Good luck on getting Protected - I know many here have that air of uncertainty but few are refused so...be patient! On your beloved store card...learn to let go!

Thanks Charlie1958. I will be patient just cant help worrying - thats all. I know what ur saying about the store card and I do honestly stop and think now when I consider buying anything - "do I really need this"? I have surprised myself a few times and have walked away. I know the next few years is going to be so hard but it cant be any worse than the way we have been living lately. Isnt it strange how people cant discuss most things but money and debts is such a taboo subject. Thank god for this forum. I know its a deeply embarrasing thing to admit but Ive done it and now I have to get on with the rest of my life however hard it is.

Hi up2hidoe you have done the hard part now , yes i was there my self at the start hoping it would get protected , and there is no better feeling at that momment when you here that your protected thats when you have your life back hang in there and i am sure it will be ok

Hello up2hidoe.

Hopefully all will be OK with your trust deed becoming a protected trust deed. Your firm should have pointed out any issues in advance as they'll be well aware of what creditors will and will not accept.

You'll have to judge whether your business has the opportunity to improve your fortunes, both now and in the future once the trust deed is history. If you earn extra income during your trust deed you'll be expected to pay some or all of it into the trust deed. I think you should contact your trust deed provider to enquire how they will treat any extra income that you earn from this business. This may help you to make a decision.

On the date that you signed your trust deed all of your debts should have been included. Therefore the store card and the balance transfer card, if they had balances, should have been included.

Apart from that, there are no restrictions placed upon you about using credit sources that did not have balances on the day you signed the trust deed. Please be very very careful about doing this. There will be no provision made in your "expenditure" when you do trust deed reviews to specifically fund debt repayments. As such, if the balances increase, you could find yourself back in a lot of financial trouble and the trust deed could be put in jeopardy.

Thanks TDA - I will contact my TD provider and discuss this with them. Do you think I am now too late to add the store and credit card onto the TD now - I only signed this a couple of weeks ago and the letters have gone out to my creditors this week or am I too late?

I (genuinely) overlooked a loan I had at the time of my Trust Deed being prepared (I had so many alongside credit card/loans and store cards) but managed to get my Trustee to amend it before it became Protected. I'd let him know now, at the same time as you are applying a pair of scissors to your store card!

Hi up2hidoe.

I agree with Charlie1958. The sooner you tackle this the better.

On the subject of your bank account, the bank probably picked up the trust deed due to the Ednburgh Gazette notice, rather than your trustee contacting them. Often banks will freeze an account with a credit balance until they get the trustee's say so that it is ok to unfreeze the account and allow you access to the money

Thanks for clarifying this Mark. On this subject again - I have a 19 year old son with cerebral palsy. I am his legal appointee for his benefits etc. His benefits were previously paid thru our old bank account to whom we were also creditors. As part of the TD process we were advised to change bank accounts which we did and at this point I opened up a new bank account in my sons name with myself as a joint account holder as he is unable to look after his own finances, given his diagnosis and complex medical needs. The money going into this account is from his DLA and ESA benefits. Given that this account is directly my sons albeit I am also on this account - does this mean that his account will be frozen also? If this is the case am I able to remove my name from the account because I dont think his finances should be taken into consideration for my TD? thanks

Hello up2hidoe.

If this joint bank account is with a bank to which you owe money it would be sensible to get your name off the account or move it elsewhere.

If the account is with a bank you do not owe money to there might be some risk that the account is frozen if the bank finds out about the trust deed. That depends on the type of account that you have, the attitude of the bank, and whether they monitor this type of thing.

In this situation your Trustee would normally be able to arrange for the account to be unfrozen (though you could perhaps avoid the risk altogether if you took your name off the account). The only question then is whether the account is of a type that the bank concerned is happy to offer to a person in a trust deed.

Hi TDA - This is a fairly new acct and thankfully I dont owe money to this bank. What happens when the acct is frozen then - is this a long term thing and how can I get this released? Is it just a simple matter of me removing my name from the acct cos I really dont want my son being caught up in this . That was the whole point of getting him his own account. I havent yet heard from his bank so no news is good news I suppose but time will tell. I'll keep you posted and thanks again

Hi up2hidoe.

If the account were frozen it may simply be the bank considering that they have a duty to inform your Trustee (if there is a credit balance). With the go-ahead from your Trustee they may unfreeze it pretty quickly.

Taking your name off the account would mean the bank could have no reason to freeze the account.

Thank you. I will speak to both my TD provider and the bank also to see what the best option is.

Hi

If banks are going to freeze the account, they usually do it fairly soon after the gazette notice. If you can prove that the money going into the account is your son's, I don't see your Trustee having any problem with it.
You should put all the debts in your Trust Deed, if you don't, it usually causes a problem at a later stage -when you can't keep up your payments to everyone.