can i keep my car?

lisadjh

hi im serious thinking about applying for a DRO.. i understand they will let you keep ur car if its only worth £1,000 or less.. however mines worth about £3,000 i think.. of course i have thought about selling it to repay some of my debt.. the thing is after my divorce (3 yrs ago)the arrangement was i have my children every 2 weeks for the weekend.. they live 75-80 miles away so i need a car.. ok i could sell mine and get a cheaper one but what if its not reliable? i cant afford to throw money at an unreliable car when i have to make this trip twice a month.. and of course ill need it for work! will they make me sell it?

Notmyrealname

£3000? Not much chance. The OR will tell you to use public transport for two 80 mile trips a month.

JCS1

Might be better posting on the DRO & IVA board here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=159

With a £3k car then you would not be eligible for a DRO as your assets are over the limit. You would also not be permitted to keep a car of that value if you want bankrupt.

lisadjh

Notmyrealname wrote: »

£3000? Not much chance. The OR will tell you to use public transport for two 80 mile trips a month.

thanks.. i dont think i made the journey clear! i drive 80 miles to pick them up, drive 80 miles to bring them to my home, have them for the weekend/holidays etc then drive them 80 miles home, then i drive the 80 miles back to my home! phew! so its not really just 80 miles twice a month its like 320 miles twice a month! i know 3000k sounds like a lot of money for a car but my worry is if i sell it and get something cheaper, is it going to hold up to doing this amount of mileage? im worried because the car i have now i know is reliable, never had any trouble with it.. i cant afford to be shelling out money for repairs, the petrol alone is enough! and it would cost 3 times as much on public transport! so in the long run the car i have is the cheaper option.. i dont think im being unreasonable wanting to keep it.. am i deluding myself?!!

marybelle01

I don't think its about deluding yourself. I think it's about the rules. Everyone will have a good reason why they should keep something they want to keep - but the rules are the rules. Have you considered options that don't involve legal steps. We recommend people on low incomes think about agencies like Payplan to help them manage and repay their debt. Payplan, for example, is cost free and will negotiate manageable repayments to your creditors, but can also take account of your personal circumstances. You wouldn't have to sell your car with one of these. It doesn't suit everyone, and you would have to repay what you owe, but they can often arrange zero interest while you do and you would have a bit more flexibility. Might be worth talking to them to see if they could help, and then you have another option to consider.

bargainbetty

You wold need to be careful doing that - if you are asked about your transport and they discover you have handed the car over to avoid receivership, you could get in trouble as it is effectively hiding an asset.

Rules are rules - you would be expected to sell/lose the car, in most cases. You can get good old cars, but be prepared to buy something a little less fashionable or good looking to reduce the price!

JCS1

lisadjh wrote: »

thanks.. i dont think i made the journey clear! i drive 80 miles to pick them up, drive 80 miles to bring them to my home, have them for the weekend/holidays etc then drive them 80 miles home, then i drive the 80 miles back to my home! phew! so its not really just 80 miles twice a month its like 320 miles twice a month! i know 3000k sounds like a lot of money for a car but my worry is if i sell it and get something cheaper, is it going to hold up to doing this amount of mileage? im worried because the car i have now i know is reliable, never had any trouble with it.. i cant afford to be shelling out money for repairs, the petrol alone is enough! and it would cost 3 times as much on public transport! so in the long run the car i have is the cheaper option.. i dont think im being unreasonable wanting to keep it.. am i deluding myself?!!

Sorry, but you cannot keep a car worth £3k if you want to do a DRO. The limit on vehicles in a DRO is £1k, same as in bankruptcy. You either need to change vehicles (and in a legal way that has no come back from the OR), or consider something other than a DRO.

debt_doctor

In our office in the last 6 years, we only became aware of one of our clients getting a bankruptcy restrictions order - of course more could have without us becoming aware of it.
Since DRO s came in to force on April 6th 2009, we have become aware of 3 clients having debt relief restrictions orders for the sort of 'hide your money scams' just described. They are sent to the local insolvency office to investigate. One client is to face criminal prosecution.

DD

dandelionclock30

One client over 6 years faces prosecution!.

Not much to worry about then.

In terms of fraud its no worse than the tax avioidance schemes where people like Gary Barlow put their money and hes in for a Knighthood!.