Hi Just looking for a little bit of additional advice. In October 2016 I had a Debt Relief Order (DRO) which subsequently ended (Discharged?) one year later, October 2017. I recently took a look at my Credit Reports and note all but two of my creditors had stopped reporting on my files at the start of my DRO, marked a Default at time of DRO and marked my accounts as Closed and Partially Satisfied or Satisfied with a zero balance. All correct I believe. However two creditors (Barclays Partner Finance & Vanquis) had continued (up to present day) marking the accounts as Open, full balance owing and still being marked as defaulting each month. I did a little research and found out (hopefully correctly) that these accounts should be marked as closed, zero balance and Satisfied/Partially Satisfied or similar. I wrote to both companies requesting they correct my files. Vanquis, to my surprise, updated my credit files straight away and is now correct. However, Baraclys so far has not. I wrote to them in October this year giving 28 days to resolve the issue. No reply. I then wrote again to Barclays, again giving 28 days, this time via Recorded Delivery (November 2018) and had a reply they are looking into it. I received a letter today saying they are still “investigating” and I will hear in another 28 days whether it has been resolved or if they need more time. My understanding was they were supposed to resolve this within 28 days. They are now moving towards at least triple this. According to the ICO website, I will need a Final Response letter before contacting them. I am seeking an answer to find out how long should I give Barclays to resolve this simple straight forward (if my research is correct!) issue? They could theoretically keep requesting further time indefinitely. I suppose with the debts still being shown as Open Accounts, in Default monthly and still full balance owing, they could even sell these debts on (worse case scenario I know, but possible I guess).

How does a DRO effect a CCJ? If you get a DRO is the CCJ considered as well?

Hi, The offical receiver has told me that he intends to cancel my DRO (3 weeks before it was due to finish) as I now have over £1000 in the bank due to a back payment of Universal Credit. I have received this money because the DWP declared me unfit for work and work related activity following a work capacity assessment. I was very surprised he did this as many benefit sites and advisors said that this would not happen because I had received this money due to my medical condition. (Crohn's Disease) I am in a full Universal Credit area and I have heard that this money would have been disregarded had I been claiming Pip or other sickness benefits with a disability premium. I was wondering what the law is regarding this? I went to see CAB and they managed to talk to the assistant to the official reciever but he stonewalled and was arguing that because my benefit did not include the words disability premium they did not have to ignore it. He also said that he did not want to reverse the decision in case it set a precedent! Cab tried to argue that it was a disability PREMIUM, and sent me on a trip to my local benefit office to ask if I could get a letter stating this. However they said that Universal Credit does not have a disability premium. I asked a lot of people as to what would happen about this backdated money including Debt Camel, Step Change, Debtline and they were all wrong I would like to know where the law stands since I think I am being given the shaft with the Insolvency Service using a play on words as an excuse to cancel my DRO.

Hi All, I understand that financial advise is not to be requested but without specifics, can anyone explain this ? I contribute to a group company pension and that contribution is deducted from my wages as a percecentage of my earnings. I have an o/l account with my provider and they allow me to make extra payments into my fund as and when I can afford it. I have done this twice with a few hundred pound , each time I have paid a small lump sum in , the provider adds a tax relief of 25 %. So if I pay £200.00p in they tell that I get £250.00p paid into my fund. Which i think is fine , but where's the catch ? Why don't I simply pay a small amount into my fund via my wages and then top it up with a lump sum payment which gives me a 25% bonus. Is HMRC really giving a dividend of 25% on monies invested ?? Or does it come off my personal allowance. It just seems too good to be true. Or am I just missing something ?? Or am I just thick ? TYVM.... GB...

It's time to regain control of my life. I have worked out my current unsecured debt is around 15000. This includes a ccj for over £2000. I do not meet the criteria for an administration order as total value of debt is over 5000. I have read the stepchange and cab website for information. What are the disadvantages of the order apart from the 6 year credit file marker?

Hi, could anybody tell me ,is it possible to get council tax discount scheme, disability reduction scheme and council tax reduction scheme all at the same time? Person receives PIP enhanced rate both sections (for want of a better word). He has only received council tax reduction scheme .Previously he had a zero bill. How does he go about sorting this? No CAB available, (plus he knows they are not impartial.) He knows how difficult the councils are to deal with and is considering sending a letter request (signed for). Would that be the best way?

Hi All Quick question. I had a DRO years ago, and during the one year of the DRO I took out a PDL for £200. Is that against the rules? From what I can see, I only had to tell them if it was £500 or over? I ask as I am trying to claim back from a lender, but do not want to drop myself in it..

Hi Hope I am on the right forum here. I have just received a letter from my employers regarding my pension. It is an auto enrolment pension I have been contributing for the last 12-18 months. Company pension was locked 2 years ago and I have no contributions in that one. I am clueless about what this letter means so if anyone out there is able to help me, that would be great. Letter is headed Auto Enrolment Pension Scheme Contents ........ "it has come to light that members of the auto enrolment scheme have been receiving incorrect tax relief on their pension contributions. Tax relief has been applied to your monthly salary, and in addition Scottish Widows the pension provider has applied tax relief to your pension account. To correct the situation we have asked Scottish Widows to repay HMRC the tax relief claimed in error as soon as possible. Going forwards the most efficient way for you to get tax relief on your pension contributions is via salary sacrifice. This requires you to accept a reduction in your salary in return for the company paying your pension contribution. The net effect will be that your NI contributions will be lower. This change will result in a change to your contract of employment. PSS (pension salary sacrifice) will not reduce any benefits that you receive from the company or your pension contributions as a result of lower NIC's you will be slightly better off. It says I have to respond before next Friday 31st July 2015 but I have no idea what this means to me. If I take part - I will cease to make pension contributions to the plan as an employee + my gross salary will be reduced by my gross pension salary contribution + company will increase its contributions by the amount equivalent to contributions previously made by me + a lower salary means I pay less NIC therefore my pay increases. Doesn't tell me what happens if I don't take part. My initial thought is to opt out and stop the pension now. But does anyone have any idea what the implications are for opting in or out of the pension salary sacrifice? I am so confused not knowing how this affects me. Any help will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance.

Hi All, I am on JSA and I have had a letter from the DWP reminding me that the support I get for my mortgage interest is expiring as they only pay for this 2 years. Q1) I assume that whilst I am signing on, they will never now start paying it again? Q2) How long do I need to sign off before signing back on before they will start paying it again? Im hoping to get some contract work shortly - I'm more worried that one day I will need to sign on again and be skint and not get the help? It cant be a "2 years out of a lifetime" surely? Thanks, James

Hi and merry Christmas, I've just been discharged from a DRO and sent recorded letters to all the companies included with a copy of my printed IS DRO details. I have one question: What happens now I've been discharged and what will happen on my Credit Report? I know my credit rating will be very poor until 6 years have passed but are the places to whom I owe money obliged to remove and write off the amount owed or do they keep on in the hope that they'll get something? Thanks but I'm fairly new to these.

Does anyone know : I'm considering getting a DRO ( Debt Relief Order ). When they work out your income and expenditure, do they take any DLA (Disability Living Allowance) you may receive as income? Hope to hear from someone pleaseee:-D

Am a bit baffled, as many will know from previous posts I have a neighbour who cannot use the internet and my daughter or myself occasionally find advice for her. She had her daughter and grandchild move in with her in June this year, and advised the council of this, she had an updated rent and council tax bill and payment arrangement. This was all done in June. Yesterday she had a letter saying she had been underpaid by £193 on council tax relief and it showed on her account now as this. The letter states that this is due to a recalculation. After trying all morning to get through to the office they said her council tax had gone up but so had her benefit and there wasn't any difference, well not much, new bill in the post.............. Never had this before. Why would they be recalculating when no further changes have happened. They are waiting to move but this wouldn't affect anything yet.

Hi guys looking for a bit of advice really. I'm about to go through a debt relief order. Me and my partner owe around 13k. Which is under the 15k allowance. which is all fine and well. But i currently owe (by myself) 18k to apex credit management. I'm currently trying to fight this please see thread http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?394476-apex-credit-management-[/url][problem]-carcraft&p=4277579#post4277579 It has been well over the 5 year and i dont want to not qualify the debt relief order because of this. I no when doing a debt relief order this will show up on my credit score. But as i dont want to wipe this off should this matter? Can i add that i will be challenging the apex credit management and dont want this wiping off as they cant get away with what they are doing. Any advice i would be very grateful. thanks again.

Just wondering if anyone could help me... I completed my debt relief order in March 2013 and there are a few debts that were included in it that are still being listed on my credit file. I've managed to get my credit score from very poor to poor so far.. I was wondering how I can go about getting these debts removed as some of them are still being updated regularly and i'm sure it's having a bad effect on my report. I have all copies of my debt relief order and the debts that were included in them. Is there a letter template I can use to send to them? Thanks.

Hi wondering if anyone can help. I'm due to see the CAB next week, currently in receipt of Employment Support Allowance (support group, migrated from IS already) & DLA middle rate care low rate mobility. I am a single adult with severe mental health problems & personality disorder, severe agoraphobia other issues. What I wanted to know is whether or how DLA is included in an application for a debt relief order, should it be included as income ? there are extra costs associated with my illness i find it nigh-impossible to cook for myself & organise myself, have to have someone to clean & tidy the flat for me. I'm in about 4,500 of unsecured debt (2 credit cards, payday loan, utilitites, paypal etc) my psychiatrist has advised me to sort my debts out somehow as they are adversely affecting my mental health, which is true, living under a cloud & just want to start again. So what i would like to know re a DRO appllication is should DLA be stated as income in the income section ? Should the exact amounts be deducted from the income in expenses section ? what is the guidance for the official receiver on the issue ? what i'm worried about is if they count DLA as income then they might say my income is too high (over £50 / month left over) to qualify for a DRO. I meet all the other criteria. I don't mind if my credit rating is shot I cannot handle credit! If anyone knows or has been in this situation before then please please advise. If i start a debt management plan, then the debt will be hanging over me for years & years to come. Any info much appreciated. thankyou

Hi, I was approved for a dro earlier this month. Included in the order is my water bill which is also in my partners name. We had a letter from the water company saying the amount owed is still correct and payable...does this mean my partner is now solely liable to pay it? I don't want him to pay and then have my dro revoked. Also, step change let me keep my mobile phone contract so this was not included in the order as a debt. I allowed to upgrade when the time comes? I want to change my plan to a cheaper one. The contract wasn't includes in my income/expenditure because my partner pays the bill.

hi guys new to here so thank you in advance for any help i receive. it is much appreciated as i don't no how many more sleepless nights i can manage. 1st things 1st. i owned a business but closed it down just before xmas due to a couple of other businesses opening up the same as me credit crunch ect student fees going up less students(main business). the sub lease is still in affect until november 2013. meaning we would have to pay business rates up until then. (£450 pcm) our landlord said he would end the lease for us if we paid him 3 months rent. January to march. then all our business rates would also be cancelled as you are allowed 3 months grace when closing a business. Now our landlord has gone back on his word (suspect new incoming tennents have pulled out of taking over our shop.and told us he wants us to still pay him pcm. This now means we also have to pay our business rates pcm which we simply cant afford to do as now we are only living off 1 wage. we signed the lease as a sole trader and became a ltd company a year into our tenancy agreement. so no chance of desolving. Only option for us so we have been told is bankruptcy. Has anyone on here got any advice for us about this or any other options as we are only in our early 20s and want to avoid this is we can. Will the council be lenient or is there any way of reducing the business rates to be able to pay less monthly? as far as the landlord is concerned he is not now my priority to pay. the council come at the top of my list. many thanks for reading this and i am very grateful for any advice given to try help us move forward instead of backwards. thanks again

I am currently claiming IB JSA jointly with my partner. My partner is the principal claimant. We have recently applied for mortgage interest relief in relation to my flat having been on benefits for more than 12 weeks. It looks like I may be separating from my partner. As such I'm trying to find out if we separate and I go on to income support (we have a daughter aged 1) whether I would need to wait another 12 weeks as I'm a new claimant or whether the MIR payments could continue albeit in my sole name? Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.

I am disgusted David Cameron is to be on the comic relief red nose day show....after causing hardship and homelessness to so many families ....have tweeted along with others in a mass 8pm tweet to express my disgust. I only just heard about this.

Good Morning All I have been considering applying for a Debt Relief Order for a few weeks now as I'm fairly certain I meet the requirements. Has anyone had experience of applying for a DRO or is there any advice you would give before taking this step? Any help is much appreciated!!

Hi, I am currently applying for a DRO and I have a few questions. 1. What are the chances of getting accepted? 2. It says that they will take control of my finances, does that mean that they will take control of my bank etc or will i have to show them how i spend my money etc? 3. I lied in my applications to get credit, does this change anything? Thank you

Hi all, Somewhat of a cheeky yet interesting question I'd like to pose ... So I had a credit card with Nationwide for many years and then life got very difficult, almost as difficult as Nationwide themselves tbh. eventually I was granted a debt relief order and the Nationwide card and some other bit and bobs were subject to this. This all happened 2 years ago now so all those debts have now been wiped. The question I have is, quite simply, am still able to reclaim the CC charges despite the account being closed and it being subject to the DRO? - after all, during the life of the card I had paid a fair amount of these charges! It might sound silly but if I can in, anyway whatsoever, annoy Nationwide then I will be a happy man and they will be getting just a little of what they deserve!

A friend of mine last year had an accident on a well known pier, through no fault of his own he slipped on a puddle on the floor and severly injured himself, anyway cutting a long story short, he was off work for 4 months and during a meeting set up by this pier he was assulted by a security officer. They then proceeded to fabricate a lie that he was rasist toward the security officer who assulted him, all whilst he was still in recovery for the accident. He was taken to court and won with all 12 Jury delivering a not guilty verdict in just 15 minutes. He has now been advised to proceed with the original accident claim, which they have rejected with no investigation and compensation for the assult and Racism case, including costs and loss of income during the period. Now this pier is owned by a well known entertainment and gambling company renownd for not playing by the rules. My friend now plans to create a campaign against this pier and their parent company, he intends on making their 4.4 million visitors aware of what may happen if they had an accident, he intends to set up a website posting factual information and inviting others to add their own stories, as hes sure hes not the only one to be assulted over the years. He intends to make compaints to Trading standards, Enviornmental health, Gambling Regulator etc... He also intends to demonstraite on public land next to the pier from the start of their busy summer period. Firstly can he do this? - hes had a stong letter from the parent companies solicitor stating that: "You must appreciate that we will not tolerate defamatory publications or attempts to unlawfully interfere with our business. We will actively monitor the internet, press and other forums and if any defamatory comments are made, we will tae steps to protect the company, to include court proceedings seeking damages, injenctive relief and costs. Please note that all rights remain reserved." Basically I want to help him with the campaign as I have a sneeky feeling this company have many skeletons in their closet that they dont want to come out, what advise can you give me for setting up this campiagn? Are their any good sites to help with this sort of thing? Any comments and replies and warmly welcomed. Thanks for reading!

The Office of Tax Simplification intends to abolish this relief from April 2013, so that minerals loyalties would no longer be treated as 50% income and 50% capital gains, but as 100% income, meaning larger tax bills. Speak to your accountant !! Lex