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Scottish Trust Deed Forum
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Topic starter
13/12/2021 12:08 am
Hi there , I am currently in a trust deed and have been since March 2020 I pay 200 a month to this which I struggle to pay every month. I work part time me wage is 750 per month , my rent alone is 485 per month council tax is 120 per month. I then receive tax credits weekly and child benefit which I need to get my shopping , gas, power each week my weekly shop has increased so much the cost of living has increased , my benefits have reduced since I started the trust deed and I am still expected to pay the same amount to my trust deed. I am on my
Own and I have 3 kids under 16 and do my best but I struggle even buying the kids a pair of trainers when needed or have any spare change for them at the weekend , it is really difficult and the effect on mental health especially this time of year when your trying to get Christmas in but have no spare money is hard work. My question is can you please tell me if benefit income is classed as your main income along with your actual income? I feel your tax credits child
Benefit should be for your kids to provide them with a warm home and full fridge and be able to have nice things in life , my weekly shop alone is now 130 and that’s me going to Aldi’s , home bargains and Iceland to keep costs down I will go where an item is cheaper , i do appreciate what the trust deed has done for me in terms of not hearing from creditors that has been a big help but I just do not know how I will manage another two years of this. I do have a car which i pay 124 per month to this was just before I took my trust deed out and part of my agreement with trust
Deed was I could keep paying this monthly, if I never had a son who played football and had to travel I would have gave my car up months ago and went bankrupt , but I can’t do that to my son. Any advice would
Be greatly appreciated thanks
13/12/2021 9:53 am
Hi Klyp,
It's a slightly complicated situation regarding benefits and trust deeds.
Benefit payments do count towards your total income, in the same way that any other type of income would.
However, a trustee cannot collect in a payment that could only be funded by benefits. To put it another way, if you only received benefits income then you would be unable to make a payment into a trust deed. The effect of this is that your trust deed payment is capped at the total amount of non-benefit income that you have.
If your benefits have reduced I'd suggest that you request a review of your trust deed payment. It's obviously also the case that some other types of expenditure will have increased in recent times, which could also be taken into account.
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13/12/2021 10:30 am
You should only have to pay what you can reasonably afford, Klyp. If your income has reduced and your outgoings gone up since you took out the Trust Deed then you should speak to your Trustee about your payments being reduced.
I think a lot of insolvency forms do give the impression that the original amount that was agreed to be paid each month is binding. In fact, in signing a Trust Deed you are only agreeing to pay whatever you can afford for the period, so changes in circumstances should mean a review of your contribution level and it possibly being changed.
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