reasonable housekeeping figures DRO

Depth_Charge

National_Debtline wrote: »

Good morning,

I was going to drop you a line to see if you had sight of the new figures, but I knew you would be ahead of the game.

Have a great day,

David.

Hi David

Cheers and keep up the great advice, work you Dennis and all at National Debtline undertake and provide.

The NDL fact sheets are still the best around:)

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/information/fact%20sheet%20library/Pages/default.aspx

My opinions of course

DC

DorisTrousers

"You only have to look at the example case in this thread."


The example case in this thread that seemed to cause a lot of problems, apparently, is no longer here. I did see it before it disappeared, but it is no longer available and I can't remember the specifics of it. Admittedly, I haven't re-read the whole thread so, of course, you may be referring to another one.


Apologies if you are.

Depth_Charge

DorisTrousers wrote: »

"You only have to look at the example case in this thread."


The example case in this thread that seemed to cause a lot of problems, apparently, is no longer here. I did see it before it disappeared, but it is no longer available and I can't remember the specifics of it. Admittedly, I haven't re-read the whole thread so, of course, you may be referring to another one.


Apologies if you are.

Hi

I am not sure to which you refer however the example case I refer to is still very much there it can be found in post 17 with further discussion in a number of following posts 21 onwards.

Very serious points really, even more so now with the CFS reviews & increased allowance figures.

Still needs answering and it ain't going away so here goes again with a call to Stepchange on this open forum

My take as always

DC

DorisTrousers

Thanks.


I was referring to the other example, however that has gone now so we will leave it there.


Looking at the one you posted, I see your point and would go further possibly. By using CFS guidelines, this years Council Tax bill could also be included without breaching the disposable income threshold, which, in effect, would give this man or lady more breathing space than would previously have been possible. My own opinion, for what it's worth, is that that is exactly what a DRO was designed for.


I'm not getting involved with your invitation to StepChange, bar to say that it would be nice if all intermediaries would sing from the same hymn sheet.

Depth_Charge

DorisTrousers wrote: »

Thanks.


I was referring to the other example, however that has gone now so we will leave it there.


Looking at the one you posted, I see your point and would go further possibly. By using CFS guidelines, this years Council Tax bill could also be included without breaching the disposable income threshold, which, in effect, would give this man or lady more breathing space than would previously have been possible. My own opinion, for what it's worth, is that that is exactly what a DRO was designed for.


I'm not getting involved with your invitation to StepChange, bar to say that it would be nice if all intermediaries would sing from the same hymn sheet.

Hi

Fair enough, just responding to your query so to speak

Regards

DC

missjames

Is there any updated example figures for housekeeping etc what the allowances is?

Or is Stepchange Budget Guidelines 2012 still the max allowances? There has been a lot of inflation since then, I wonder if the will be a 2014 new doc, with higher allowences for food etc?

Depth_Charge

Hi

Given the context of this thread I am of the opinion that it has to worth mentioning the Money Advice Service (MAS) 'Standard Financial Statement' that has now been put out for consultation

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/static/standard-financial-statement-consultation

I think they are hoping to have things in place early in the New Year so this development could be clearly argued as significant for anyone considering a debt solution and perhaps those currently in a debt solution.

It is also a very interesting subject for debt advice agencies, companies and others connected or interested in debt advice.

All seems to be quiet at the moment, but that wont last:)

Just my take as always

Comments very welcome

DC

UserJong_2

Depth_Charge wrote: »

Hi

Given the context of this thread I am of the opinion that it has to worth mentioning the Money Advice Service (MAS) 'Standard Financial Statement' that has now been put out for consultation

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/static/standard-financial-statement-consultation

I think they are hoping to have things in place early in the New Year so this development could be clearly argued as significant for anyone considering a debt solution and perhaps those currently in a debt solution.

It is also a very interesting subject for debt advice agencies, companies and others connected or interested in debt advice.

All seems to be quiet at the moment, but that wont last:)

Just my take as always

Comments very welcome

DC

Will this have updated max allowances for living costs? the allowances from 3 years ago are too low considering the inflation in cost of living in recent years.

fatbelly

UserJong wrote: »

Will this have updated max allowances for living costs? the allowances from 3 years ago are too low considering the inflation in cost of living in recent years.

The figures for the Common Financial Statement are updated each year. Last update was April 2014, I think.

MAS appear to be reinventing the wheel completely unnecessarily (I think they're calling it the Standard Financial Statement) so expect the figures to be about the same, and updated yearly.

I know this isn't really the place but I did a search recently to find out how often the phrase 're-invent the
wheel' was used about MAS during the Report into them. Results below:

We understand that this mapping exercise will be completed by the end of the month and look forward to a
signposting service that will direct interested parties to existing provision rather than seeking to re-invent the
wheel as has previously been the case.

Before MAS undertakes extensive and possibly costly research on money management and attitudes,
ICAEW recommends MAS take into consideration successful financial capability research and initiatives from
the UK and abroad. There is no need to “reinvent the wheel” given the breadth of knowledge readily available

Instead of reinventing the wheel and spending millions of pounds in brand building to unnecessarily compete with these sites, it would be more efficient for MAS to evaluate the information provided on such sites to ensure it is of benefit to the consumer. (that one came from MSEMartin)

With regards to debt advice, although we are still getting evidence on this, we have additional concerns at
the increasingly frequent amount of times we are hearing about issues with the co-ordination of debt advice
across the UK now that it is being administered by MAS. A situation we do not think we would be in had
MAS taken into account the expertise of those on the ground rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

The findings of the full Inquiry are due in December.

longtermplanner

MAS appear to be reinventing the wheel completely unnecessarily

I'm not a big fan of MAS. the amount of funding they get is enormous and there are good arguments for saying that dividing it up betweenn CAB, National Debtline and Law Centres would deliver a lot more bang for the bucks.

However in this particular case, a common financial statement that is used by everybody, from ORs and IPs to Payplan and Stepchange would give a great deal more clarity to the debt advice process and would seem to me to be something that should be welcomed. If MAS can bring this about, good luck to them.