Hi if-I-was-a-rich-girl, welcome to the forum. Hopefully we can help to untangle some of this confusion for you.

I think that the first thing to say is that you really should think again about not claiming tax credits if you have an entitlement. I realise this hasn't been a happy experience for you previously and you are not keen to do this, but if you are eligible then it may remove the problem. HMRC would claw back your overpayment from your ongoing entitlement over time and you might even get some money coming in to you while they do this.

A trust deed is unlikely to be possible based on what you can currently afford, so you would probably have to make a claim for tax credits anyway before this might be viable.

There isn't a minimum amount required for a sequestration, so this may be the best way forward for you - though again there may be an insistence from your Trustee that you have to claim what you are entitled to in order that your creditors interests can be best served.

HMRC have passed my debt to an agency & informed me i have to interact with them from now on so i dont think i would be able to claim tax credits & let them take the overpayment off that! : Im only in this mess because HMRC dont accept ex partners living together but not as a couple. Its very frustrating as i have nowhere else to go & no money or good credit to rent some where!! ( I'm hoping that i can pay £100 in a DAS or even pay a settlement figure as a family member has offered to put a large chunk on their credit card, but only if that was the end of the matter & i didnt owe them anything else!! Im a wreck with this, cant sleep or anything, i just want it sorted!!! 🙁 thankyou for your advice!

Hello If-I-was-a-rich-girl and welcome.

Having a lump sum available to you might open up some different and interesting options. It must be lovely to have a relative who is prepared to support you like this.

How much might it be do you think?

Would you have to pay them back afterwards?

Are you still living with your ex-partner then IIWARG?

Sorry i dont know what that means Kevin! Yes im still living with my ex partner in his home. The mortgage is solely in his name. He works away alot so even though its his house We live independantly. I pay all utility bills & food. We are still good friends as we have 2 children, we just dont work as a couple!
Im thinking bankrupsy might be the best option for me as i hve nothing anyway. The only thing thats concerning me is my car. I need my car to work & it needs to be reliable & low maintenance! I was gifted a car by my parents for a big birthday & im not willing to sell it for a cheaper car, which may cause me more financial pains!! I want to know, would i be forced to sell it? Its worth approx £4500 im guessing. Is it legal for me to transfer ownership of the car back to my parents who bought me the car? Then it wouldnt be mine to sell!!

It's an abbreviation of your username. As good a username as it is, it takes about a minute to type it on a phone screen (as I'm using now)!

You can't transfer an asset to avoid it being part of an insolvency I'm afraid. The trustee would be able to reverse the situation and recover the asset anyhow.

In bankruptcy the car would appear to be at risk unless someone else stepped in and paid a lump sum in lieu.

In a trust deed it's likely more flexible, with any value over £3000 payable by some extra instalments for example.

In a debt arrangement scheme your assets would be ignored.

Hi if-i-was-a-rich-girl.

If you transferred the car to another person or back to your parents then this would cause a problem for your Trust Deed or Sequestration. As TDA has advised the transfer would be reversed and the car potentially sold.

To establish the value of the car you can look at 3 car valuation websites, Glasses, Wisebuyers and Parkers. If your car is above £3,000 in value then this will be considered an asset.

As TDA has advised a Trust Deed is more flexible when it comes to dealing with assets.

It really comes down to your budget and what you can afford to pay per month. If you can afford a suitable payment then a Trust Deed may be an option, if not then it could be Sequestration.

The best thing to do is to work through a very thorough income and expenditure with a qualified advisor. Once you do this you will be in a better position to understand what options you have available and what the downsides are.

Thankyou for your help! I have an appointment with stepchange debt charity so hoping they will be able to set me on the right track! Looks like im aiming for a trust deed really! Fingers crossed!!!

Ps. To kevin & David...i know this might be a conflict of interest but am i best to do whatever stepchange tells me to do or am i best to contact yourself? After reading the horror stories on this forum i dont want to be in a nightmare situation of a IP who is incompetent! Like i said before i have been in a trust deed before & i had a very good experiance! The sooner i get this cloud over my head sorted, the sooner i can sleep at night! Thanks again!

Hi there.

Stepchange is a reputable debt advice charity. I'm unsure whether they currently provide trust deeds directly or whether they'd look to refer you to another firm if they felt a trust deed was suitable.

David and Kevin's firms have had lots of positive feedback from users of this site who have got in touch with them over the years and we feel very good about recommending them.

What should you do? Speaking with a couple of different providers often makes sense. They might take different views on certain issues that make a significant difference to how your trust deed works. You might also warm to one more than the other - important when you'll be working with them for a four year period.

Stepchange don't set up Trust Deeds themselves and would pass you on to one of their recommended insolvency practitioners. We are on their list, so you could easily find yourself talking to me again!

You could cut out the middleman and contact us directly through this site if you wish, or maybe you would prefer to get Stepchange's advice first - it is really up to you.

Sorry if I confused you by abbreviating your username by the way! I hope you didn't spend too long trying to work out what on earth I was meaning!!

oh i didnt know that, i just presumed that Stepchange would just take over everything! I will probably be speaking to you soon then Kevin since looking at things i doubt a DAS will be appropriate for me as the amount i owe il be paying it back for many many years!! Will wait and see what my stepchange advisor says but im hoping the trust deed will be the answer! Thanks so much again for everyones advice!

You're very welcome - please keep asking if you have any questions or thoughts as this situation develops for you.