Done. Pressed the Green Proceed Button!

SpicyParsnip

Well, that is the big BR button pressed. I'm going to kind of diarise / document in here my "what happens next" journey if anyone is interested!

 

MalMonroe

Well done!  Hope all goes well for you. You are on your way.

I had a DRO a few years ago and financially it was the best thing I've ever done. Not easy by any means but it turned out to be a great learning curve. 

SpicyParsnip

Wow. That was quicker than expected - Approved at 8.30 this morning! The OR's have certainly had their Weetabix!

cymruchris

Keep your dealings with the OR open and honest - don't try to hide anything - they'll have been through it hundreds of times before, and generally very sympathetic people (You do get the odd abrupt OR from the stories read here - but even those are just getting the job done). You'll be all good I'm sure. It's a quick fix for today's problems, but not a quick fix in relation to it being on file for a number of years - but the way to look at it now is that from this point forwards, the only way is up. 

stanger66

Good luck I am one month in I still get letters from the like if o2 ect but mental health is so much better 

SpicyParsnip

So, the interview with the OR took place on the 8th of April (they did call the day before but due to not being in front of my computer they rescheduled for the next day).
They were very polite, very professional, asked questions that I was reasonably expecting, such as the lead up, personal circumstances, if I had any assets etc and if I had any financial interests in property etc.
All I have been asked to provide is a copy of the receipt for the car that I use (bought by my partner 2 years ago for dual use) and a copy of some shares I was issued with through a work based "bonus" scheme that can't be sold or transferred out for the next 2 years. I'm assuming they will probably want to put a hold on them as they are worth probably about £440 at the current share price.
No other questions were asked, everything was straight forwards. Not even been asked to provide bank statements or pension accounts - they can "access" these via their own official methods so you can't hide anything!

Today, I had my income and expenditure assessment - again, very polite, very professional and all of my figures were fully accepted, and due to a maintenance agreement that has recently gone up, they actually told me that due to the way they look at the figures, they would be calculating that my income tax for the rest of the year to be not held liable to be paid into a IPA, as there is a deficit in my figures due to the recent maintenance amount going up as well as general cost of living and bills going up. I was told that as there would be a surplus of £20 a month from the Income Tax figure, it would cost more in administration costs to collect it, so they would not be issuing a IPA - email received this evening confirming!! 

So, it appears that I won't be paying any income tax for the rest of the year and essentially, I get to keep it!

All they asked is that if I have any substantial increase in income to obviously let them know asap!

Also, they confirmed that the Council Tax liability due to it being in joint names, is a liability that I can continue to pay towards (keeping the Mrs happy!) and they would not be requiring me to forgo my contribution towards said Council Tax.

I'd even put down £40 a month for Gifts (Xmas and Birthdays) which I thought they might pull down on, but they said that was a figure below their "allowable" amount (they didn't tell me exactly what it was though!) so that is Bday and Xmas savings sorted for the Mrs and my little lady.

So all in all, a huge sigh of relief that this is done, I'm now just happy to be financially clear and not worrying about bills any more!

And I'm allowed to put £50 a month away for holiday savings - I honestly thought they would say no to this!

1 month done! 11 months to go! 

cymruchris

Good update - and another step forwards. Well done. The most challenging part is over now. Focus on the future. Until discharge, you're in a bit of a no-mans-land (you can open a basic bank account of course) - but after discharge you can begin rebuilding. Keep a close watch on your credit file over the coming months to ensure all of your existing accounts are marked accordingly as they should be. 

SpicyParsnip

cymruchris said:

Good update - and another step forwards. Well done. The most challenging part is over now. Focus on the future. Until discharge, you're in a bit of a no-mans-land (you can open a basic bank account of course) - but after discharge you can begin rebuilding. Keep a close watch on your credit file over the coming months to ensure all of your existing accounts are marked accordingly as they should be. 

Thanks Chris - I am wondering whether to post on some more info about my expenditure due to what my Assessor said was fair and reasonable, and in most cases, *BELOW* what they would agree to? 

cymruchris

SpicyParsnip said:

cymruchris said:

Good update - and another step forwards. Well done. The most challenging part is over now. Focus on the future. Until discharge, you're in a bit of a no-mans-land (you can open a basic bank account of course) - but after discharge you can begin rebuilding. Keep a close watch on your credit file over the coming months to ensure all of your existing accounts are marked accordingly as they should be. 

Thanks Chris - I am wondering whether to post on some more info about my expenditure due to what my Assessor said was fair and reasonable, and in most cases, *BELOW* what they would agree to? 

As long as you don't post any information that would help identify you in real life - I'm sure it would be a help - but also imagine that the limits on this and that go up and down from time to time, but might help someone how to come up with an expenditure proposal when it's their turn.

stanger66

I was made bankrupt on the 9th march still get threatening letters by O2……….love telling them to jog on. 

But really has improved my mental health good luck for the future 

Sonic101

Hi SpicyParsnip

As someone who may be having to go bankrupt if I can't get a DRO, this information is really useful and I'm sure it's useful too many others, too. Great to hear that it seems to be going well so far and congratulations on being debt-free!