Hi macrae1,

Have you looked at your employment contract to establish if this mentions anything about entering into a Trust Deed, Sequestration, a Debt Arrangement Scheme or even anything to do with an arrangement with your creditors?

I have dealt with police officers, prison officers and also people who work for the Government and when it comes to a Trust Deed they have been confident that it would not impact their job. So far none of them have lost their jobs. It might be worthwhile reaching out to Kevin or I for a confidential chat about your job and what you do. We might have experience dealing with a client who works in a similar role as you and can give you some reassurance.

In terms of your financial position, can you tell us how much debt you have, if you own any assets and how much you feel you could pay per month towards a plan if you didn’t have to pay your debts.

Try to stay positive as you will have a number of solutions to help you deal with your debts it’s just working out which one best suits your circumstances.

Good morning macrae1. Good for you in facing up to the problem - it can take a lot of bravery to reach out for help and admit there is a growing issue.

It's understandable to be worried and you are of course right to be cautious, however, the likelihood is that you are worrying unnecessarily. I have dealt with many civil servants in my many years of insolvency experience and it is rare for there to be any issue. The main thing is to sort it out so that you can stop stressing.

Are you a member of a trade union? They may be a good source of reassurance as to whether there would be any impact on your job, as they will undoubtedly have had other members in a similar position. Perhaps they have a helpline you can call?

First things first though, it may be that there are other options that may suit you better too. If you can share more information with us, or contact one of us here then we'd be happy to assess your situation and talk you through the options.

I do not believe it says anything in the contract guidance suggests you should tell your manager though only suggests disciplinary or losing of job if the trust deed is a result of dishonest conduct or involves public money which naturally neither is applicable. I naturally do not want to tell because of the embassment. I know you will say i shouldn't worry about this but it means a lot to me and I would prefer not to say. It's more about me than hiding anything from them I'm ashamed I let myself
Get into this situation. In all honesty I don't think anything major would happen if they found out. I'm more concerned i don't say and thy are guaranteed to find out in some way would they be notified?

I have around 40000 in debt combination of loans and credits cards. I built a lot of debt at uni then continued downwards after I lost a lot of money on investments. I do not have any assets in terms of house. I have a car which was formally my dads car my Mum took a loan out for me and I pay her each month so for all intents and purposes until I pay this Loan off 4 more years or so am not the beneficial owner of the car. The payment is 230 a month. I also need the car for work. Someone on here previously suggested this would not be an issue?

I have minor other items like an old tv, weights bench, my mobile, my old pc these things do not have a much value would I lose them?

I can afford around 300-400 I believe but I need to sit and do a hard budget to figure out exactly. My current payments are around 850.

Hi macrae1,

It doesn’t sound like your job would be on the line from what you have told us which is good.

The only reason that your employer would find out is if you missed 2 consecutive payments to your Trust Deed then we can notify your employer about the Trust Deed and ask them to deduct the payment from your salary. This only happens if you’re not co-operating and paying your payments. If for example you are off work sick and not in a position to pay then we wouldn’t do this. As I said it’s just for non-cooperation. The only other way in which your employer could find out is if they look at the Register of Insolvencies which lists all Trust Deed’s and Sequestrations but I can’t see your employer looking at this register.

It's entirely up to you about speaking with your employer and not something that you have to do unless you want to. I can understand the way you feel about things and wanting to keep it private. The majority of the clients we deal with feel the same as you.

Your household items are yours and not something that you would lost so please don’t worry about that. There shouldn’t be any issues with the situation with the car either. Try not to over think things too much and worry. I know it’s easier for me to say this but in the space of a 15-20 minute phone call with Kevin or I we can really help to put your mind at ease and I’m sure you will feel a lot better.

In terms of the £40,000 of debt, can you give us an idea of who the largest creditors are that you owe money to? The reason I ask is that some lenders can be tricky to deal with.

One of the most important things is to go over a very thorough income and expenditure to establish that you can reasonably afford to pay per month. A lot of people always try to cut right back with their spending to enable them to pay as much per month as possible but this only leads to problems later on down the line. It’s about finding a balance between what you can pay per month, what the lenders are happy to accept and also what fit’s with the legislation on spending.

From what you have told us you do have a number of options available and potentially could have taken steps to be moving forward with as plan as quickly as you would like.

Thanks for the answers it is really reassuring.

Bank of Scotland around 8000
Barclays card around 8000
Virgin around 900
HSBC around 15000
Tesco bank around 9000

Hi macrae1,

The only lender on that list that can be tricky to deal with is Barclaycard but to create a problem for your Trust Deed then need to have 1/3 of your total debt to stop it from becoming protected which they don’t have.

The rest of the lenders are fine to deal with and all of them are lenders that Kevin and I deal with on a daily basis.

I think the next step for you is to reach out to an Expert for one to one advice and to go over a very thorough income and expenditure statement to see what you can afford to pay per month. As long as you can pay a suitable payment then I can’t see any reason why a Trust Deed would not be accepted by the lenders and you can be on your way to becoming debt free in 48 months. Kevin or I would be happy to help with this if you wanted.

You’ve came a long way in a short space of time this morning. Glad to hear you are feeling a little more reassured about things.

From the figures you have given, it does sound like a Protected Trust Deed might be a good option for you and I'd be very confident that it could get set up without any problems.

We certainly wouldn't be informing your employers as a matter of course, though you should be aware that your details are entered onto the Register of Insolvencies, which is a public register that can be accessed by anyone online. Having said that. unless there is a reason why anyone would be searching for your name on that then I'd say it is unlikely that anyone would ever find out other than your creditors.

So is the use of the car dependent on you paying this loan back to your mum? As long as the car is reasonably required - eg for work - then I reckon this kind of cost should be justifiable without any problems.