Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

cupcake83

christine.pearce25 wrote: »

Cupcake - How is your DRO going?? have you submitted payment yet? and have they advised you of how long you will be waiting? Im a nervous wreck!!

Hi Christine, I posted on the thread last week to say that my DRO was submitted Friday 19th Feb this was when I'd received the barcode I paid the fee straight away, it was then approved on the Tuesday 23rd. The waiting was awful but now I'm so glad I have done it and only wished I had done it sooner, its taken nearly a week for it to sink in and the calls have stopped so thats helped.

Hows yours going?

cupcake83

fieryleo1984 wrote: »

Hi everyone, brief history ive been on dmp since 2006 and have reduced my debt from £18,000 to just over £7000 but due to a couple of things (having a baby, job cut etc) im struggling to now meet payment of the dmp. I will be paying if off for at least another 5 and a half years. Now i have been looking into a debt relief order to see whether it would be suitable for me. I have been discussing it with my other half but he said what if we wanted to get a mortgage in 6 or so years, if i have a debt relief order i cant get one but if i still have 5 and half years of a dmp then i couldnt get one either?

Hope you can help

Em x

Hi Em and welcome, I'd say the first thing to do is to seek advice from one of the charties such as National Debtline, Consumer Credit Counselling Service, CAB they will go through your circumstances to see if a DRO is suitable for you and whether you fit the criteria i.e surplus income of less than £50 per month after household bills, assets worth no more than £300, pension etc.

They will also explain the implications/affects of a DRO, it is important that you know the implications before making a decision, such as affect on jobs, renting, getting credit etc.

I sought advice from the CCCS who advised that a DRO was best in my situation, you may find it good to have your SOA ready so they can go through this with you. If you need help with this you could fill out one here www.makesenseofcards.com click the MSE format button and then post it as a thread on the board.

Good luck.

cupcake83

christine.pearce25 wrote: »

i got a letter from debtline advising me that they wouldsubmit my dro application to intermediary asap, and that i will get a barcode from this person for payment. They also warned me of an 8 week waiting list - now is this for the time it will take to submit to this intermediary or the time it will take to complete?? Once it has been given to an intermediary, how long does it take till the DRO is through?? sorry for all the questions!! and thanks!

Probably be good idea to ask National Debtline as this may be the wait until the intermediary contacts you to go through the application (this was the case with me and CCCS) problem with things like this as the time it will take for the DRO to be submitted will depend on what information they need and whether you have that ready. For example CCCS wanted a credit report and latest statements for each creditor, so if I didn't have statements I'd have had to write to the creditors to request the lastest balance and this could have taken time.

Once the DRO application is submitted to the IS it takes 48 hours to hear back (this is the quick bit compared to the rest).

stephy110288

hi does anyone know if theses been any more developments about the pensions? i know everyone says april... does that mean that if they are going to change it it will be changed in april... or they will just decide in april?
right now my partner is helping to pay for my debt management plan until i if i am going to be allowed a dro as the pension is the only thing stopping me

ok heres my situation. i'm 22, a full time student, and in around £12,000 of unsecured debt.
I'm currently in a debt management plan which my partner helps me pay for until april when fingers crossed... they change the DRO rules with pensions. or at least decide when they will. obviously this isn't practical, but it helps me sleep at night and stops the phone calls and nasty letters.
if i did go for a DRO when it is available to me, will this go against me? because i have been making payments, but its been either from my student loan, and then my partner gives me money to live on, or he has paid it for me.
i'm also not paying him rent at the moment, as i stay at my mums three nights a week when i'm working late, but in april its all change as we're moving and i will be paying equal rent.
also would they even include my student loans/grants as income? as i apparently if i went for an IVA they would not.
another question is how will i prove that i pay half the rent as I wont be on the tenancy agreement because i'm a student and bad credit rating etc.
I will post my SOA on here, can you tell me if it will be appropriate for a DRO, as i dont want to get my hopes up if they change it in april and i'm still not elligable.

Income
Wages £150 (I can only work a few hours a week due to my uni workload)
Student Maintainence Grant £627 (£1760 every 3 months approx + £500 bursury a year)

Total £777

Outgoings
Rent £300
Council Tax £0 (Students are expempt)
Electricity £15
Gas £15
Water £15
TV License £6.00
Internet £13
Mobile Phone £40
Lanline £10
Groceries £200
Clothing £20
Transport £65 (this is the cost of my bus pass)
Medical £20 (I have three repeat percriptions that i need, and for some reason got told i wasn't elligable for the exemption card!!)
Haircuts £5
Entertainment £15 (this is for my DVD rental subscription, other than that i dont really let myself do much else- can get rid if needed)
Household Emergancy Fund £10

Total £749

Spare Expenditure towards debt £28


Never done one of these before and you guys are the experts so any advice will be much appreciated

YorkshireBorn_2

Hey everyone got a meeting on the 15th for a DRO, im currently on JSA but I should have a job in a few months time. The question I have is I owe my Dad £5000 and would like to pay this back ASAP when Im back in work, would this be okay to be put in with my monthly expenses when I have to contact them regarding a change in my circumstances?

Keeping_Positive

That would be treating a creditor preferentially which I dont believe is allowed.

fatbelly

YorkshireBorn wrote: »

Hey everyone got a meeting on the 15th for a DRO, im currently on JSA but I should have a job in a few months time. The question I have is I owe my Dad £5000 and would like to pay this back ASAP when Im back in work, would this be okay to be put in with my monthly expenses when I have to contact them regarding a change in my circumstances?

No it wouldn't

If your new job is going to take your surplus income (before any payment to creditors) to over £50 per month then a DRO is not for you. Your Approved Intermediary (CAB?) will advise you of the best strategy, hopefully.

maxfactor_3

About a DRO,I,d like to do it but just valued my car on Parkers guide and it has different values and my car is under £1000 but it says more if of a dealer.
Do they check the mileage ?Parkers guide price is based on a mileage of 80.000.Do they check If its done less.?

Due some whiplash money and may take a year to get payment (car accident),even till after the dro ends,will I have to pay it back to them?

There,s always the poss of recieving the compo earlier.
Im on incapacity benefit/income support.

Also Im managing director of a company by name only,(will have to remove my name)I was going to use the compo to pay my overdraft,but I may need it for an operation in Belgium.
I was going to get it on the nhs as I qualify,but they are not playing.
Please dont ask! its something I consider as a deformity.Thanks

Also I owe £1000 as well to an x partner,he lent me a grand thats how I bought the car,how will that work with the dro.
Thanks

YorkshireBorn_2

Just another question (sorry) for anyone who might know the answer, with the DRO I know it ends after the 12 months and then it on credit file for 6 more years after that (I think this is correct) how bad will this affect me? things should pick up for myself (Im 22 now) job wise, I'm just thinking how this will affect things people take for granted like mortages, car loans etc... in the years to come.

Thanks again YB

Stardust

How long has everybody been waiting? Im coming up to the 8 week mark next week, im a bit worried as some of the debts have been passed on to collection agencys. I get a bit stressed over all the letter and phone calls and can't wait for it to stop.