Hi Kenny and welcome to the trust deed forum.

The only way to be certain whether a trust deed is right for you is to find out all of the options that are available to you and then weigh up the pros and cons of each (as they apply to you, everyone's circumstances are different).

A couple of questions that will help us to start providing some thoughts:

Are you a homeowner?

After you have paid your essential bills/costs each month do you think there is anything left over to use to repay debt?

Is there something to do with your particular employment that makes you think you would have to notify your employer about a trust deed if you went ahead?

Hi, not a homeowner, if a was paying back towards all I owed I doubt I would be able to pay my rent! I have not got to the point of paying these debts back yet but it's time I faced up to them and took steps to get things dealt with.

The TD process, does that solely deal with my debt & income? My girlfriend is quite new and has had no party to my financial position...

As for my employment, no, I don't think so, should be quite irrelevant.

Hi Kenny

You're up later than me, but I'm watching 'Christine' ( the film)

It's all about options. Look at what best suits your circumstances & you'll be fine. There are always options! Best sit with a qualified advisor to run through things and point the way forward.

Mark

Yes, bit of a night owl!

Re advisors, what's the best route to take? I see lots of companies advertising, is there a recommended way of getting advice ?

Hi Kenny

My advice would be to avoid middlemen companies. You can speak directly with one of us on the forum if you wish.

Mark

Hi Kenny,

The Citizens Advice Bureau or a Money Advisor are options worth considering.

There are also plenty of companies offering debt advice. If you take this route I'd suggest that you confirm that the person you are speaking with is professionally qualified before accepting any advice from them (strangely, it is not currently mandatory for debt advisers to be qualified).

You can also speak directly to an insolvency company that handles trust deeds. They're more regulated than most other sectors within debt advice. There are three such companies recommended on this site and there are also other good direct trust deed providers available to you out there.

Regarding your partner, she should be unaffected - however if you do enter into a trust deed it would probably be wise not to apply for any credit on a joint basis until it has disappeared from your file if possible.

Her income is only looked at in relation to ensuring that you are paying a fair share of any joint household bills. For example, if she earns a similar amount to you then only half of the joint bills would be used when working out what you can afford from your income.

I see you are in the Edinburgh area - as a former money adviser in Edinburgh myself I can vouch for the quality of the free money advice services available to you (ie CAB or local authority). Or as has already been said, any of the experts associated with this forum would be happy to have a look at your situation in more detail and give you some advice - never hurts to get advice from more than one source I always think.