Debt Relief Order advice please

Splodge1000

Further update

I have been in to my local CAB today and met with one of the Approved Intermediaries. As I suspected, they have not yet received the Experian or Equifax credit reports for me. Because of this, nothing had been completed; i.e. my details had not been entered onto the relevant system. I sat with the Intermediary who input these details for me there and then. She generated a bar code which enabled me to pay the £90 fee for the DRO. I believe that all that is required now is that they receive the reports and my fee confirmation and the application can be submitted to the Insolvency Service. The lady is coming in to the Bureau on 31 October so she can meet with me and complete the submission of the application. It cannot be done earlier than this as she is the only person who can submit it and she is unavailable until that date.

I am still very worried.

I have just had a look at my Experian report and at present I am below the £20,000 threshold by £46. There is a balance on their which I was not expecting and that is from Virgin media of £68. My tv, telephone line rental, calls and broadband are with Virgin but I didn't realise this showed up on my credit report. My payment for these is taken by direct debit on or around 10th of each month and so I am up to date. More surprisingly, the report states that this balance of £68 was updated on 29/10/2017; as that date has not yet arrived, I do not understand that. This does not take the balance above £20,000, however.

My four main creditors' entries were all updated on 01/10/2017. Presumably that means that the next update will be on 01/11/2017. Is it likely that these entry amounts will change? I ask this because the Virgin amount has appeared before it should have done, as far as I can see (i.e. it is not yet 29/10/2017) and if other amounts appear from creditors earlier then this may take me over the £20,000 limit. I know the OR will access my credit report and if the application is submitted on 31 October I am concerned that on 01 or 02 November when the OR accesses this the amounts will be different.

I did offer to print off the Experian report and rush back into the Bureau with it today, but they were not having that.

Any advice would be appreciated. I was hoping this could be completed today because of the level my total balance is at.

sourcrates

Only the debts included in the DRO are counted in the 20k limit.

Thinks like TV/utilities etc etc that you pay monthly, don't count.

fatbelly

It sounds like they are giving you some priority.

The Experian report seems to take just under 3 weeks to come by post; the Equifax one takes longer but is not a 'requirement' for a DRO

The DRO Unit will take a snapshot from Experian on the day after they receive the application and would ordinarily reject it if the total is over 20k. So the intermediary will have to draw their attention to Virgin's £68 not being a debt.

I don't know why they refused your copy of the Experian report.

Splodge1000

Thanks, sourcrates and fatbelly

fatbelly wrote: »

It sounds like they are giving you some priority.

I think they are now, but I have had to appeal to them to do this. I am particularly grateful that the lady is coming in 31 October to submit this for me, but it may be too late.

Any thoughts on the dates in question regarding my creditors? My credit card bills are all due at different points in the month so I was wondering why on the Experian report the "last update" for all four creditors was 01/10/2017. If future charges are going to be added in advance of the usual pay-by date on 01/11/2017 then this will make me ineligible. I am expecting charges in the region of £70 - £150 per creditor and so reducing the balances now by a small amount is not going to help.

I am really worried about this. I could attend the Bureau tomorrow with the report and have the application submitted to the OR but the Intermediary is not available. There is no way to enable this, is there? Another Bureau couldn't take it over and do it, could they?

fatbelly

Splodge1000 wrote: »

Thanks, sourcrates and fatbelly

I think they are now, but I have had to appeal to them to do this. I am particularly grateful that the lady is coming in 31 October to submit this for me, but it may be too late.

Any thoughts on the dates in question regarding my creditors? My credit card bills are all due at different points in the month so I was wondering why on the Experian report the "last update" for all four creditors was 01/10/2017. If future charges are going to be added in advance of the usual pay-by date on 01/11/2017 then this will make me ineligible. I am expecting charges in the region of £70 - £150 per creditor and so reducing the balances now by a small amount is not going to help.

I am really worried about this. I could attend the Bureau tomorrow with the report and have the application submitted to the OR but the Intermediary is not available. There is no way to enable this, is there? Another Bureau couldn't take it over and do it, could they?

It's a little more flexible that it used to be since DRO2 came in at the start of the year. Intermediaries can group together in 'teams' and take control of each other's cases. But no, you can't go to a completely different office and expect them to pick up where the other left.

Splodge1000

Fatbelly, are you, or is anyone else, able to comment on my credit report and how it works?

What I need to understand is whether or not the amounts stated by each creditor will increase on 01 November. I am still in the dark as to how it works and why all the updates on my credit report for my four creditors are dated 01 October 2017. If these amounts are going to increase then I think it is best to let the Intermediary know that there is no need for her to come into the office especially on 31 October 2017 as the application will be rejected by the OR I don't want the intermediary wasting her time, as she is already being very kind in coming in to do this, and it may best to just abandon it all now and recover the £90 fee which will be lost if the application goes through and is rejected.

Splodge1000

Thanks for your PM, fatbelly.

I tried to send a thank you response by PM but I believe your inbox is full, so please accept my thanks in the thread.

fatbelly

StopIt wrote: »

Well, remember how much bankruptcy costs.


If the difference between a DRO going through and not is a hundred quid or so, that's still far cheaper than the bankruptcy fee.

I thought I'd remind you of StopIt's earlier post. Bankruptcy is £680 and more intrusive than a DRO.

You need to work out what the total balance will be. If you're submitting it on 31 Oct, the relevant date will (probably, not guaranteed) be 2 Nov.

The credit report is a factor because the DRO Team do check it, but it is the actual balance owing that day that counts.

Pay it down so the balance is, say, £19995. Ideally get a third party to make the payment.

I've done a few that were within £5 of the limit. But you need to be accurate.

Splodge1000

Thanks, fatbelly, though bankruptcy is not going to be an option in my situation.

I am keeping a daily check on the balances and so far the total is still acceptable.

obay

Splodge1000 wrote: »

Thanks, fatbelly, though bankruptcy is not going to be an option in my situation.

I am keeping a daily check on the balances and so far the total is still acceptable.

I’m pretty sure you can pay for bankruptcy through £5 installments?