Does anybody know what’s DRO policy on personal debt (money owed to your friends and
Completely_broke_Hannah
Forumite 4 Posts
in IVA & DRO
Hi All,
Does anybody know what is DRO's policy on personal debt (money owed to your friends and family)
From what I’ve read so far it looks like DRO, if approved, will be able prevent creditors of taking legal actions against you for 12 months and subsequently to write off the debts for credit/store cards, unsecured loans etc.
But what about the personal loans, the money that I owe to my friends and family? Will the many be returned to them on my behalf? or will still need to find another way to pay them back?
I’m really confused and scared, debt collectors are ringing me up every day, saying that they about to send their ‘officers’ to me. I have around £4,000 on my credit cards and I owe additional £9,000 to my friends and family. I am unemployed, and after 5 months of searching I am starting to loose hope that I’ll ever find a job. Month to month my situation is getting worse, interests and late payment charges are keep adding up, dragging me down. DRO or bankruptcy seem to be the only solution. I am really worried though what will happen to people that have give me (and keep giving) money.
I would really appreciate your advice
Does anybody know what is DRO's policy on personal debt (money owed to your friends and family)
From what I’ve read so far it looks like DRO, if approved, will be able prevent creditors of taking legal actions against you for 12 months and subsequently to write off the debts for credit/store cards, unsecured loans etc.
But what about the personal loans, the money that I owe to my friends and family? Will the many be returned to them on my behalf? or will still need to find another way to pay them back?
I’m really confused and scared, debt collectors are ringing me up every day, saying that they about to send their ‘officers’ to me. I have around £4,000 on my credit cards and I owe additional £9,000 to my friends and family. I am unemployed, and after 5 months of searching I am starting to loose hope that I’ll ever find a job. Month to month my situation is getting worse, interests and late payment charges are keep adding up, dragging me down. DRO or bankruptcy seem to be the only solution. I am really worried though what will happen to people that have give me (and keep giving) money.
I would really appreciate your advice
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Buuuu just as I thought
I’ve received this info pack from National Debtline, explaining possible ways of sorting out the debt.
There is DRO leaflet and one of the subsections gives examples of debts which should be included in the application, one of them reads ‘family or personal debts’ but I it looks like they’re asking to provide this info just to help them asses how bad your situation really is.
I know that £4000 may seem a little but my debt keep growing, I literally have no income whatsoever, I’ve been trying to get job seeker allowance but whole process took two months and then application was rejected, I’ve been advised to re-apply but can’t really see a point of doing that. Now I’m leaving on my sisters savings which are melting away. My landlord has been very helpful (haven’t kicked me out for not paying rent for past two months) but not sure how long will I be able to count on him.
If I won’t find a solution soon I’ll probably not only loose my mind but all the friends that have helped me so far, not to mention the family who won’t probably talk to me, for the rest of my life.
Re Debt collectors, is not that much they can take away, the only valuable stuff I’ve got are my books, and even they’re in pretty bed condition...
If you are unemployed, are you getting housing and council tax benefit? In some circumstances housing benefit can be paid directly to your landlord. You need to ensure you are paying rent. thats really important.
Please get proper debt advice too if you need it!
Any debts such as cards, loans, overdrafts etc would be written off, but you'd still need to make your own arrangements as appropriate to repay your friends and family.
2.3 Those contacting debtors must not be deceitful by misrepresenting their authority
and/or the correct legal position.
2.4 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. falsely implying or claiming authority, for example, claiming to work on
instructions from the courts, claiming to be bailiffs or, in Scotland,
sheriff officers or messenger-at-arms
b. falsely implying or stating that action can or will be taken when it legally
cannot, for example, referring to bankruptcy or sequestration proceedings
when the balance is too low to qualify for such proceedings or claiming a
right of entry when no court order to this effect has been granted
c. misrepresenting status or backing, such as
• using a logo which falsely implies government backing
• using a business name which implies public body status, or
• falsely claiming trade body membership
d. falsely implying or stating that action has been taken when it has not, for
example, that civil action has been taken or that a court judgment has
already been obtained
e. falsely implying or stating that failure to pay a debt is a criminal
offence or that criminal proceedings will be brought
f. pursuing third parties for payment when they are not liable
g. taking or threatening to take court action in the wrong jurisdiction, for
example, taking action against a Scottish debtor in an English court unless
Physical/psychological harassment
2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals
b. pressurising debtors to sell property, to raise funds by further
borrowing or to extend their borrowing
c. using more than one debt collection business at the same time
resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different parties
d. not ensuring that an adequate history of the debt is passed on as
appropriate resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different
parties
e. not informing the debtor when their case has been passed on to a
different debt collector
f. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments,
or to increase payments when they are unable to do so
g. making threatening statements or gestures or taking actions which
suggest harm to debtors
h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are
disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment
i. disclosing or threatening to disclose debt details to third parties unless
legally entitled to do so
j. acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either
deliberately or through lack of care, for example, by not putting
correspondence in a sealed envelope and putting it through a letterbox,
thereby running the risk that it could be read by third parties.
Debt collection visits
2.11 Those visiting debtors must not act in an unclear or threatening manner.
2.12 Examples of unfair practices are:
a. not making the purpose of any proposed visit clear, for example, merely
stating that collectors or field agents will call is not sufficient
b. visiting a debtor when it is known they are vulnerable, for example, when
a doctor's certificate has been provided stating that the debtor is ill
c. continuing with a visit when it becomes apparent that the debtor is
distressed or otherwise vulnerable, for example, it becomes apparent that
the debtor has mental health problems
d. entering a property uninvited
e. not leaving a property when asked to
f. visiting or threatening to visit debtors without prior agreement when the
debt is deadlocked or disputed1
g. not giving adequate notice of the time and date of a visit2
h visiting debtors, unless requested, at inappropriate locations such as work
or hospital.
Cartiphilus, so does it mean that I should not be tearing my hair away as the debt collectors have no right to visit my property? I am bit calmer after reading the above, my concern is though that some of the debt collectors, that are chasing me up, seem to be legal firms (read: packed with vicious lawyers) so I would’ve thought that they will know exactly what they can/cannot do or say. I am not rally sure whether unfair is interchangeable with illegal
Agreeing with what others had advised - go and see the C.A.B - they're fab!!!
Companies can send debt collectors round, but you don't have to open the door or talk to them.
Considered changing your telco no?
Even if cannot get JSA will prob still be able to get housing/council tax benefits.
If no income if no can raise the £90 for a DRO this seems the way to go - CAB can advise you fully.
Most of all ..... don't stress, we're all in this together.