Is a Debt Relief Order worth doing?

AleMrsT

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Not following you.

Surely your insurance would pay out for your car too?

SIGH -They probably should have done, probably did, but certainly not before the finance company sent me a letter saying that the finance needed paying off as they couldnt recover the vehicle. I was 19 years old, had just had my car written off by an uninsured idiot, I was injured, and getting letters from the person who's car I got shunted into saying I owed them X amount for damage as they couldnt claim off the uninsured person, I had letters from the finance company demanding payment, so yes, I took out a loan to pay it off as I didnt know what else to do.

And Tesco insurance were utterly useless anyway.

I then took the uninsured driver to court, and got very little back because he was pleading poverty.

moohound

AleMrsT wrote: »

What is the difference between the two? Do you think I should ask again? How would I use the account if I have nothing to go into it?

You have to specifically ask for a basic account, it comes with a debit card usually, but had no overdraft or cheque book, they do not advertise them, there are no leaflets or posters, you have to ask, I got mine with HSBC, when I was £1400 overdrawn with LloydsTSB and I opened it no problem.

AleMrsT

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 1,067
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 862
Available for debt repayments........... 205
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 248
Amount short for making debt repayments. -43

National_Debtline

AleMrsT wrote: »

Monthly Budget Summary[/b]
Total monthly income.................... 1,067
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 862
Available for debt repayments........... 205
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 248
Amount short for making debt repayments. -43

Hi AleMrsT

The above summary suggests that at present you would not meet the DRO criteria as you have > £50 per month available to repay debts.

However, we would normally try to establish your partner's share of household income and outgoings as well. This is in order to ensure that you are only paying your proportionate share, so that we have an objective view of your ability to to service these debts.

Other DRO providers may proceed differently, but I would suggest supplying some information about the whole household's income and expenditure, if you can.

Thanks

Dennis
@natdebtline

Ratison

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Not following you.

Surely your insurance would pay out for your car too?

I might be wrong, but isn't this why companies try to get you to take out gap insurance for cars on finance? Because while you might get the value of the car, the value of the finance is very different. As I understand, gap insurance is certainly packaged as a way of meaning that the finance can be paid off in the worse case scenario, but I have no personal experience of this type of insurance, so am not familiar with whether this would be the case.

AleMrsT

Ratison wrote: »

I might be wrong, but isn't this why companies try to get you to take out gap insurance for cars on finance? Because while you might get the value of the car, the value of the finance is very different. As I understand, gap insurance is certainly packaged as a way of meaning that the finance can be paid off in the worse case scenario, but I have no personal experience of this type of insurance, so am not familiar with whether this would be the case.

Yes, you're right. When I took the finance I specifically asked for GAP insurance, when the accident happened, I rang to tell them the car was written off, they told me I would need to pay, I said I took out GAP insurance, they informed me that the cover I'd been paying for was PPI not GAP, so I needed to pay up immediately, hence taking out the loan. It was all one giant mess, not only was I mis-sold PPI that I didnt want, I didnt get the insurance cover that I DID want, and the person that hit me was uninsured. Sorry to Bedsit Bob if I was a bit harsh with my reply, I came here for some advice and I just feel even more stupid and helpless now.
Thanks to everyone who has answered me, I am still none the wiser on what to do, as it looks like I won't be able to do a DRO now. If I go to Citizens Advice will they sit down and go through everything with me? Not just over the phone, but help with budgeting, debt advice, my options with work etc?

moohound

How much will your income drop if you reduce your hours as necessitated by your long term medical condition?

AleMrsT

It will drop to around £950 per month. Currently I get should get £1152 per month, but I'm having a lot of sickness absence days which take it to around £1067.

National_Debtline

moohound wrote: »

How much will your income drop if you reduce your hours as necessitated by your long term medical condition?

OP - this is the crucial question.

Have you done any sort of projection/forecast of how your income vs expenditure will look once you reduce your hours?

Dennis
@natdebtline

EDIT: Cross-posted with OP.

National_Debtline

AleMrsT wrote: »

It will drop to around £950 per month. Currently I get should get £1152 per month, but I'm having a lot of sickness absence days which take it to around £1067.

OK. That might yet make it feasible, subject to further scrutiny of the budget (as I said further above, we would look at your budget as a proportion of the household overall).

For a definitive opinion, I would suggest you contact one of the services qualified to offer DROs. The list of "competent authorities" can be found at the following:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/debt-relief-orders

Dennis
@natdebtline