Dro questions

adzam33

Think I am going to cry!

Everything was plodding along fine. I was waiting for the letter with the barcode to arrive then I've just had a phone call from stepchange saying they needed more information about my budget because it looks like I dont qualify for a dro because I have £94 per month surplus. Now on my income and expenditure forms it says £31 surplus so where the £94 come from I dont know.

She then said we will work it out a different way, that way came to -24 per month, she then said I wouldn't qualify for a dro because if the minus figure. I am so confused I could just cry, I really thought I was getting somewhere.

Just dont know what to do now.

Should I give them a ring again tomorrow and see if u can speak to someone with some sense, or should I give up on them and go through someone else, if so who.

fatbelly

adzam33 wrote: »

Should I give them a ring again tomorrow and see if u can speak to someone with some sense, or should I give up on them and go through someone else, if so who.

Do exactly that. The rules say that your surplus must be less than £50 per month.

Minus £24 is less than plus 50.

Insist on them pushing ahead with your DRO.

If they are still being stupid, post again here and then go to Citizens Advice

adzam33

I've just got off the phone to them again, explained everything that has gone on and did speak to someone with some sense.

I said even if it was £94 a month surplus (which it isnt) surely that should be split between two making a surplus of £47 because the budget was worked out as a couple. He agreed with me and couldn't understand what has gone on.

He said he us going to go all through the paperwork again and will get a supervisor to ring me between 10 and 12 tomorrow and hopefully sort things out. Fingers crossed.

If I dont get no joy I will contact citizens advice again and if I've got to wait 4 to 6 months like they first mentioned then I will just have to wait.

adzam33

Well they phoned me back and there seems to be two problems.

1. They had my husbands ESA down as my ESA.

2. It seems they have an old system and a new system, I'm on the new system which currently has teething problems.

I feel like pulling my teeth out in frustration!

To be fair the person I spoke to was really helpful, went through the budget again this time with just my income and it came out at £8 surplus, all good so far, went to input it in the new system but the computer said no, it wouldn't accept it. He said give me 20 minutes and I will phone you back, and he did.

He said he couldn't get the computer to accept the new figures but it was a system problem ,nothing to do with the figures .

He was very apologetic and has promised me he will sort everything out for me in the next couple of days and not to worry, easier said than done. He said the dro will go through eventually. He is going to ring me as soon as its sorted.

I will leave it until Wednesday and if I haven't heard anything will give them a ring, if it hasn't been sorted I will go to citizens advice on Thursday morning.

Feel like my head is going to explode!

adzam33

At the end of my tether!

I called stepchange back yesterday, that's a mission in itself, was on hold for nearly 40 minutes. Eventually got through but had to explain everything again from the very beginning because everytime you ring up you speak to a different person. I know they are probably taking hundreds of calls and would be impossible to speak to the same person every time you ring up.

I was left on hold for a bit then the reply was.........we are having trouble inputting your new details in the system and we are trying to sort the problem out we will contact you when the problem has been resolved........ohh please it's been a week now.

My husband isn't well in hospital so I'm at the hospital twice a day, my mother in law died on Sunday we are her only family so it's been left to me to sort out the funeral arrangements. My daughter is fleeting in and out the house doing shift work, I'm just totally fed up.

I was going to go to citizens advice this morning but couldn't go because the funeral director was coming to see me at 10am.

I have started receiving letters about missed payments and they want me to fill in an income and expenditure form, should I fill them out and send them or not? I haven't had any phone calls yet but I did say in my holding letter contact by mail only, whether they stick to that I dont know.

Would it be worth contacting national debtline or payplan or just someone who could help me, but who?

Had a good cry last night, but crying isn't gone to solve anything will have to 'woman up' and try to get things sorted.

Sorry for the rant.

fatbelly

Keep posting here if it's in any way therapeutic.

Look, this will be sorted and in all probability stepchange will be the ones to do it.

You do not need to reply to creditors or respond to them in any way. They will run through their standard letters and legal letters (arrears, default). Nothing important will happen.

The important stuff is here:

My husband isn't well in hospital so I'm at the hospital twice a day, my mother in law died on Sunday we are her only family so it's been left to me to sort out the funeral arrangements. My daughter is fleeting in and out the house doing shift work,

sourcrates

As above, I must have posted 100 times that the debt collection process can take a very long time, this is just a minor glitch, try not to worry, it will all be sorted soon.

adzam33

I am going to put my debts and stepchange at the back of my mind for now as you both say I am sure it will get sorted eventually.

My priority for now is my family.

As always fatbelly and sourcrates thank you for putting things into perspective for me. I was trying to sort too many things out all at once, my head was in a whirl. Feel a bit calmer now.

adzam33

Back again!

Things are plodding along ok at home but wont bore you with that.

After my last post here I wrote a letter to stepchange explaining everything that had happened, thought it would be easier than keep having to go through it all again when I phoned. I thought I would give it a couple if weeks then give them a ring.

Today out of the blue I received a letter from stepchange with the barcode to pay the £90 and asking me to get my up to date amounts owing. I couldn't believe it, I thought I would have more messing about concerning my budget etc.

Now a few questions if you dont mind, some of them might seem silly but I really dont want anything to go wrong after all these weeks.

1. Will it be ok to pay the £90 at the post office on Monday then on Tuesday get my up to date balances and phone stepchange then or have I got to do them on the same day.

2. One lady I spoke to at stepchange a few weeks back mentioned my water rates saying they had to be included now on the documents they've sent today there Is no mention of the water rates, so what should I do leave it as is or mention it when I ring them with my up to date balances.

3. I know at the end of the day the insolvency service have the final say but surely stepchange wouldn't ask me to pay the £90 if they thought there would be a problem with it, I mean at stepchanges end. I dont want to pay the £90 ring stepchange up and they say ohh sorry we've made a mistake.

4. If all goes well and I ring stepchange up on Tuesday with the info they need how long does it take after that to get approved.

Thanks.

sourcrates

Get your up to date balances, then pay the £90, the order in which you do this is irrelevant.

Cant help with water rates, they wern`t included in mine, Fatbelly ??

Your application would not be submitted if there was any chance of it not been approved, that is the job of the intermediary, the time scale can vary dependent on many factors, usually its a few days to a week for approval.