DRO advice needed please

Sausagesandcheese · 13 October 2018 at 8:00AM

Hello,

I’m hoping to apply for a DRO to write off previous debts, old CC from student days, overdrafts from the same, a couple of unpaid bills from years gone by that an ex assured he was paying... until debt collection letters came to my door. Nothing recent, no overdraft on my current account. I have a few questions if anyone can help please.

Firstly, my current account has no overdraft facilities, can I still continue to use this? I’ve seen people talking about changing their bank accounts, is this only if they have an overdraft to clear?

I also have a joint account with my husband. Again, no overdraft. Do I need to come off of this account? I’d rather not, as it’s an account with perks like travel insurance/breakdown cover. I could upgrade my personal account if need be but would I be allowed to have an upgraded account with a DRO?

How badly is it going to screw me over in the future? My husband and I currently rent, but we would like to buy in the future (6yrs +), will we ever be able to get a mortgage if I do this?

We have two cars which we need. A banger worth less than 200 and a family car. We live rurally with no public transport and both go in different directions for school runs and work. Neither car is in my name but the instance policy on the family car is in my name. Is this a problem?

Thanks in advance, I feel a bit overwhelmed with this whole thing.

sourcrates · 13 October 2018 at 11:31AM

Hi,

A debt relief order is personal to you, and only the debts/creditors you include in it are bound by its rules, although you must include all your qualifying debts.

You can continue to bank anywhere, as long as the bank is OK with this, and you have no debts with them, your joint account may cause a problem for your partner as it is a shared account, your DRO may affect his credit file.

If the cars are not in your name, then its not a problem, you can still pay for insurance etc in your name, your only restrictions are the cars value, up to £1000, (not applicable to you as they are not in your name) assets of £1000, and the £50 disposable income figure.

All else carries on as normal.

How long will this effect you, well the answer is 6 years, once your DRO completes after 12 months, your debts are written off, your creditors must then mark your accounts as settled or closed, and the default date must not be later than the date of your insolvency, in my experience you will have to chase them up to do this, as a lot of them are unaware of how to mark credit files after a DRO.

Six years after your DRO was granted, all trace of it and the debts included within it, will be removed from your file as if they were never there.

Sausagesandcheese · 13 October 2018 at 2:52PM

Thank you, that’s really helpful. I will ring my bank to see their stance on my account, and take myself off the joint account. Do you know if I would need to stay off the joint account permanently or would I be able to go back on it in a month/after the DRO 12 month term?

sourcrates · 13 October 2018 at 4:03PM

Sausagesandcheese wrote: »

Thank you, that’s really helpful. I will ring my bank to see their stance on my account, and take myself off the joint account. Do you know if I would need to stay off the joint account permanently or would I be able to go back on it in a month/after the DRO 12 month term?

It would be at the banks discretion, remember, even though you are discharged from a DRO after 12 months, the entry remains on your credit file for a further 5 years, although it will say satisfied or settled.

Its always difficult to ascertain the potential damage your file could do to his.

DRO advice needed please

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