You will not be required to make any payments to your creditors during your DRO and your creditors won't be able to take any action against you. A DRO usually lasts 1 year.
You will need to continue to pay your normal household bills like rent, council tax, gas, electricity and water charges. If there are any debts that you have not included in the DRO then you will need to pay them off also.
Once your DRO has started you can't add new debts to it. If, however, you have forgotten about or acquired more debts during your DRO you will have to tell the Official Receiver.
If your circumstances change once you have a DRO or if you forgot to include information in the order, you must inform your personal advisor. These changes may include:
- Anything that you remember is incorrect or has been missed out from the information you've given.
- Any increase in your income/salary.
- Any additional money or valuables that you acquire, e.g. money left in a will.
If the Official Receiver is not informed of a change in any circumstances like these, you may be committing an offence. This could lead to the DRO being taken away from you and mean you will have to make alternative arrangements to pay your creditors.
If you have been overpaid any benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) then this should be included in your DRO, unless the over-payment was the result of fraud.
A DRO will appear on your credit file for six years and this may affect your ability to get credit in the future.
You may find it difficult to open a bank account once you have a DRO, however you will still be able to open certain prepaid accounts.
If you are believed to have provided wrong information or been dishonest in your application, your Official Receiver can apply for a Debt Relief Restriction Order.