Would a DRO affect him?

Crisp_£_note

Hi

I am considering a DRO after being offered advice from CCCS. However I need to know if it could affect my hubby as he is self employed with his own business.

He is now a effectively a sole trader but I was a partnership in the business until long term ill health put a stop to that.

He has no 'business bank account' because he doesnt earn enough to get one but has a separate account he keeps money he makes and pays out for overheads in so they dont mix with his personal account, its just a normal bank account.

I know the restrictions a DRO can impose but to be honest I cant see that I will want any of those in the next 6 years and once I am eventually debt free I wont be borrowing money anymore as I am learning my lesson now!

Its very tempting to go for a DRO but I don't want to make hubby suffer obviously.

Thanks

elfieb

If the debts in questions are yours and your alone, your husband will not be affected by the DRO.

Crisp_£_note

There is one debt that is a joint loan. However its been my responsibility to repay it almost since day 1 as he cant afford to.

Can I just leave this off the DRO and proceed with just my debt? Once I have no debt as such I can then put the money I would save in monthly payments towards the joint loan debt. Or do I declare it and have half the loan cleared and he remains responsible for the rest?

Thanks for advice.

CCCS_Matthew

Hi there.

If you have a joint debt and go onto a DRO, your liability will be taken off the loan. This would however mean that the creditor would chase your husband for the full balance due to the debt being joint and several liable.

You wouldn't be able to not include the debt, as a DRO stipulates you include all debts. If you didn't declare it then the OR would see it on your credit file anyway before the DRO would be accepted which would cause an issue.

If you went ahead with a DRO and your husband couldn't pay anything towards it, your only option would be to wait until your DRO is completed and then offer payments on his behalf to clear the balance. The only issue here is that a year is a long time to go with not making any sort of payment to the debt. Could your husband not afford to contribute any sort of offer towards it if you were to go on a DRO?

Regards,
Matthew.

fermi

Check with one of the competent authorities, but I don't think you can just leave out a joint debt from a DRO.

The DRO would stop creditors chasing you personally and after the 12 months your liability for it would end, BUT under Joint and Several Liability you other half would remain liable for the whole loan and could be chased for it.

It certainly wouldn't be split 50/50 between you.

If you have a joint loan then your credit reports will already be linked, so it may well show up on his credit searches. But if you already have a bad credit history that may already be happening.

fermi

Cross posted with CCCS_Mathew there.

But saying much the same thing I think.

Crisp_£_note

Hi thanks for clarification.

What if joint loan / debt is currently not being paid, well other than a £1 token payment as recomended by CCCS. We havent had any correspondence back from Lloyds TSB for some time and they havent even acknowledged so far the £1 token payment which I sent them last month with the letter saying we are in financial difficulty due to severe hardship. This goes for all my 9 creditors. How does this affect the likelyhood of a DRO? Am just about to send another £1 token payment for June.

Thanks