DRO Creditor Need Some Advice!

Bacon123

Hello,

I've spent a long time looking through this forum and there has been a lot of useful information, but nothing specific enough for my situation.

My ex-boyfriend owes me money from when he lived with me. This included money I paid towards bills, cash lent to him and other money which was always lent on the agreement that he would pay me back when he found a job. This debt eventually totalled over £1500 by the time we broke up and he moved out.

Since then, he had been paying a small amount each month, which got smaller and smaller as time went on. During this time, I knew he was capable of paying back larger amounts and was instead choosing to spend this money on going out etc so contacted him to asked to arrange a minimum payment/informal payment plan but he refused to deal with it like an adult.

I felt I needed to formalise the debt as his behaviour led me to believe he didn't intend to pay it off, so I submitted a money claim through MCOL for the total amount minus the payments he had already made.

I was surprised when I received a form back admitting to the total amount I had claimed, and offering a very insulting repayment plan of £1 a month. As I know he can afford more than this, I held off from taking the claim through to the judgement stage as I needed to research my options.

In the meantime, I have now received a letter from the Insolvency Service notifying me that he has taken out a DRO and I am named (with incorrect spelling, I might add) as a creditor on the order with the full amount of the debt I am owed, along with 6 other creditors.

I am finding it very difficult to find advice about DROs online from a creditor's perspective. Most sites and forums only offer advice to the debtor. I understand that if his debt to me remains on the DRO, he will not have to pay me for 12 months, and following that the debt will be written off.

My best chance of ensuring that my debt is eventually paid would be to prove one of the following within the next 30 days:


1) My debt should not be included in the list of qualifying debts

As this debt is subject to an ongoing court process which has not yet resulted in a CCJ, am I able to claim that it should not have been included on the DRO application as it has not yet been formalised?
If it is allowed on the DRO, what happens now in terms of continuing the court process, as the DRO does not allow me to continue action to recover the money?
On a really nitpicking level, does it matter that my name is misspelt? Would I be able to buy myself some time by asking for a correction?


2) The DRO should not have been granted

I understand that two of the conditions of the DRO being granted are that the debtor has less than £300 of assets, and has no more than £50 per month remaining income to pay off debts.
One of the debts listed is for a catalogue company to the value of £400. This was incurred after he moved out, and I believe it shows he has purchased goods to that value, which may result in him exceeding the £300 asset limit. Am I able to get the OR to look into this further?
As for the £50 of available income, I know his finances quite well and also know that he lives with his parents and his outgoings for living expenses are minimal. Am I able to obtain a copy of the financial information he provided for the DRO, as I believe he may have exaggerated his living expenses? How could I prove this?


3) Misconduct

The DRO asks me to provide any information that may be previously unknown to the OR relating to how the debts were incurred. The list of examples of misconduct and behaviour that may result in further action being taken mentions "incurring debts which they had no reasonable prospect of paying" and "gambling, rash and hazardous speculation or unreasonable extravagance which has materially contributed to or increased the extent of the debt".
There are two debts listed on the DRO which were incurred after he moved out, when he was already in serious debt and unemployed. This includes the £400 mentioned earlier, and also a new credit card taken out in the last 6 months. How would I prove he did this knowing he would be unable to repay them?
He is a regular gambler and also takes trips to visit friends for big nights out/gambling, could this also fall into the category of misconduct?


Thank you so much to anyone who has read this massive post, even if you have an answer to just one single question I would be so grateful as I'm at my wit's end with this. :mad:

[Deleted User]

Don't know if you have seen this: (sort of relevant, debtor's prospective again I'm afraid)

"Neither a bankruptcy nor a Debt Relief Order can stop the CCJ process if the creditor has a fair claim, but the judged debt can be included in Bankruptcy or a Debt Relief Order.
You will first need to accept the debt by returning the completed Acceptance Form included with the Court Summons and agree a repayment schedule with the creditor. If you then go on to file for bankruptcy or a DRO, the repayments to the creditor will cease and the debt be included in the bankruptcy or DRO." as long as this then doesn't go over 15,000

I remember having to quote contest time to one of my creditors, they were a large resourceful company who could afford debt collection and even they had to cut their loses in the end

It would surely now cost you more to persue the MCOL?

As the debtor I've learn something today, didn't know that notification sent to one creditor contains all info about every other creditors in one swoop so thanks - small comfort your ex's credit is in ruin for 6 years plus , name on a public register for 15 months, not to mention other problems, it isn't an easy solution

With the HP goods there is a chance he'd be asked for return of items anyway

Not sure if you have any wiggle room with your name spelt wrongly? maybe persuable from the point debtors can refuse to pay on grounds of getting names wrong or not in their entirety, on court papers? (though I've only heard this on commercial stuff) depends where the mistake has orginated from, could be anyone the debtor, intermediary, insolvency service, though I remember having to check what was being submitted to the IS so perhaps responsibility rests with the debtor ultimately

Least the ex can't gain anymore money from you

Bacon123

Thank you for your response!

Deleted%20User wrote: »

Neither a bankruptcy nor a Debt Relief Order can stop the CCJ process if the creditor has a fair claim, but the judged debt can be included in Bankruptcy or a Debt Relief Order.
You will first need to accept the debt by returning the completed Acceptance Form included with the Court Summons and agree a repayment schedule with the creditor.

As the debt has not yet been judged, do you think that means it cannot be included?

We had not agreed a repayment schedule as I was planning on getting an Order for Questioning which would require him to prove how much free income he had, I wasn't planning on accepting the £1 a month offer.

I have already paid the court fees to put the CCJ through so continuing to pursue it shouldn't cost any more money. It's more a question of whether I would get in trouble through the DRO for continuing to chase the money.

Thanks again for your help and advice.

fatbelly

Under your heading (1), no, you haven't got a case. There is a clear liability to you, he has admitted it and it is included. Any court action you take can be successfully defended. You may disagree with the balance figure if you think it is wrong.

Under (2) and (3) you should let the DRO Unit have all the evidence that you have and they may look into it. There is no downside to you but I would not get your hopes up. Very few DROs are revoked under those sections.