The government has announced £900,000 of investment in technology to speed up debt relief order (DRO) applications.  

The tech will allow debt advisors to send DRO cases directly to the Insolvency Service portal.  

It is hoped this will make the DRO application process more streamlined by cutting administration and freeing up debt advisers to help more people.

The funding comes from the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) and the tech is already live.

Debt advisers currently have to enter a person’s details twice during the DRO application process - once in their own system and again on Insolvency Service forms. The new system cuts out this duplication.

The funding created an “application programming interface” (API) to link the IT systems together.

Caroline Shanahan, Personal Insolvency lead at the Insolvency Service, said: "This is a fantastic improvement for people in financial crisis, at a time when they need help quickly.

"Debt advice organisations play a vital role helping people to access debt relief. By linking them directly to our systems, we can speed up DRO applications, reduce admin, and free up debt advisers to help more people.

"This is the latest improvement to the way DROs are administered, and we hope it will make a real difference."

Sebrina McCullough, Director of External Affairs at Money Wellness said: "Behind every DRO application is someone dealing with real stress and uncertainty. This new technology will help us get people the support they need much faster, reducing delays at what is often a critical moment in their lives.

"By cutting down on administration, our advisers can spend more time doing what really matters, helping people find a way forward."