Considering DRO...what should I expect?

becki83

Hi All. I am considering entering a DRO. I was working full time up until september, but my then partner who was a stay at home dad had a mental health breakdown, and I had to ask the police to remove him. I have 3 kids. I now work part time and claim Universal Credit, which although i was warming to the idea of one benefit payment a month, has now become a nightmare.

I owe, £536 housing element uc overpayment, £336 tax credit overpayment, £306 housing benefit overpayment and around £2500 in payday lenders that got way out of hand. my ex was a bully and made me give him money i couldnt afford so i took out loans to bridge the gap.

I earn around £850 pcm, and get £1563 in UC.

The tax credits and uc housing overpayment is going to be recovered via my benefits. If i enter a DRO will this be stopped?

Will the housing benefit overpayment be entered in the DRO

How does a DRO work? Will an official receiver have control over my finances??

I am owed almost £10k in child maintenance arrears,from another ex (I really do pick em!) CMS have located ex's bank account and are preparing to remove an money he has in there. They give timeline of after xmas, and anyways, there might be nothing in there.

Any advice gratefully received.

sourcrates

becki83 wrote: »

Hi All. I am considering entering a DRO. I was working full time up until september, but my then partner who was a stay at home dad had a mental health breakdown, and I had to ask the police to remove him. I have 3 kids. I now work part time and claim Universal Credit, which although i was warming to the idea of one benefit payment a month, has now become a nightmare.

I owe, £536 housing element uc overpayment, £336 tax credit overpayment, £306 housing benefit overpayment and around £2500 in payday lenders that got way out of hand. my ex was a bully and made me give him money i couldnt afford so i took out loans to bridge the gap.

I earn around £850 pcm, and get £1563 in UC.

The tax credits and uc housing overpayment is going to be recovered via my benefits. If i enter a DRO will this be stopped?

Will the housing benefit overpayment be entered in the DRO

How does a DRO work? Will an official receiver have control over my finances??

I am owed almost £10k in child maintenance arrears,from another ex (I really do pick em!) CMS have located ex's bank account and are preparing to remove an money he has in there. They give timeline of after xmas, and anyways, there might be nothing in there.

Any advice gratefully received.

Hi,

A DRO may not be right for you if you are going to get a lump sum in the near future, i would wait and see how much money there is in his account first, as anymore than £1000 in assets, would see your DRO declined.

You also need to have £50 or less left every month after essential bills are paid, info here :

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/debt-solutions/debt-relief-orders/debt-relief-orders-explained/debt-relief-orders-what-you-need-to-know/

You can include all your benefit over-payments yes, the way it works is that you go through an intermediary, such as stepchange or citizens advice, they complete your budget report, if you qualify, they submit all the paperwork etc, and your DRO can be up and running in as little as 48 hours.

You will receive a letter from the insolvency service telling you if its been granted or not, after which there is no further contact usually, unless your situation changes, after 12 months, thats it, debt free.

becki83

thanks Sourcrates I am paid next weds and have £10 to my name I am tempted to wait, but I know my ex. the CMS have to tell them what they are doing and he'll probably just close the account or transfer the money.

fatbelly

Definitely don't pay the payday lenders now.

A DRO should work but a lump sum of >£1000 could cause problems, though the DRO team have discretion to ignore lump sums up to £1850

As you could be in line for a sum bigger than that it would be wise to hold on before submitting your application but there's no reason not to get things lined up, get your bank account where you don't have debts, find an intermediary and get an Experian report ... and £90 cash.