Obviously, fellow forum members know little of your specifics but it will be the detail which makes your decisions from here. Wise words from plastic daft. If already using cards for monthly commitments, that's only going one way. 10 years is a long time to tie your parents' finances in with yours.
You don't say if you have siblings, if your parents are elderly, how big your combined debt is etc and those aspects will have a bearing when you speak with an advisor / trust deed firm.

Depending on the numbers involved, there may be a benefit to taking a lump sum offered by parents if your creditors agreed to accept a % as full and final settlement, then you wouldn't be paying fees to run a trust deed but the size of the debt is key in this.

Just to give you all some basic details:

I don't have any children, we don't own our home we curently rent. My overall debt is around £25000. My parents are in their late 50's.

Just had another thought, will my partners earning be taking into account for the TD bearing in mind we live together but we are not married?

I suppose I'm trying to weigh up which is best, take a trust deed which will affect my credit rating in the future or take my parents offer and be tied in with them for 10 years which could cause them distress should circumstances change for any parties.

If only I could go back to when I was a student and tap myself on the sholder and say "don't take the credit card that the bank is offering you" lol

Hi headwire,

In answer to your question about your partner and living together. when i first looked into trust deeds i wondered the same thing, me and my partner were not married but have lived together for over 3 years and it was never taken into account when they looked at my financial situation. Even though my partner had his own income and we lived together.

A trust deed will affect your credit as it will be registered with all credit agencys but after your trust deed has finished i believe you can have the credit reference agencys update this to say being discharged. Its like any debt solution it has to be registered.

I know how you feel i wish i had done that myself when i was younger and could roll back time and just scream at myself don't do it. Things for me would be so much more easier.

Normally your share of any joint household bills as well as any other personal outgoings you have would be deducted from your own income only, Headwire. The remainder would be sought from you as your monthly contribution.

Hi Headwire

I echo Plasticdaft's comment about how you got yourself into debt in the first place (and believe me when I tell you no-one's judging you. we all got into debt in various ways and my story is similar to yours -particularly the consolidation loans). If you took a loan from your parents, can you honestly trust yourself not to use available credit for the next x number of years? Especially if circumstances changed and there was a reduction in your income. In a PTD or DAS, your ability to get credit is taken away from you. It's tough but ultimately such a relief and I hope by the end of my PTD, I will have learned every lesson there is and will NEVER get myself in debt again.

Good luck with whatever decision you take.

Hey All

Just to keep you all posted, I've been thinking really long and hard about the situation I'm in and taken into account a lot of different aspects including the excellent advice on here. I think a trust deed is looking very likey for me and I want to start the ball rolling but have just a couple of final questions.

I currently have a car which I pay off monthly (about £3500 left to pay) and I'm worried that I would lose it if entering a TD. I use my car to get to work but as I work and live in a city I would be able to use public transport for most shifts, its just the early weekend starts that always prove a problem. What is taken into account when deciding things like this?

Also if I do start the ball rolling with this and obviously use a TD firm, what if when I recieve all the details in regards to what my payments will be and how much I'm paying off and I'm not happy with it, can I still back out of it or will this have a negative affct on my creditors? Obvioulsy I also don't want to waste the TD firms time either so would I be charged by them for services used?

Finally if I do enter into a TD I would very much like to use one of the firms linked to this site. Which would be the best for me as I live in Edinburgh.

Again thanks in advance for all help. I'm off to nighshift now so I'll catch all the replys in the morning.

Cheers

Hi Headwire

Cars with a value over £3k will be looked at in a Trust Deed. Do you know it's current value?

You are not bound by anything until you sign the trust deed paperwork , so if you are advised a figure and don't think it's achievable, then there's no issue as you are not bound by anything.

As for which firm, the choice is entirely yours. There are a number of firms in the Edinburgh area and beyond.

Mark

Hello Headwire.

Each of the firms represented on the site can and do help clients in Edinburgh.

Is your car on hire purchase?

Just like the proposed monthly trust deed contribution, you can ask for written confirmation in advance of what will happen with your car. I'm sure you'll be happy with the answer, but if you aren't you can back out at that point.

Cars a rarely an issue when it comes to Trust deeds - as long as it is reasonably required and is not a high value car. Do you know what it is worth roughly, headwire?

As the others have said. there is no obligation - and indeed I would be wary of any firm that tried to get you to sign up without giving you time to think it through after meeting with them. I suppose I couldn't speak for all IP firms out there, but there is unlikely to be any charge if you do back out - certainly not from any of the firms participating on this site.

The car is on hire purchase, I'm not exactly sure how much its worth. I had a valuation done and was quoted 28000 but I think I've roughly 30000 still to pay on the hire purchase. Another thing I've just thought about. my partner had booked us an appointment tommorow with the bank to arrange a joint account for us. Will this cause any problems down the line for her or me? Its just an account for bills, no wages go directly in.

Hi Headwire

I dont think creditors will accept you retaining a car with a £28k value and payments for £30k HP. Earlier you stated it had a balance to pay of around £3,500!

The joint account may be a problem.

Mark

Sorry Mark, I was typing too quickly. I meant a valuation of 2800 and roughly 3000 still to pay back. I'd love a car with a £28k value, I would sell it now and my troubles would be over lol.

So do u thinks its best to avoid the joint account for now?

Hi Headwire

I did wonder. Visions of you in a Range Rover.

It may be an idea to leave the joint account for now. If the bank are not a creditor, then its not normally a problem, however some banks will freeze the account and not allow you to use it once details of the Trust Deed are known.

Mark

Regarding the car - as long as it is reasonably required and the HP payments are not excessive then I doubt there would be any problem. Who is the finance with? There are 1 or 2 finance companies that can be a bit awkward and seek to exercise their right to take the car back.