Debt Relief Orders (DRO) - Information & help thread

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  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 20,345
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    keletubbie wrote: »
    Thanks for the clarification. I think keeping my place for the 12 months is probably advisable as the plan will be to have little/no mortgage (currently my biggest expense). I'm just tired !!!128522;
    Thanks for the clarification. I think keeping my place for the 12 months is probably advisable as the plan will be to have little/no mortgage (currently my rent is my biggest expense). I'm just tired

    I think that's what you meant
  • Hi all,

    My debts are
    CC 3500
    CC 1100
    Loan 4500
    OD 1000
    I earn 1100 / mth. Last month after bills I had £1 left for food petrol etc.
    I don't get CTC or HB. I have a partner living with me who pays have of bills etc but not my debts.

    I'm wondering whether a DRO WOULD ease my situation?

    Any suggestions or advice would be great.
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 20,345
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    Hi all,

    My debts are
    CC 3500
    CC 1100
    Loan 4500
    OD 1000
    I earn 1100 / mth. Last month after bills I had £1 left for food petrol etc.
    I don't get CTC or HB. I have a partner living with me who pays have of bills etc but not my debts.

    I'm wondering whether a DRO WOULD ease my situation?

    Any suggestions or advice would be great.

    Potentially, yes. Provided you meet the other criteria:
    • Must not be a homeowner,
    • Can have a car worth up to £1000,
    • No other assets of more than £1000,
    • Cannot have had a DRO in last 6 years.
    Have a chat with someone who has intermediaries: National Debtline, Stepchange or CAB would be favourites.

    Obviously if you're chucking your overdraft in, you need a new bank account not connected to any of your debts.
  • Davman1965
    Davman1965 Posts: 6 Forumite
    Hi, I signed onto Universal Credit in September 2016. I put in fit notes from this date up until May 2018. I was eventually given a work capacity assessment in February 2018 which resulted in me being declared as having limited capacity for work and work related activity. Because of this and the fact that I signed on before the government stopped the etra payment to disabled and sick people I was informed that I would be recieveing an extra £328 a month.


    Now I have a debt relief order which was due to finish on the 16th of Augustt 2018 so I informed Step Change of this increase and we changed my monthly budget to reflect this, and it was accepted by the Insolvency Service who said that my DRO was still good to go even though I put down £173 for taxis due to my ill health.


    Now heres the bit I don't understand. This extra payment was backdated fom December 2016 to May 2018 which meant that I recieved £5200 of backdated benefits due to my medical condition.



    I gave this information to the Official Receiver and he says hes going to revoke my DRO because my assets now exceed the prescribed amount of £1000. I'm just wondering how can this be fare when the same people told me it would be fine is I was on pip or ESA. I think I am just unlucky to be in one of the first areas where Universal Credit has been rolled out. I was wondering if I can challenge his decision since I am getting this extra money due to my health condition?
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 20,345
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    I'm guessing that this is backdated severe disability premium

    That would be £64.30 per week, which over 18 months would add to £5015 so that's in the right ball park.

    Here's what the guidance says:

    If your client receives a lump sum of any of the following, this has to be reported to the DRO Team, but it will not lead to the DRO being revoked:
    •Personal Independence Payment
    •Attendance Allowance
    •Disability Living Allowance
    •Constant Attendance Allowance under the Industrial Injuries or War Pensions Schemes
    •War Pensioners Mobility Supplement under the War Pensions Scheme or grants for the use of a vehicle
    •Armed Forces Independence Payment

    This doesn’t automatically apply to lump sums of any additional premiums a client becomes entitled to because they receive one of these benefits. However the DRO Team have said that where the client receives a backdated lump sum of Employment Support Allowance and this includes either the severe disability premium or the enhanced disability premium they may use their discretion to ignore these elements of the lump sum award. They will treat each case on it's merits. The property protocol above will apply to lump sums of additional premiums and other benefits.

    The property protocol is a maximum of £1000 but discretion not to revoke up to £1990 if received during the moratorium.

    You've been very unlucky.
  • Davman1965
    Davman1965 Posts: 6 Forumite
    The extra money is £328 a month, which is £82 a week backdated. Because I am on Universal Credit, this extra money is called "limited capacity for work and work related activity" The only reason I'm getting it is because I signed on before the current government did away with it.



    I had been putting in fit notes for (21 months) and I was not given a work capacity assessment until February 2018, and that was only down to me keeping on at my job coach.



    I was wondering if I can spent some of this money on clothes, and household items such as an a new ironing board since mine has snapped. A new frying pan, surface worn off current one and things such as a coat, since its been many, many years since I've had the money to buy clothes. And finally, would I be allowed to buy a new washing machine and fridge? since the ones I have have various broken bits since they belonged to my mother and are both going on for being 30 years old.
  • fatbelly
    fatbelly Posts: 20,345
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    You've made me realise I'm not as familiar with the workings of Universal Credit as I should be. I highlighted the wrong bit in my last post. I should have highlighted

    The property protocol above will apply to lump sums of additional premiums and other benefits.

    Universal Credit is 'other benefits' as far as the DRO Team is concerned.

    To be clear, the money is yours to do what you want with. The creditors will be informed that the DRO is revoked and some of them will start writing to you.

    The DRO team will not require you to do anything - they effectively wash their hands of you at this point.

    You've got a substantial lump sum. You should definitely buy household essentials first. Options moving forward would be

    1. Bankruptcy, with £680 being needed
    2. Full & final settlement but you will probably need 30% of the balance of each debt
    3. debt management plan - but this is likely to be long-term, maybe too long.
  • I went to CAB this morning and they got through to the assistant to the official reciever and it was like flogging a dead horse. He said he did not want to reverse the decision as it could set a precedent with Universal Credit. They argued that my money was a type of disability premium. He said thats not what it says.

    When I got home I phoned Step Change's department that deals with other types of remedies, and informed them that I was going to offer my creditors £3200 of the £4600 I have left. I had used £499 to pay back money borrowed from a friend. Bought a pair of trainers and paid some of my normal bills, including food shopping.

    I also told Step Change that I needed to spend some of the money on white goods, but would only buy one much needed item until I knew whether or not my creditors would except my final offer.

    My offer will be £3200 split pro rata, and I would also mention that if they did not accept this and due to it being very unlikely that I will be working in the near future due to my ill health, that regrettably I would have no option, but to file for bankruptcy. I will also mention that I have no assets and that if they did not accept my offer,and I was forced to go bankrupt, that there may be less than the original £3200 as I will spend some of the money on white goods to replace my faulty fridge and washing machine which have a combined age of over 55 years.

    My advisor seemed fine with this and said that I seemed clued up and that this would be fine so long as I need the items, which I do, and that I keep all of the receipts. I also asked him if it would be okay for me to buy a microwave? to which he said yes. I also need an ironing board as the one I have has been broken for months as well as a new frying pan. I also said that I needed some new clothes as I had been on Unversal Poverty for a number of years.

    My brother has said that the Insolvency Service is basically hiding behind terminology to rob me of back dated benefits that were given to me due to me having disabilities. Even the guy from the dole said that they should not touch my benefits. So if it was Pip I would have been fine.

    The asst to the offical reciever also stated during the CAB phone call that I could use £680 of the money to pay for bankruptcy. The OR has already accepted my new budget which was updated after I had informed Step Change of my benefit increase of £328 a month, and there is zero surplus. The one thing this experience has taught me is that I should not have told them about the back payment in the first place. I played by the rules and ended up losing my DRO, 3 weeks before it was due to finish.
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 28,647
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    Davman1965 wrote: »
    The one thing this experience has taught me is that I should not have told them about the back payment in the first place. I played by the rules and ended up losing my DRO, 3 weeks before it was due to finish.


    For the sake of 3 weeks its a bit OTT in my opinion, from what i understood of the rules, benefit back payments were not meant to be an issue, that is according to debt camel anyway, is there not a complaints procedure to follow ??? Fatbelly ???
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing [email protected]. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
  • joa1210
    joa1210 Posts: 73
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    hi, i need some advice please, we currently have a filed in bankruptcy application ready to pay and press the button, however my husbands pcp termination free has come back at less than we thought, leaving his debt figure a £10k. can a bankruptcy be refused on this figure? is it worth thinking about DRO instead? ive filled the stepchange debt remedy in but i must be missing something out as they have us with £421 spare and are recommending DMP but on the direct gov website we come in at £17 surplus.
    the only this is that my husband does 8 weeks of compulsory over time for 8 weeks at christmas how would this affect it
    any advice gratefully received TIA
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