Hello again Gordo - and welcome back.

The debt advice charities certainly are great for giving free debt advice, as are other free agencies such as your local authority's money advice team or citizens advice bureaux. However, I am not aware of any that employ Insolvency Practitioners and actually administer Scottish Trust Deeds themselves - they would simply refer you on to an IP to set up a trust deed if that was your chosen route.

There is no reason that you should have to pay for an introduction to an insolvency practitioner, whether via a debt advice charity or not. This site is a perfect example - you can benefit from advice from experts and arrange to meet with an IP firm if you wish, without any payments having to be made.

Hi Gordo,

Kevin makes a really good point about not needing to pay any kind of "agent" to put together and pass your case to a Scottish Trust Deeds firm.

If you're considering a Trust Deed taking a range of advice from debt charities, web forums, and Trust Deed firms makes sense so that you can make an educated decision.

It's also important to make an educated decision about which Scottish Trust Deeds firm to use. A quick look around this forum will demonstrate that the standards of service seem to vary widely. If you are referred to a Trust Deeds firm by any type of advisor you'd still be wise to take the time to be double-sure that the firm you are potentially to use will handle your affairs with professionalism and respect. Just because you've been referred to a particular firm doesn't mean that you have to use them.

Thank you again.

So there is no such thing as a free trust deed?

Hi Gordo,

The fees for the Trust Deed are deducted from the payments you make into the Trust Deed (that you have already agreed are affordable).

A Trust Deed certainly isn't free but neither does it cost you anything over and above the amount you can afford to contribute towards the debts.

Like Kevin I'm not aware of any of the charity debt services who employ Insolvency Practitioners to handle Trust Deeds in-house. They refer their clients to private companies to handle the Trust Deed.