Applying for a dro - COUPLE OF Q'S

CookieCrisp

Morning all
So since my LBM! I have tried so hard to get on top of things to pretty much no avail...I have a decent budget but if things crop up like mot, car tax, birthdays, christmas, school outings, clothing, footwear etc I am pretty much stuffed

A friend has pointed me in the direction of a DRO but I have a couple of questions...

Firstly: Can I include debts that have been taken over by bailiffs? I currently have Marstons, scotcall, jacobs and 2 others chasing me, all adding extortionate fees, in fact with the marstons one I have actually paid the original £818 debt off but still somehow owe them a further £1294

Secondly: I owe quite a lot to family and friends - this is the bulk of my debt to be honest coming in at around £12000. I don't want to add this to the dro (not sure i could anyway) as I dont want to let them down and getting rid of the other debts will or should free up enough to repay their kindness. My worry is that if I dont add these to the DRO form it will look like I have a MASSIVE amount left over weekly/monthly, should I mention these on the forms?

Thirdly: I have a CCJ (the marstons debt) can I include this or because its a CCJ am I still obliged to pay even with the horrendous interest and charges? If I cannot add this to the form, am I able to have it heard back in court? To try and get the daily interest down, the charges/fees quashed etc?

Fourthly (lol sorry!): I am a single parent to 4 amazing babies, however like I have said before on my budget it covers nothing for school outings, holidays (i wish!), clothing, footwear, birthdays, christmas etc...could I divide what I owe to family/friends and put the amounts down for the above to even out what I actually have left? I mean, I know its naughty BUT in a sense I will still be paying out the same amount to family & friends just telling the DRO that those amounts go on clothing, footwear, birthdays, living etc etc

Thanks so much x

immoral_angeluk

CookieCrisp wrote: »

Firstly: Can I include debts that have been taken over by bailiffs? I currently have Marstons, scotcall, jacobs and 2 others chasing me, all adding extortionate fees, in fact with the marstons one I have actually paid the original £818 debt off but still somehow owe them a further £1294

Yes, BUT if any of them have levied on goods this could cause problems.

Secondly: I owe quite a lot to family and friends - this is the bulk of my debt to be honest coming in at around £12000. I don't want to add this to the dro (not sure i could anyway) as I dont want to let them down and getting rid of the other debts will or should free up enough to repay their kindness. My worry is that if I dont add these to the DRO form it will look like I have a MASSIVE amount left over weekly/monthly, should I mention these on the forms?

All debts must be included, and your friends/family would be creditors along with everyone else. You cannot include these payments as expenditure so if you personally (ie not household) have more than £50pm leftover if these payments aren't counted then you won't be eligible.

Thirdly: I have a CCJ (the marstons debt) can I include this or because its a CCJ am I still obliged to pay even with the horrendous interest and charges? If I cannot add this to the form, am I able to have it heard back in court? To try and get the daily interest down, the charges/fees quashed etc?

CCJs are included and a DRO will put a stop to any further action, but again, if there's bailiffs involved and they've levied goods this will cause problems.

Fourthly (lol sorry!): I am a single parent to 4 amazing babies, however like I have said before on my budget it covers nothing for school outings, holidays (i wish!), clothing, footwear, birthdays, christmas etc...could I divide what I owe to family/friends and put the amounts down for the above to even out what I actually have left? I mean, I know its naughty BUT in a sense I will still be paying out the same amount to family & friends just telling the DRO that those amounts go on clothing, footwear, birthdays, living etc etc

No. You can't account for the payments to family as you must declare your expenditure as it is, and you intermediary will double check this and will not collude with you to hide payments to your relatives/friends. If you hide these payments intentionally you will be A)committing an offence as you must declare everything truthfully and to the best of your knowledge on your application and could face criminal/civil sanctions if you don't and it would be a serious preference to creditors, which could mean if you didn't declare it and your OR found out, your DRO would be likely rejected at the very least.

CookieCrisp

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Yes, BUT if any of them have levied on goods this could cause problems. How do you mean 'levied' I currently pay them £50pm but havent had goods taken away


All debts must be included, and your friends/family would be creditors along with everyone else. You cannot include these payments as expenditure so if you personally (ie not household) have more than £50pm leftover if these payments aren't counted then you won't be eligible.

CCJs are included and a DRO will put a stop to any further action, but again, if there's bailiffs involved and they've levied goods this will cause problems. Same as above


No. You can't account for the payments to family as you must declare your expenditure as it is, and you intermediary will double check this and will not collude with you to hide payments to your relatives/friends. If you hide these payments intentionally you will be A)committing an offence as you must declare everything truthfully and to the best of your knowledge on your application and could face criminal/civil sanctions if you don't and it would be a serious preference to creditors, which could mean if you didn't declare it and your OR found out, your DRO would be likely rejected at the very least. Completely understand that, argh its so hard, I mean, when I fill out the forms and put the family & friends debts in will they be definitely included in the DRO and if so, could I still go ahead and carry on repaying them after the DRO has been issued/awarded or would that count as being in breach of the DRO? See, I desperately need something like this but I would not want to let my friends & family down but doing it and subsequently not being "able" to repay them as planned

Thanks so much! xx

fatbelly

Hi

IA often drops in on a Saturday morning but, in case she's busy, I'll just confirm all she said, and try to expand on those 2 points you queried.

A bailiff's 'levy' is where the list specific goods of yours, which then become theirs. Usually the goods are not removed but you enter into a Walking Possession Agreement where you agree to pay the bailiffs but retain the goods. A DRO does not change the ownership of the goods so the bailiffs could remove them. I have never seen this happen in practice.

You are not allowed to make payments to your creditors under a DRO.

ND have a factsheet here:

Factsheet Debt relief orders

and the official guide is here

CookieCrisp

Thank you

No Ive not had a walking possession agreement etc, in fact I dont think I actually have anything worth taking haha!

So the only thing stopping me would be the payments to friends and family, god, its such a difficult position to be in because I refuse to let them down but I also know I can't carry on with the bailiffs repayments and other debt repayments...seems I'm stuck in the infinite circle of catch 22 again! One day I shall get out of this lolol

Thank you for the links, I will take a look at those once the kids are settled

CookieCrisp

Oh! Ive just read that you can only have £15k or less in debt Well that blows me out of the water in one shot!

With bankruptcy, if youre on benefits do you have to pay the full £450 or is there a lowered payment available?

fatbelly

CookieCrisp wrote: »

Oh! Ive just read that you can only have £15k or less in debt Well that blows me out of the water in one shot!

With bankruptcy, if youre on benefits do you have to pay the full £450 or is there a lowered payment available?

The Official receiver fee is £525. You can get remission from the court feeof £175 if you are on a prescribed benefit or a low income.

CookieCrisp

Oh no I think thats going to be my only option then, now where to find £450!!

immoral_angeluk

CookieCrisp wrote: »

Oh no I think thats going to be my only option then, now where to find £450!!

As said, the BR fee is £525 bankruptcy deposit and £175 court fee, but if on a low income/some benefits you can be exempt from the court fee part. Some charitable trusts may be able to assist with raising funds for BR..

immoral_angeluk

fatbelly wrote: »

Hi

IA often drops in on a Saturday morning...

Are you stalking me? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

And just to prove you wrong, it's 5.30 on Sunday