Become a DRO Supervisor

Supervisors of Debt Repayment Orders under the Insolvency Act 2006 need to be approved by the Official Assignee, but they are independent. The Official Assignee is responsible for making sure that Supervisors carry out their duties according to the law. If a Supervisor fails to supervise a DRO properly, the Official Assignee can cancel the appointment and appoint a replacement Supervisor.

What does a DRO Supervisor do?

Debt Repayment Order (DRO) Supervisors can:

  • Make sure that you comply with the terms of your DRO and any other orders made by the Official Assignee
  • Request that your employer pays some of your earnings to your DRO
  • Charge a fee for doing their job as a Supervisor

The Supervisor’s job includes contacting all the known creditors, and checking their claims.

Supervisors pay out the money from repayments to the DRO in this order:

  1. Supervisor’s fee
  2. Official Assignee’s fees
  3. Creditors
  4. Any extra money is paid back to the debtor.

How do I apply to become a Supervisor?

The application form to apply to be a Debt Repayment Order Supervisor under the Insolvency Act 2006 is available on this website.

To complete the application you will need to include:

Once completed, the application must be signed and emailed to sio@insolvency.govt.nz.

A knowledge test based on the Insolvency Act 2006, Insolvency (Personal Insolvency) Regulations 2007 and Official Assignee’s DRO Supervisor Guidelines will also need to be completed.

Applications can be completed at any time and forwarded to the Official Assignee. Where applications are incomplete, the applicant will be contacted requesting further information.

Prospective Supervisors are encouraged to apply as early as possible, as appointments to act as a Supervisor will not be made until the application process has been completed.

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Supervisors can charge 7.5% of the total money repaid for supervising your DRO. This includes GST.

They can tell the Official Assignee if they don’t want to charge a fee, otherwise it is paid out automatically when your creditors are paid.

The Official Assignee charges a fee of 2.5% of the total money you repay. This includes GST.

All current DRO Supervisors use the Official Assignee’s trust account (OASIS) to administer DROs. The Official Assignee prepares all distributions with the Supervisor’s approval. The system:

  • allows the creditors and debtor to access the website to see information about the DRO
  • 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.

The Insolvency Act 2006 s345(3) enables the Official Assignee to ask a Supervisor to pay a bond to secure the performance of their obligations under the Act.

If a Supervisor chooses not to use the Official Assignee’s trust account, the Official Assignee will ask for a bond. This can be a bank bond or security, or other agreed insurance/security.

The bond is payment to the Official Assignee of a specified sum determined by a set formula. The amount of the bond will be determined by quantifying the estimated level of receipts into a DRO for the first 12 months of the Order.

For example, if a DRO Supervisor consents to act in a DRO where the forecast receipts into that DRO over the first 12 months are $NZ100 per week, then the bond required to supervise that order would be $NZ5,200.

If asset disposals are included in an Order, case by case decisions will be made to determine the amount of the bond.

A bond must be paid for each DRO that a Supervisor consents to act for using the above formula.

The bond must be paid to the Official Assignee at the end of the objection period, after all objections have been considered. The Official Assignee will not make the order until the bond is received and the cheque has cleared at the bank.

Bonds paid to the Official Assignee will be held in trust by the Official Assignee in an interest bearing account.

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

Complaints regarding conduct of Supervisors must be in writing and detail the reasons for the complaint.

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.

Complaints and applications are lodged with the Official Assignee by post to:

Official Assignee
Private Bag 4714
Christchurch

or by email to:

sio@insolvency.govt.nz