Trust Deed

Write off your unaffordable debts with a trust deed

  • We have the highest protected trust deed success rate in Scotland
  • Protect your home and write off unaffordable debts
  • Contact our expert team today for free debt advice

Check to see if you qualify to get debt help

  • Stop bankruptcy

  • Lower Monthly Repayments

  • Write off unsecured debts

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What is a Trust Deed?

A trust deed is a voluntary and legally-binding agreement between you and your creditors overseen by a trustee. Your trustee takes control of your assets to ensure you repay as much of your debt as possible over a period of time, usually 48 months.

After your trust deed has finished, all your remaining debts are written off and your creditors cannot pursue you for payment.

Are You Eligible?

Trust deeds were designed to help people with serious debt problems and aren’t available to everyone. To qualify for a trust deed, you must:

  • Be a resident of Scotland or have a business registered in Scotland.
  • Have unsecured debts of more than £5,000.
  • Be insolvent. (You cannot pay your debts when they fall due.)
  • Pay what you can reasonably afford rather than what creditors are demanding.

If you are struggling with your debts and don’t meet all the eligibility criteria for a trust deed, we still recommend you contact our team. There are a number of other options available to you and our advisers can help you select the best option for your circumstances.

Trust Deed Process

If you decide to proceed with a trust deed, we will guide you through the process, discussing each stage and explaining what you need to do. If you are interested to see how a trust deed works, here is a simple overview of the process.

1

Financial Review

You will discuss your financial situation with one of our experienced insolvency practitioners. If you decide to proceed with a trust deed, we will calculate a realistic and affordable monthly payment.

2

Sign the Documents

When you are happy with your trust deed, you sign the document and your trust deed becomes official.

3

Submit the Proposal

At this point, we need to alert your creditors to your trust deed. We will create a proposal explaining your situation and proposing a repayment plan for the next 48 months then send it to all your creditors.

4

Creditor Review

Your creditors have five weeks to review our proposal and accept or reject the terms. All negotiations are conducted through your trustee so you never have to deal with your creditors.

5

Official Decision

If creditors representing less than one-third of your debt reject our proposals, your trust deed is granted protected status. If your trust deed is protected, your creditors cannot take debt recovery action against you.

6

Trust Deed Discharge

During your trust deed, you pay monthly contributions to your trustee who then distributes the funds to your creditors. At the end of your trust deed, you are officially discharged and all your remaining debts are written off.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Like all financial schemes, trust deeds are complicated and come with a range of advantages and disadvantages. In the sections below, we have summarised some of the key points to help you make a more informed decision.

Advantages

  • You can write off unaffordable debts and take control of your finances.
  • Since repayments are based on your disposable income, you’ll never be asked to pay more than you can afford.
  • As soon as you sign your trust deed, your creditors must freeze all interest, penalties and fees related to your debt. In other words, a trust deed stops your debt getting bigger.
  • All your creditors must deal with your trustee, putting an end to high-pressure phone calls, letters and doorstep visits.

Disadvantages

  • Entering a trust deed is recorded on your credit record, although it is removed after six years.
  • Trust deeds are only available to residents of Scotland who have debts over £5,000.
  • If you can’t keep up with the repayments, your trust deed may fail.

Why choose us for debt advice?

The simple answer is that we have the joint-highest trust deed success rate of all the companies in Scotland. Last year, none of our trust deeds failed compared to an industry average of 15% and an industry high of 57%.

We started this company 5 years ago to help local Glasgow and Scottish individuals recover from debt. Since then, we have helped hundreds of people turn their finances around and get their lives back on track. We are tremendously proud of the service we deliver and believe that’s reflected in our ICAS and FCA authorisation.

If you’re still unsure, call our team or visit our office in Glasgow for free, confidential and no-obligation initial advice. At the end of the day, the most important thing to us is that you make an informed choice and take control of your finances.

FAQ’s

In our experience, people have a lot of questions when they are struggling with debts. In this section, we’ve tried to answer some of the most common questions related to trust deeds and debt management in general. If we didn’t answer your question, please get in touch with out team today and we’ll do our best to help.

It is very unlikely that you will have to sell your home during your trust deed as long as you can keep up with your mortgage payments. However, you may have to release some equity.

If you own a property with your partner and one of you enters into a trust deed, the equity will normally be shared between you equally.

This depends on the value of your car and whether you rely on it for work. If your car is worth less than £3,000, it is not counted as a realisable asset so it will not be sold. Additionally, if you require your car for work, you are usually able to keep it.

A trust deed will affect your credit rating as you are breaking the original terms of a credit agreement. However, a trust deed only stays on your credit file for six years after you sign it. After those six years, your record will contain no mention of it.

In the UK, a third-party cannot be made liable for your debt so your partner’s credit score should remain unaffected. Even if you are married, one partner’s trust deed should not affect the credit score of the other person.

There is a minimum debt threshold set at £5,000 but no upper limit. However, you do have to be able to repay enough of your debts so your creditors receive a minimum return of 10p in the pound.

At the end of your trust deed, if you have successfully made all your payments, you are formally discharged and all your remaining debts are automatically written off.

After your trust deed has finished, your remaining debts are written off. Your creditors should not contact you because you don’t owe them anything.

When you are discharged from your trust deed, your trustee will issue you with a discharge certificate. There’s a lot of paperwork to do before your trustee issues the certificate so don’t be worried if it takes several months to receive it.

Lenders are obviously worried about lending to individuals who have used a trust deed. However, if you work to improve your credit rating after you are discharged, there is no reason why a mortgage provider would not allow you to borrow money.

People often worry that a trust deed will stop landlords from renting property to them. While it’s true a trust deed will show on your credit report, that is just one part of the tenant selection process. Many people with a trust deed continue to rent property.

Having a trust deed should not affect your current or future job prospects and it is actually very rare for your employer to find out about one. However, there are some exceptions. For example, if your career does not allow you to be insolvent, signing a trust deed could cause you to lose your job.

There is no initial fee to arrange a trust deed. Your trustee with take their fees from your monthly contributions and assets.

Trust deeds typically run for 48 months but that can vary depending on your individual circumstances.

You pension fund is not counted as an asset when writing your trust deed. However, if you are currently drawing your pension, you may have to reduce your payments.

Your creditors must deal with your trustee and not with you. If creditors do continue to contact you, you can refer the matter to your trustee and they will handle it for you.

You can count any unsecured debts towards your trust deed. Unsecured debts are things like bank loans, credit cards and overdrafts. Secured loans like mortgages and hire purchase debts cannot be included.

We have two immensely experienced and talented IPs who act as trustees for our clients: Barry Stewart and George Lafferty. Barry and George oversee all our trust deeds to ensure all our clients receive a industry-leading service.

Your monthly contributions are specific to your financial circumstances and are based on your disposable income. Your monthly repayments in a trust deed will probably be substantially lower than they are now.

Do you qualify for debt help?

In just 3 steps you can get your debts under control

  • Complete our call back form and one of our friendly team will be in touch with you today
  • We will listen carefully about your financial circumstances and identify what you can afford to pay each month.
  • Our FCA accredited team provide you with independent debt advice allowing you to plan the best steps forward.

Check to see if you qualify to get debt help

  • Stop bankruptcy

  • Lower Monthly Repayments

  • Write off unsecured debts

Get Started