sort out his debt.  He was advised over a year ago by Stepchange to apply for DRO.  He has suffered with his mental health and dealing with debt has been put off.

He has debts of £14,000 on store cards, credit cards and bank loans.

He also has a car on finance with £5,000 left to pay which comes to an end in July ( he doesn’t have £5,000 to pay it off, but if he gives the car back he will owe more due to mileage and the cars condition)

He does need a car to carry on working, as he is a kitchen designer and goes out to do surveys.

Any advise appreciated.

fatbelly

A DRO will still be there for him once he gets the car situation sorted.

You can see the new criteria from 29 June a few posts back. It sounds like his total debt is £19000 which is well within the new limits and if he can get a banger to run, it can be worth up to £2000 and the scheme still works.

davetherave85

My wife has debts of around £18k and is looking to apply for a DRO. What documents will they ask for other than a list of debts and income/expenditure workings?

Also will it have any affect on myself as I own the property we live in? My wife lives here but is not an owner or on the mortgage.

JonVarnas

davetherave85 said:

My wife has debts of around £18k and is looking to apply for a DRO. What documents will they ask for other than a list of debts and income/expenditure workings?

Also will it have any affect on myself as I own the property we live in? My wife lives here but is not an owner or on the mortgage.

When I applied for mine I didn't have to provide any documents whatsoever. I just listed my debts, they did a credit check and that was it.

fatbelly

davetherave85 said:

My wife has debts of around £18k and is looking to apply for a DRO. What documents will they ask for other than a list of debts and income/expenditure workings?

Also will it have any affect on myself as I own the property we live in? My wife lives here but is not an owner or on the mortgage.

It shouldn't have an effect but we went through a phase a couple of years back about advisers getting terrified by a thing called beneficial interest. The Insolvency Service issued guidance that is not particularly helpful:

Where a debtor’s circumstances suggest they may have a beneficial interest in any property the AI must take reasonable steps to understand the position and determine whether the debtor meets the criteria for a DRO. 
 
Below is a list of questions used by examiners in the Insolvency Service to establish a possible beneficial interest in bankruptcy cases. You may find these questions useful as a basis for your own enquiries:
 
●       Do you own or have you ever been the owner of a property?
●       Have you transferred a property to a third party, e.g. spouse, civil partner or other associate?
●       Are you married to the registered proprietor?
●       If so, how long have you lived at the property?
●       Did you pay a deposit when purchasing the property?
●       Are you shown on the mortgage or on any subsequent charges?
●       What mortgage payments have you made and for how long?
●       Have you ever claimed to own a property when applying for credit?
●       Do you consider you have a beneficial interest in the property?
●       If not, why not?
●       Have you funded an extension or remedial works to the property?

davetherave85

Thanks for your responses. Do they elaborate as to what a beneficial interest in the property means/includes?

fatbelly

davetherave85 said:

Thanks for your responses. Do they elaborate as to what a beneficial interest in the property means/includes?

Each case judged on its merits - bit OTT if you ask me. In bankruptcy 'interest follows title'

So if she's not on the deeds, she has no interest.

michellew_2

Hi is a joint DRO possible or is it just in one persons name,  if only in one name does that mean all bills are halved when filling out the forms?
thanks