reasonable housekeeping figures DRO

A question about : reasonable housekeeping figures DRO

can anyone help? i am looking to find out acceptable Food, toiletries, cleaning figures for 2 adults and 3 children in regard to a debt relief order. I am filling in the CCS debt remedy and it is specifically this figure i am struggling on. It is suggesting Ј100 per month for 2 adults and 3 children!

People just keep saying put what you spend, but thats next to nothing as its cheap meals at the moment, not what i would call a proper meal.

I am marrying my oh in the near future and we are moving in together so if we go 50/50 on these costs so i am assuming if i can get an acceptable amount from you good people i can just half it ?

Also our agreement with regards money is 50/50 on most things but say i wanted to claim the full amount for 1 'section' related to child expenses (my children aren't my hubby to be) would that be allowed?

for example say childcare is Ј300 a month is it ok for me to claim the full Ј300 because i am paying it or will the DRO unit think he should pay half? We want to do it this way as he has another child and pays for their childcare so i cannot expect him to pay for her childcare THEN pay for half of mine

Best answers:

• I don't kno9w what guidance they use in DRO's, but in an IVA they refer to the 'Stepchange Budget Guidelines 2012'
  Google it, and download the 'doc' link. Well worth a read.
  Going by that, you are allowed a guideline figure for 'food, toiletries and cleaning' of Ј480pcm (guideline), but up to Ј587 (maximum).
• My friend has confirmed they do use the CFS figures for the forms as is expected...
• Hi WBA
  My friends are telling me that they are coming up with some very interesting results.
  Think Stepchange may eventually need to comment on this, but we will see
  DC
• I have never personally had any major issues with their online tool. I have referred a number of people to use it, but it is only a computer program, so i know a few people have had to ring their online help line when the computer struggled with something that needed human intervention.
  The guidelines are different, but i have never found them to be too far away from CFS guidelines. I believe that they break everything down more which is why they do not rigidly work by CFS, which of course just lumps everything into 4 groups. If there are areas that need to go outside guidelines, such as a diabetic needed extra on food i think the online tool requires a verbal conversation to take place to satisfy it...
  I dont fully understand how it all works, but from what I've seen I like the online tool, for it's great for what it is, the important thing is to remember it is only an online tool, and sometimes a human is needed to dot the i's and cross the t's for complicated cases.
• Hi
  Been speaking further with a couple of friends
  Here is an example of a set of figures put in the Debt Remedy Tool I have referred to as I understand them to be (I have not got the copy in front of me so apologies if there are any errors and keeping in mind this is only for discussion purposes on here and taking into account some earlier posts and threads)
  Single Man (edit - might be woman, not sure) living alone (age 35yrs)
  Rented Local Authority house
  Working
  No assets
  Total Unsecured Debt - below Ј15000
  Monthly Income
  Wages - Ј1000
  Monthly Outgoings
  Rent Ј350
  Water Ј35
  Council Tax Ј75
  Gas Ј50
  Electricity Ј40
  Contents Insurance Ј10
  Telephone & Internet Ј30
  TV Licence Ј13
  Public Tranport Ј75
  Food, Tioletries, cleaning Ј213
  (A figure of Ј280 was originally put in the above Food Tioletries, cleaning section however the recommended figure that was flagged up was between Ј115 & Ј213 with the suggested figure being Ј162) - there were notes saying that "we need to speak to you because the money your're spending on the area below is outside the amount that we would recommend for a household of your size
  We want to make sure that there is enough money in your budget for you to live on while making sure that your creditors can see that you are paying as much as possible
  If you dont feel these values are realistic for you , please take a few minutes to contact us so we can discuss your situation in more detail and provide you with the right advice.
  Clothing / Footwear Ј30
  Total Monthly Outgoings Ј921
  The Monthly Disposable Income Ј79
  As far as I am aware these were the Debt Solution recommendations
  Bankruptcy
  Alternative Solution
  Debt Management Plan
  This example does look rather interesting to me at first glance and a fair question may might be -
  If the the Common Financial Statement (CFS) Figures (as clearly mentioned in the DRO Intermedairy Guideline Notes) were applied in this example case (or one similar) would it be eligible for a Debt Relief Order
  It looks an interesting one at first glance at least and maybe a bit more than that maybe.
  Just an example, but, food for thought definitely in my opinion and maybe the Stepchange people could look at this and possibly comment as I see they have recently been active on a nearby thread.
  I think there may be others also taking a closer look at this.
  Just my opinions with the interests of those in debt etc at heart
  DC
• I had to work very hard to get SC to give me Ј148 for food!!!!!!
  HHx
• Hi
  My other half has just had a go along the lines of the example one and put in the suggested Ј162 instead of the Ј213 in the food, housekeeping section.
  DC
• Still makes me sooo cross the NEDCAB one for single person is Ј299!
  HHx