Fairfax & DRO

MyGoodness_2

Hi, first time posting, but a long time taking a bit of control from the threads i've been reading on here

Long story

Feb 2010, my partner and myself hit the wall of financial dificulties. We went to CAB to discuss our options, after I talked to a few financial help companies. Cab guy confirmed what we needed to do, and he sorted out bankruptcy for my partner and a DRO for me. This process involved a few emails between him and myself to confirm the debtors on my DRO.

Eentuallly, the money is paid and we went in to sign the documentation, mainly for my DRO, but my partner got her court date for signing off her bankruptcy.

Skip forward 10 months, and I get a letter from Fairfax after £640 on behalf of Halifax.

I checked with with DRO government department and find that the wrong account has been included in the DRO and this Halifax account has been excluded. This was my main account, and I would not have left it it out, I have the emails to prove I included it.

Basically, where do I go now? Do I take it up with CAB, the guy whos sorted it for us is no longer with them. Do I pay Halifax, they have added an extra £300 in charges since I believed it was closed?

I suffer from depression and anxiety disorder, and the thought of a court summons coming through my letterbox is ruling my life atm


Any help at all would be gratefuly recieved. Thanks in anticipation.


Mike

immoral_angeluk

You need to talk to your advisor and get a copy of your DRO application if you don't already have it and get the references that were used and what was included. If it is the fault of your advisor then you need to make a complaint, but I've heafrd similar stories with other advisors I know who have essentially left off a debt and the OR refused to add it, even if it was a mistake by the intermediary, as at the end of the day it's your application and it is your responsibility to check all the information is correct before the application is submitted. If you weren't able to do this because your advisor never showed you the final application before submitting for you to check it and ensure it was correct, then you need to complain about their procedure and the fact that you will remain liable for this debt. The intermediary should also try all they can with the DRO unit to get it added but it's very unlikely if the debt itself wasn't listed, but a different debt added on by mistake.

Penelope_Penguin

Sorry to hear this As an approved intermediary, I am fanatical about the client checking the DRO application, so that they agree that there are no errors or omissions.

MyGoodness wrote: »

I checked with with DRO government department and find that the wrong account has been included in the DRO and this Halifax account has been excluded. This was my main account, and I would not have left it it out, I have the emails to prove I included it.

Can you clarify - whose account was included in the DRO application instead of yours?

Did you see a copy of your DRO application before it was submitted? I post or e-mail a copy to my clients so that they can check it before it is submitted, and I then ask them to check it again immediatley before submission (when they are usually in my office). Do you have a copy now?

It's a small niggle of ours that account numbers aren;t included on the paper Experian check, so it's up to the clients to provide them for us.

MyGoodness_2

I had 3 Halifax accounts, personnal, credit card and a joint with my partner. I was told not to include the joint account because it would be covered by my partners bankruptcy. The DRO schedule just had names and ammounts owing. It wasn't till they started pursuing me that I got in touch with the DRO department and they informed me that the account \ roll numbers submitted were those of my credit card and joint account.

Edit:

Just had another letter from them today. I had the 10 day, then the 7 day and now they want to give me an offer, but not stated by how much so that I have to contact them.

wba31

MyGoodness wrote: »

I had 3 Halifax accounts, personnal, credit card and a joint with my partner. I was told not to include the joint account because it would be covered by my partners bankruptcy. The DRO schedule just had names and ammounts owing. It wasn't till they started pursuing me that I got in touch with the DRO department and they informed me that the account \ roll numbers submitted were those of my credit card and joint account.

Edit:

Just had another letter from them today. I had the 10 day, then the 7 day and now they want to give me an offer, but not stated by how much so that I have to contact them.

Who did your DRO?

the joint account should have been listed on BOTH the bankruptcy and the DRO as when your partner went bankrupt, you would have been left solely liable for the FULL balance.
Where I do DRO's we try to include all account numbers from the start so client's can check we have all included...

Penelope_Penguin

MyGoodness wrote: »

I had 3 Halifax accounts, personnal, credit card and a joint with my partner. I was told not to include the joint account because it would be covered by my partners bankruptcy.

Well, that's not quite right. A joint debt has what is called "joint and several liability". That means that you and your partner are both responsible for the whole debt, not just half each. While that debt would be included in your partner's BR, as the joint holder, you become liable for the whole balance. Therefore it should have been included in your DRO. To be clear, all 3 Halifax accounts should have been included.

I would and ask to speak to someone else at CAB, just to have a second opinion on what has occurred here.

You could speak to someone at the DRO office,but I suspect you have no option but to continue to be liable for the debt, sorry.

Does the extra debt take you over the £15k DRO limit for total debt?

MyGoodness_2

Hi,thanks for the replies. I have spoken to the DRO office, who were extremely helpful, but they pretty much explained what has been said above. The extra debt does not take me over the £15k limit.

From what I've read here, I guess I am liable for the debt with no recompense.

immoral_angeluk

MyGoodness wrote: »

Hi,thanks for the replies. I have spoken to the DRO office, who were extremely helpful, but they pretty much explained what has been said above. The extra debt does not take me over the £15k limit.

From what I've read here, I guess I am liable for the debt with no recompense.

That's rubbish, sorry to hear that. You should really contact the cab though to ensure this doesn't happen to someone else!

MyGoodness_2

40 pages of Mental Health & Debt to read through to see what I can salvage from this In two minds to go to my local CAB, I'm in a different city now, to see if they can offer any "helpful" advice.

It would have been over at the end of this month

wba31

MyGoodness wrote: »

40 pages of Mental Health & Debt to read through to see what I can salvage from this In two minds to go to my local CAB, I'm in a different city now, to see if they can offer any "helpful" advice.

It would have been over at the end of this month

I really think a complaint should be put in to the management of who advised you first time round. To be leaving off debts and advising that joint debts will dealt with under the partner's bankruptcy is really poor advice, and clearly the training given to the advisors needs to be addressed.

MyGoodness_2

I've just got a letter from them saying that they will persue action throught the courts. After reading advice on these forums and others, I am reluctant to phone them, but am willing to write them a letter offering monthly payments. Is this the right thing to do and if so, can anyone point me towards a template for this letter?

On another note, this debt is for an overdraft of £200, which has accrued several months of charges, due to me being not aware of it due to the dro messup. I read somewhere that a bank cannot apply bank charges if you are recieving benefits, which I have been. Is this true, and if so, where does that place me with the dca holding the debt.

My head is spinning with all this.