DRO a option for me?

Darren84

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and looking for some advice.

I am currently on a DMP with stepchange. When I started it was £26k, it is now less than £20k after paying £400 a month towards it.

My circumstances have just changed drastically as me and my partner have separated. The household income has dropped and due to the house being owned by her family my rent has just nearly doubled (we used to pay way below rental value)

Even though I earn a ok wage now by the time I have paid the household bills I have about £30 to my name for the month. Thats not paying my current £400 DMP.

After searching on here about bankrupcy I read about debt relief orders which I wasn't aware of.

My question really is if I apply for a DRO what sort of household expenditures do they take into account? For example I have dogs. Is their cost included? What about my £130 a month I spend on diesel etc.

Also what paperwork do I need to provide? Is it just bank statements and then a budget like I had to do for my DMP?

Thanks in advance :j

fatbelly

Stepchange should be able to assess you against the basic criteria for a DRO:


•Must not be a homeowner,

• Debts less than £20,000,

• Can have a car worth up to £1000,

• No other assets of more than £1000,

• Must have £50 or less left at month end, after all essential payments have been made (not inc debt repayments),

• Cannot have had a DRO in last 6 years.

What they need by way of proof may not be much different from what they want to see for a dmp.

A reasonable spend on pet food (and vet fees) would be fine. Whatever you spend on fuel, likewise. You will need to allow more for maintenance if you are doing high mileages.

From what you've said you may well qualify now.

Darren84

Thanks for reply. Going to ring them tomorrow and ask to send me a pack out. I have been putting this off but I won't be able to pay next month's DMP payment now so need to sort something out before hand

RuthnJasper

Darren84 wrote: »

Thanks for reply. Going to ring them tomorrow and ask to send me a pack out. I have been putting this off but I won't be able to pay next month's DMP payment now so need to sort something out before hand

Darren84, I bit the bullet recently and got a DRO through the charity CAP. Not the easiest thing to do, but was an immense weight off my mind now it has all gone through. Do open up a new basic bank account (not with your current bank though) beforehand, as it will make things easier - but do be honest with them about your circumstances.

Best wishes for the DRO, if that's how you choose to proceed, and for the future.

fatbelly

RuthnJasper wrote: »

Darren84, I bit the bullet recently and got a DRO through the charity CAP. Not the easiest thing to do, but was an immense weight off my mind now it has all gone through. Do open up a new basic bank account (not with your current bank though) beforehand, as it will make things easier - but do be honest with them about your circumstances.

Best wishes for the DRO, if that's how you choose to proceed, and for the future.

Stepchange should be willing to do this for you, and they already have all your info. If there's a problem, ask them what the problem is.

As for bank account, if you're on a stepchange dmp, that should already be in place.

Clouds88

Just bare in mind it might take a while to do. We started with my husbands with one charity that apparently sent the pack and we never received so we went with payplan and it took six months to actually get done! Obviously asides from the inconvenience of having to wait it was fairly straight forward