Become a Debt Repayment Order (DRO) Supervisor

Prior to consenting to supervise the Order, the DRO supervisor must ensure the application is complete, and that the suggested payments are realistic when considering the debtor’s income and expenditure. 

The Insolvency Act 2006 states the responsibilities of the DRO Supervisor are:

• To supervise the debtor’s compliance with the terms of the Order, including any special requirements stipulated in the individual Order.
• To liaise with the debtor and communicate any non-compliance to the Official Assignee once identified.
• To direct employers to pay all or part of the debtor’s earnings to the Official Assignee’s Trust Account in accordance with the Order.
• To liaise with creditors, manage and vet claims and supporting evidence to ensure validity of claims which are included in the Order. 
• To liaise directly with the Official Assignee (OA) where admitted claims vary from the debt levels included in the order.
• To check and approve dividend payments to creditors including costs and fees.
• To regularly monitor the debtors file and act on any outstanding tasks in a timely manner.
• Supervisors must fulfil these responsibilities and record their actions in the debtors’ online file in order to satisfy audit requirements.

Read more about the role, responsibilities and the expectations of a DRO Supervisor in the Debt Repayment Order Supervisor Manual.

Debt Repayment Order Supervisor manual [PDF, 2.5 MB]

The manual takes you through using the online system (OASIS) DRO Supervisors use to help them supervise an Order.

To become a DRO supervisor, you must complete the DRO Supervisor application form.  

The application form includes a knowledge based test. This is based on the Insolvency Act 2006, Insolvency (Personal Insolvency) Regulations 2007 and Official Assignee’s DRO Supervisor role, responsibilities and expectations.

DRO Supervisor application form [PDF, 299 KB]

You can view the details of the Debt Repayment Order sections and clauses of the legislation from the links below. 

Insolvency Act 2006(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

Insolvency (Personal Insolvency) Regulations 2007(external link) — New Zealand Legislation

As part of the application you have to show that you are a suitable and willing person to supervise a debtor’s compliance with an Order.

You need to include with your application: 

• copies of qualifications where appropriate
• a credit check from Equifax
• a security check from the Ministry of Justice
• 2 written character references
• certified proof of ID (Passport and/or Drivers Licence).

My credit file(external link) — Equifax 

Criminal record check(external link) — Ministry of Justice

Once you have all of this information, the application must be signed and emailed to dro@insolvency.govt.nz.

Applications can be completed at any time. Where an application is incomplete, the applicant will be contacted for further information.

Those wishing to become a Supervisor are encouraged to apply as early as possible. You cannot act as a Supervisor until the application process has been completed.

As a Supervisor you can charge a 7.5% fee for supervising each DRO, including GST. This amount is taken from the total money repaid by the debtor. Every 6 months the fee is paid directly to you. 

When applying to become a DRO Supervisor, you can decide not to take a fee, meaning that the extra 7.5% will go towards your clients debt. You must tell the Official Assignee if you do not wish to charge a fee.

All DRO Supervisors use the Official Assignee’s Trust Account (OASIS) to administer their DROs. This is a secure online system which allows a Supervisor to administer an Order for each debtor they work with. The system records all payments made by the individual debtor. 

From these funds the Official Assignee prepares the dividend payments due to each creditor and the Supervisor fee, if payable, every 6 months. The Supervisor approves these, and the payments are made directly to creditors. 

The system:

• allows both the debtor and creditors access to see information about specific DRO’s
• allows electronic banking
• allows electronic filing of claims
• provides notifications of missed payments
• allows interest to be earned on the account
• provides data back-up
• reduces postage costs and bank fees
• reduces reporting and audit requirements.

If the Official Assignee considers a Supervisor has failed to adequately supervise a Debt Repayment Order, the appointment can be terminated, and a replacement Supervisor appointed.

If a Supervisor is unable to complete the term of a DRO, they should apply to the Official Assignee to have their appointment terminated. First, they should get the consent of a replacement Supervisor and the debtor.

Applications for termination must be in writing and detail the reasons for termination, plus include consent from both the replacement Supervisor and debtor.

Applications for termination of appointment are lodged with the Official Assignee by post to or email to:

Official Assignee
Private Bag 4714
Christchurch
DRO@insolvency.govt.nz