My name has been listed as a creditor on a DRO…

Becks1611

does this mean that I will never get my money back?
I lent a now ex friend, £250 to do courses to further their career.  She didn’t start paying back until 18months later, paid £95 in sporadic payments and then stopped.  Her reasoning being that I had more income than her (?).She distanced herself and started ignoring calls/texts etc.  Finally a response: “you’ll have to take me to court if you want your money”.  So I did.  I got a CCJ and then she applied and received a DRO.
Approx £20,000 owed to other creditors - Brighthouse, other buy now pay whenever businesses, local authority etc.  I am the only non-business listed.
She has continued to spend money on day trips, nights out, takeaways, extravagant gifts for her children and even asking for recommendations for holidays in Cornwall!

Do I have any recourse? Is my money (£180: £145 debt plus £35 court fee) gone forever? 

[Deleted User]

I'd suspect you will only get a portion of your debts back, however, I suggest you take evidence e.g. screen shots of whatever proof you have that she is deliberately spending money while claiming to need the DRO as it may be an argument that she is doing something dodgy 

sourcrates

In a debt relief order, the debtor makes no payments at all to their debts, this is for a period of 12 months, and it is called the "moratorium period".

If this 12 months is successfully completed, without the DRO being revoked, then the debtors debts are written off, and unfortunately for you, you won`t see a penny of it.

As a DRO is a formal debt solution, the debtor has legal protection from their creditors, CCJ`s are frozen, and further action to collect the debt is not possible.

Leaving you with no remedy to this matter I`m sorry to say.

[Deleted User]

sourcrates said:

In a debt relief order, the debtor makes no payments at all to their debts, this is for a period of 12 months, and it is called the "moratorium period".

If this 12 months is successfully completed, without the DRO being revoked, then the debtors debts are written off, and unfortunately for you, you won`t see a penny of it.

As a DRO is a formal debt solution, the debtor has legal protection from their creditors, CCJ`s are frozen, and further action to collect the debt is not possible.

Leaving you with no remedy to this matter I`m sorry to say.

But surely if the debtor is cheating the system by claiming to need the DRO and then just spending willy nilly, they clearly can afford their debts and are doing something wrong, if not fraud?

sourcrates

Deleted_User said:

sourcrates said:

In a debt relief order, the debtor makes no payments at all to their debts, this is for a period of 12 months, and it is called the "moratorium period".

If this 12 months is successfully completed, without the DRO being revoked, then the debtors debts are written off, and unfortunately for you, you won`t see a penny of it.

As a DRO is a formal debt solution, the debtor has legal protection from their creditors, CCJ`s are frozen, and further action to collect the debt is not possible.

Leaving you with no remedy to this matter I`m sorry to say.

But surely if the debtor is cheating the system by claiming to need the DRO and then just spending willy nilly, they clearly can afford their debts and are doing something wrong, if not fraud?

The process for obtaining a debt relief order is quite in-depth, and involves close scrutiny of your income, your expenditure, your debts, and most importantly, your disposable income, if any.

The current level for disposable income is £75, if you have more disposable income than this, a DRO would be automatically declined.

Of course its not that difficult to get around the rules, you could, for example, have a second job, that pays cash in hand, or you can sell stuff online, and bank the money in someone else's account, there are a million ways to cheat the system, any changes to your income, have to be reported to the IS, but the system relies on you to report it, you are not checked up on.

Another option could be her lifestyle may be financed by some other 3rd party, boyfriend, husband, lover etc, however, if she is somehow committing fraud here, it could have very serious consequences, she may even go to prison, so spending money like there is no tomorrow suggests to me, she may not be the sharpest pencil in the box.

A completed DRO can be investigated at some point in the future, and action taken if wrongdoing is proved.

MattMattMattUK

Deleted_User said:

sourcrates said:

In a debt relief order, the debtor makes no payments at all to their debts, this is for a period of 12 months, and it is called the "moratorium period".

If this 12 months is successfully completed, without the DRO being revoked, then the debtors debts are written off, and unfortunately for you, you won`t see a penny of it.

As a DRO is a formal debt solution, the debtor has legal protection from their creditors, CCJ`s are frozen, and further action to collect the debt is not possible.

Leaving you with no remedy to this matter I`m sorry to say.

But surely if the debtor is cheating the system by claiming to need the DRO and then just spending willy nilly, they clearly can afford their debts and are doing something wrong, if not fraud?

You would think, but if their spending is not funded from legitimate income, that income will never show as part of the DRO process and so never be taken into account. People who work a lot in the cash economy are known to use DROs as they will have a small legitimate income, whilst their lifestyle is maintained using their untaxed cash income.

[Deleted User]

@Beck1611, if you think her posts on social media indicate that your former friend has more income than she’s letting on you can always report her to HMRC and the Official Receiver. Neither are likely to result in you getting your money back but it might make your former friend’s life more difficult.