The legal duty to disclose changes
When your DRO is granted, you sign undertakings that include a duty to inform the Official Receiver of any significant change in your circumstances during the 12-month moratorium.
This is a serious legal duty. Failing to disclose material changes can lead to the DRO being revoked and, in cases of deliberate concealment, to a Debt Relief Restriction Order (DRRO) that extends the restrictions for up to 15 years and can involve criminal sanction.
The Official Receiver does not check your finances every month, but they do sometimes carry out sample reviews, and creditors can complain if they think your circumstances have changed. Any lender you approach for new credit will also see the DRO on file and may report if they detect improved circumstances.
Changes that need to be reported
A new job or significant pay rise — anything that increases your monthly income by more than a small amount.
An inheritance, lottery win, gift from family, or any other windfall — even small amounts matter, and anything over £75 in a single month effectively takes you above the surplus income test.
Coming into possession of an asset worth more than the value limits — a new vehicle, a valuable item of jewellery, a substantial tax refund, etc.
A change in living costs (moving to cheaper accommodation, for example) that increases your monthly surplus.
Changes to household composition that affect the reasonable expenditure calculation.
What the Official Receiver does with a report
Once you report a change, the Official Receiver reviews whether you would still qualify for a DRO under the current tests. If your surplus income has risen above £75 and looks sustained, revocation is likely. If your assets have risen above £2,000, revocation is likely.
Small changes — a modest pay rise in line with inflation, a small tax rebate that has been spent on essentials — usually do not lead to revocation. The Official Receiver applies judgement rather than a mechanical rule.
If the DRO is revoked, the moratorium ends and creditors can pursue you again for the full amounts owed. The debts revive with any interest that would have accrued during the moratorium.
What if you know a change is coming?
If you know a change is coming — a job offer during the DRO, a scheduled inheritance, a court settlement — you can plan for it. Some options: use the improved position to pay off debts as they revive (which may leave you better off overall), talk to an Authorised Intermediary about whether a variation exists (a DRO cannot be varied like an IVA, but the AI may suggest alternative routes).
It is generally not worth trying to hide the change. The consequences of non-disclosure are more serious than the consequences of an early revocation.
The one-in-six-years rule after revocation
A revoked DRO still counts as a DRO for the six-year rule. If your DRO is revoked and you want a new one three years later, you cannot apply — you would have to wait until six years from the original start date.
A revoked DRO also appears on your credit file for six years from the original start date.
This is one reason to be certain before applying — a DRO commits you to eligibility for six years, whether it completes or is revoked.