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Plans
to Bring Debt Relief to the Socially Excluded The
Draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill published by the Department
for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) includes proposals by the Insolvency
Service to provide debt relief for people in England and Wales who owe
relatively little, have no income and no assets to repay what they owe
and cannot afford to make themselves bankrupt. Debt
relief orders are designed to give those who have debts of £15,000 or
less, assets of less than £300 and surplus income of less than £50 per
month the opportunity to apply for an order that will lead to the debts
being discharged after one year. During
that period, people who have a debt relief order will be protected from
enforcement action by their creditors and will be subject to similar
restrictions to bankruptcy. Those whose financial circumstances improve
during the order will be expected to make arrangements to repay their
creditors, and there will be civil and criminal penalties for those who
abuse the system. It
will only be possible to obtain a debt relief order by applying to the
official receiver through an approved
intermediary and The Insolvency Service has set up a working group
comprising representatives from the advice sector to look at the detail
of how this will work. The Bill will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows Further
details about the bill can be found on the DCA website www.dca.gov.uk/legist/tribenforce.htm
DCA
Press Notice www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=216695&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True The
Stationery Office (TSO) The Draft Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill,
together with Explanatory Notes and Regulatory Impact Assessment |
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