DRO questions

davey90

Hello

I have just come across debt relief orders, and I think that's what I need. I owe 17k on credit cards and my overdraft, my self-employed business has been slowly failing and I've been living on those cards, and my wife has 1) started a job in France last year and 2) just told me she is pregnant.

If I can, I'd like to sort out my debts with a DRO then leave the country before I get discharged. The baby is due this summer, and if I do the minding once her maternity leave ends, my wife can afford to keep the three of us on her salary. So I wouldn't be breaking the rules by earning money over there. Her contract ends in 2019 so I should be discharged before we come home.

Is that legit though, moving overseas before I get discharged? I have no idea how the French authorities might react, and I don't want to tell them if I can get away with it. Would any UK officialdom notify the French, once I told them where I was going? As an EU citizen it seems pretty straightforward to get a residence permit there, but I won't know til I try exactly what paperwork they want.

A few other questions please:

My payments are all current right now. Is it realistic to skip directly to the DRO stage and not have to deal with debt collectors?

I live in a rented flat at the moment. If I move out, share the money I get back from my rental deposit fairly between my creditors, and stay in a mate's spare room for a month or two, will he be affected at all by my DRO? He knows I have debt trouble but not exactly what I'm planning yet. I trust him and plan to come clean once I know what to do.

I don't owe anything to anyone in connection with my business, and it has no assets apart from its web domain name which might be worth nothing. Basically my skills are the business asset. Still, would it be simpler if I stop trading and sort out my accounts and tax bill well in advance? I have a part time job as well which I would like to keep, at least til the DRO is agreed, but it doesn't make anything like enough to pay rent.

I've seen old posts about opening a basic Co-Op Bank account before I get the DRO, and having my salary paid in there. Is that still the best thing to do? I would like an account with web banking if possible.

Will I be able to keep my sim-only Three mobile contract at £11 a month, and would it be better to switch that from 1 month notice to 12 months before I get the DRO? It has to be paid by direct debit, but that's the only DD I would need. I've heard how keeping a small credit agreement on my record makes things easier after discharge.

My wife left me her car when she went to France. It has never belonged to me but I'm the registered keeper. If we sell it now, what sort of hoops do we need to jump through to prove that and let her keep the money?

I know you can't get a DRO if you have savings or assets above £300, but will anyone care about my household stuff? I have a bike that I bought last year for £300, and my Macbook that cost over £1000 in 2012. They are obviously not new but still in decent shape. Will I have to sell them?

Do you get automatically discharged after 1 year of a DRO, or you have to apply for it?

Thanks in advance everyone :beer:

fatbelly

I don't see any problem with your plans. The debt limit is now 20k, and you are now allowed £1000 of assets/savings.

There is a separate limit of £1000 for a car, if you own one, though it sounds like the car is your wife's with you as the registered keeper.

If your returning deposit will be less than £1000, that won't be a barrier and you could start a DRO now.

Your moratorium finishes after a year, automatically.

You need to get linked in to an Intermediary

davey90

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the savings limit is higher. I first heard about DROs from an old leaflet.

My deposit is £800. If I get it all back, would trying to keep it plus my bike and laptop be a bit much? I'd need £90 for the DRO fee though, and something for food.

The car is my wife's, since 2012, and she has a dealer receipt proving she paid for it. Would selling the car to my brother be frowned upon? He does actually need one, and can pay what I think is a reasonable price of £2000. I don't want him dragged into any official investigations though.

What about the guy I'm planning to stay with? I wouldn't want to give him any grief. I read a while back about home insurance policies getting cancelled once the insurer found out there was a bankrupt in the house, even if the policy holder had no way of knowing. But here's hoping some ombudsman already came along and banned that?

The intermediaries are all private firms, aren't they, not part of the government. Are there better and worse ones in your opinion? I'd like to get it all sorted quite quickly, if possible.

fatbelly wrote: »

I don't see any problem with your plans. The debt limit is now 20k, and you are now allowed £1000 of assets/savings.

fatbelly

davey90 wrote: »

Thanks, I hadn't noticed the savings limit is higher. I first heard about DROs from an old leaflet.

My deposit is £800. If I get it all back, would trying to keep it plus my bike and laptop be a bit much? I'd need £90 for the DRO fee though, and something for food.

The car is my wife's, since 2012, and she has a dealer receipt proving she paid for it. Would selling the car to my brother be frowned upon? He does actually need one, and can pay what I think is a reasonable price of £2000. I don't want him dragged into any official investigations though.

What about the guy I'm planning to stay with? I wouldn't want to give him any grief. I read a while back about home insurance policies getting cancelled once the insurer found out there was a bankrupt in the house, even if the policy holder had no way of knowing. But here's hoping some ombudsman already came along and banned that?

The intermediaries are all private firms, aren't they, not part of the government. Are there better and worse ones in your opinion? I'd like to get it all sorted quite quickly, if possible.

If I listed them at all I'd put the bike and laptop at 10% of the initial purchase price. I don't think £710 cash plus those assets would breach the limit.

If your wife chooses to sell the car to your brother that is entirely a matter for them and nothing to do with you or your DRO.

Your 'flatmate' will be entirely unaffected by your DRO, but if he's claiming a single person discount on his council tax, again that's a matter for him to sort out.

Most DROs are done by CAB and Stepchange. There are a few intermediaries working for other organisations who are covered by the IMA, and other charities can do them - AdviceUK, Shelter, National Debtline, CAP. They all work to the same standards and cannot charge a fee (the £90 goes to the Insolvency Service) so no one is 'better'.