Not the End of the World.

joebig

Hello One and All:D
In 2002 and 2003 I somehow managed to get myself and my partner into a right mess financially. A mess which stood at approximately £70,000 when i entered a trust deed in November 2004. These debts changed my life both for the better and worse. They made me stronger in a sense that i will make sure i never experience the stress and worry the debts brought again. However, the negative effect the trust deed has had on my credit rating means that even though things are better now we cannot get a mortgage, car finance, etc. And guess what? Yep, you got it, the bank did absolutely nadda to help us. :mad: When you have had the sort of hassle we have with banks chasing you for money you obviously do not have then bankruptcy or another form of it soon comes as a welcome relief. A word of warning for anyone thinking of these options, ALWAYS GET INDEPENDENT ADVICE.

Since we heard about penalty charges last year we have had a case with the FOS regarding a certain financial institution and a number of issues. We still do not have a final decision on the complaint some 9 months later although it has just been referred to an ombudsman.THE FIGHT IS ON!!!!!;)

fermi

Hi joebig,

Sorry to hear about your hassles.:( But it looks as if you are well on your way to sorting this out.

It's always interesting to hear peoples experiences of the Scottish insolvency laws/procedures, since we seem to hear relatively little about that on this forum.

Your experiences could well help others reading here.

Finally your major point is correct. Here we always try to emphasise "Always get free, professional and impartial advice."

joebig

Hello Everyone
In Scotland a trust deed is an alternative to bankruptcy which can be useful to some people but not to others. The reason the trust deed was a good option for my partner and I was that we had a regular income and some equity in our home. By entering the TD we were able to stay in our home and had to agree to pay the Trustee the equity at some point over the three year period the TD is meant to run for. We also had to make a monthly contribution which was added to the equity at the end of the term then shared amongst the creditors. There are some snags although. First, if more than a third of your creditors do not agree to your trust deed then it cannot become protected and secondly the company that sets up the TD will usually take a percentage of the money paid into the account. This may seem fair enough but more and more people are using these alternatives all the time and this will soon make the financial institutions less likely to agree to a TD. Before making the choice of BR or IVA always take time out and prioritise your debts. If you have mostly unsecured debts then write to your creditors and ask for the monthly statement sheet to show a breakdown of your income/outgoings. If you do this and offer them a token payment and they can see you are under severe pressure then they are obliged to offer a repayment plan that is realistic. I know this may sound like a hassle but there is always the fact that a persons circumstances may change. Ours did!! Also, always ensure your important debts are paid first. Mortgage and council tax.