How to apply for a Debt Relief Order

Applies to: England & Wales

The steps

1. Contact a free debt advice service and say you would like a DRO to be looked at. Not every adviser is an approved intermediary, so ask.
2. Full advice first. The adviser looks at your income, essential spending, debts and belongings, and at the other options.
3. Checks against the conditions. Debts under £50,000, spare income of £75 a month or less, assets of no more than £2,000 (one vehicle up to £4,000 is not counted), you do not own a home, a connection to England or Wales in the last three years, and no DRO in the last six years.
4. Application. The intermediary completes and submits the application online with you.
5. Decision. The official receiver checks it and may ask questions. If it is made, you get notice of the order and your 12-month moratorium starts.

What to gather

• Payslips, benefit award letters and pension statements.
• Recent bank statements for every account.
• Letters or statements for each debt, including the creditor’s name, reference and balance.
• Bills for rent, council tax, energy, water and phone.
• Details and rough value of a vehicle, savings and anything valuable you own.

The application also asks whether you have given away assets, sold them for less than they were worth, or paid one creditor in preference to others in the past two years. Answer fully: creditors can object on these grounds, and false information can lead to the order being revoked.

What it costs

Nothing. The application fee was removed in April 2024, and intermediaries in the free advice sector do not charge. Anyone asking for money to “arrange” a DRO is charging for something the free sector does at no cost.

Things to weigh before you apply

• A DRO is a formal insolvency. It stays on your credit file for six years and appears on the public Individual Insolvency Register until three months after it ends.
• Restrictions apply for 12 months. DRO restrictions.
• Some debts cannot be included. Debts not included.
• If your income or assets increase during the year, the order can be revoked. Change of circumstances.

Northern Ireland has its own DRO scheme and Scotland uses the Minimal Asset Process instead.

This page explains how the solution works. It is not a recommendation, and it cannot tell you whether it suits you — a free, regulated debt adviser can look at your full situation.

Common questions

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