Buying things before DRO

david_m4

Hi guys,

Thanks again for all your answers :-)

I am now working more hours, at a better rate than usual, but still on a temporary contract. At some point during 2012 this job will end, and I won't have cleared all my debts by then. I do have a bit of a monthly surplus while it lasts (which I've mostly been saving so far because I don't want to give any preference payments), and I've been advised already to ask a debt charity about setting up a payment plan to share it out fairly. I'm going to see about that next month.

Would I get in trouble though, if I use some of this money to buy things I would continue using through my DRO year (if I still get a DRO)? The things I'm thinking of are:

*Annual gym & pool membership (just my local council gym, nothing fancy)

*An Open University course, which is a compulsory part of a degree I'm studying towards. If I don't start this course by next February, I will lose my right to pay lower fees for the rest of my degree.

*About £500 worth of new clothes & shoes, simply because my old kit is wearing out. A lot of this would be so I have smart-casual stuff to wear at work.

*Paying my wife to add me to her car insurance next year (from October when the insurance renewal comes up). She pays for insurance up front so I'd have to give her one lump sum.

*Flights to Australia to visit my brother who I haven't seen in 5 years.

I wouldn't be using credit for any of this, it would be paid with real money that I worked hard to earn!

Dave

fatbelly

I guess the official answer ought to be in this document

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/insolvency/docs/publication-pdfs/drro.pdf

If it is covered at all, it comes under the bullet point of 'unreasonable extravagance'

There are very few DRROs/DRRUs issued so I suppose the realistic answer to your question is 'unlikely but not impossible'.

david_m4

Thanks fatbelly!

The only thing on my list that I'd personally call a luxury is the trip to Australia, so think I'll wait til I've spoken to CAB or Debtline before I book that. I'll take a chance on the gym membership, cause it's not really a lot of money. Broken down into a monthly charge, it would fit into the allowed £50 surplus.

fatbelly wrote: »

If it is covered at all, it comes under the bullet point of 'unreasonable extravagance'