What would you do?

spottycup

Hi I have previously posted on here regarding an iva which I was told can be done for £50 per month. I had some helpful replies but can't find the thread now but anyway I would like some opinions about the following please:
Total debt: 13700 to 4 creditors - interest has been frozen.
Currently on dmp paying £40 pcm (was more but situation got worse)
I am with payplan who have been great although they do keep pushing for an iva.
Question is, would I be better off with a dro, iva or stay as I am?
All very confusing as all 3 have good points but also serious bad points.
Would really appreciate your opinions.
Many thanks

wba31

spottycup wrote: »

Hi I have previously posted on here regarding an iva which I was told can be done for £50 per month. I had some helpful replies but can't find the thread now but anyway I would like some opinions about the following please:
Total debt: 13700 to 4 creditors - interest has been frozen.
Currently on dmp paying £40 pcm (was more but situation got worse)
I am with payplan who have been great although they do keep pushing for an iva.
Question is, would I be better off with a dro, iva or stay as I am?
All very confusing as all 3 have good points but also serious bad points.
Would really appreciate your opinions.
Many thanks

If you fit the criteria for a DRO it's the cheapest and shortest option?
debt under £15k?
surplus of £50 or less?
car worth £1000 or less?
assets £300 or less?
dont have mortgaged property?

Anondebtadvisor

I Am surprised Payplan are not advising you on this considering they are a recommended "free" agency.

DRO if you meet the criteria. A DMP will take you 27yrs!!

spottycup

wba31 wrote: »

If you fit the criteria for a DRO it's the cheapest and shortest option?
debt under £15k?
surplus of £50 or less?
car worth £1000 or less?
assets £300 or less?
dont have mortgaged property?

I don't own a car but partner has one which is worth more, all debts are mine but his income is used in I&E.
Surplus is only £40 but are they stricter on what is allowed to be included that a dmp?
Partner thinks dro is best way forward but I am a little worried about paying the fee and being refused.

spottycup

Anondebtadvisor wrote: »

I Am surprised Payplan are not advising you on this considering they are a recommended "free" agency.

DRO if you meet the criteria. A DMP will take you 27yrs!!

I have a call booked with them to go through this but I am worried they will just keep advising an iva, which I am not against but have read some horror stories about!
Do you know how strict they are on expenditures for dro? Are they able to not allow things like Xmas to be Included?

longtermplanner

If you only have a surplus of 340 a month an IVA is NOT suitable! Phone Payplan and tell them you want a DRO. If they say you don't pass the "surplus £50" or any other criteria, ask them to explain why and come back here to check.

Your partner's car is irrelevant for a DRO.

wba31

spottycup wrote: »

I have a call booked with them to go through this but I am worried they will just keep advising an iva, which I am not against but have read some horror stories about!
Do you know how strict they are on expenditures for dro? Are they able to not allow things like Xmas to be Included?

If Payplan do not offer you the DRO and give you solid reason why you are unable to apply (post any reason on here!) then just call Step Change, NDL or visit your CAB. use your Payplan budget as a starting point, make it clear you'd like to investigate a DRO. I don't know Payplan's guidelines, but £40 surplus is under £50, therefore eligible for a DRO. It's unlikely that their guidelines are massively different to CFS or Step Change guidelines as they are all quite similar... Payplan take direct referal from CAB who use CFS, so if there were vast differences they couldnt take those referrals...

spottycup

Ok so I had the call, he still tried pushing me to go for iva even so far as to say "shall I just update your surplus to £50 per month so you fit the criteria for an iva". So to be honest I am not that impressed with payplan at the moment.
But of a pointless call, he couldn't help with any info on a dro s he said he didn't know much about it.
Our situation could change in the next few months due to partners work, we could end up much worse off or hopefully at least remain the same.
Can I do an expenditure on just my income, this will just be tax credits and child benefit or as we live together so they include everything coming into the house?
Many thanks for your replies

fatbelly

spottycup wrote: »

Ok so I had the call, he still tried pushing me to go for iva even so far as to say "shall I just update your surplus to £50 per month so you fit the criteria for an iva". So to be honest I am not that impressed with payplan at the moment.
But of a pointless call, he couldn't help with any info on a dro s he said he didn't know much about it.
Our situation could change in the next few months due to partners work, we could end up much worse off or hopefully at least remain the same.
Can I do an expenditure on just my income, this will just be tax credits and child benefit or as we live together so they include everything coming into the house?
Many thanks for your replies

Sounds like another 'training need'. Perhaps you could direct him to this pdf so he can learn about dros:

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/pdfs/guidanceleafletspdf/droguide.pdf

pointing out that Payplan are listed at the bottom of page 14, where there also appears to be a specific email address for them.

In your case it's probably better to try another provider.

longtermplanner

<sigh> ok, time to give up on Payplan.

Call National Debtline and tell them the problems you have been having with Payplan and ask them to see if you meet the DRO criteria.

*** Actually I'm not just sighing about this, I'm pretty mad. If National Debtline confirm that you do meet the DRO criteria, then it would be really good if you could put in a formal complaint to Payplan. You are here getting sensible advice and support, some of their other clients may not be so lucky (((

National_Debtline

Hello there,

You're very welcome to give us a call to seek a second opinion. In fact, I would encourage anyone considering their best option to do as much research as they can. What might be the best option for one person may not be the best for another - even if, on the face of it, their circumstances are very similar.

You can compare the various insolvency-related options on our website: https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/information/insolvency/Pages/default.aspx

Very best wishes,

David @ NDL.