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Scottish Trust Deed Forum
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Topic starter
19/03/2011 11:07 am
Hi guys - looking for a bit advice. Sorry for the long post...
Due to a change in my circumstances I went into the offices of my Trustee to have a chat about what I need to do next (I was passing by the office and sometimes this is the fastest way to get a response).
I got talking to a guy in the waiting room, he asked why I was in and I explained why. He said he was in to sign a TD and was nervous about whether or not his outgoings would be accepted. I said I would have a look and he had
-Sky TV - Full Package
-Quite a large food budget
-An expensive phone contract (iPhone I think)
-National Lottery online subscription (3lines per draw so £24 a month!)
As I looked at it I sort of thought he would be asked to cut back and told him he should maybe expect that.
I was called in, so we said goodbye. I bumped into him at the bus stop afterwards and asked how it went, and to my suprise he said fine. Its all going through now.
Now my question is - are these acceptable outgoings? When I entered into a TD, before the meeting I cancelled everything I saw as non essential, Sky TV, an excessive broadband package was swapped for the cheapest on the market, my food budget was halved as well as a few other things.
Have I cut out more than I needed to? I don't miss anything I cancelled mind you but I am ashamed to admit I felt a bit of anger that he was allowed to keep all that stuff... Does that make me a bad person? [V]
19/03/2011 11:32 am
Hi ScotsLad.
The usual standards applied might be (they will vary a little from place to place):
Sky - Basic package.
Mobile phone - Reasonable amount.
Lottery - Not entered onto budget (i.e. you would have to take it from other areas of your budget if you wanted to do it).
Food - Varies according to family size and make-up of adults and children.
Obviously we don't know how this will be presented in the proposal to his creditors, but if the creditors believe the expenditure to be excessive it will not become protected. Which obviously would defeat the whole point of the exercise.
Qualified Debt Adviser & Forum Administrator - Ask me anything about Trust Deeds 
Topic starter
19/03/2011 12:04 pm
Thanks TDA, great info as always!
19/03/2011 10:56 pm
I guess this is where negotiation comes in.
A couple of my creditors questioned the combined cost of my mobile and landline phone bills. They had a set amount they would allow to cover both and the figure on my expenditure was above that.
So (via my trustee) I offered to pay the difference, they were happy with that.
The same applied to my petrol allowance. They had a fixed amount in mind and my figure was above it. We pointed out that it was for 2 cars (one a company car that I have to pay the petrol for) and they were happy to accept the amount without modification.
With both these issues resolved, protection followed thereafter.
In a nutshell, none of this is set in stone and there's always room for negotiation. My trustee (one represented here) was more than happy to work with both me and my creditors to reach a solution that suited everyone.
Cheers,
DFW
20/03/2011 9:58 am
DFW makes a good point.
There are some things, like phone costs, where creditors will typically apply fairly fixed "ranges" of expenditure based upon the number of people in a household and the make-up of adults and children in that household.
There are other costs, like a mortgage or council tax for example, which are fixed and generally therefore accepted as they are.
A few costs, such as petrol for example, fall into a middle ground where creditors might like to see them fall into fixed ranges, but for which there could be a very good reason for them to show some flexibility. Petrol is a good example as some people will have longer commutes, but rely on that commute to generate the income required to fund the trust deed contribution. This is where a Trustee might have to offer some justification.
Qualified Debt Adviser & Forum Administrator - Ask me anything about Trust Deeds
