yes i was advised to do this straight away and I did thank goodness,

thanks very much for your advice il go through my details with another firm to compare and then make my decision

thanks for your help

Hi ashirley.

I believe the team have been in touch with you over the last couple of days and I do hope we have been able to provide a more detailed explanation to address your concerns.

A few general points that might also help.

Whichever firm you go with, your Trust Deed payment is based on what you can afford to pay each month.

Trust Deed fees are deducted from what you pay in and reduce the amount that your lenders receive. There are a number of different elements to the fees and they are agreed with the creditors because, provided the Trust Deed runs to term and is completed it is, in effect, the creditors who have paid the fees. Different firms may call their fees different things but the outcome is inevitably agreed by your creditors, some of which have their own guidelines.

Lenders would generally like customers to repay everything that they owe! However, they accept that for clients in financial difficulties this isn't going to be the case. Most have a ÔÇ£minimumÔÇØ that they will accept (say 10p repaid for every £1 owed). If the monthly payment that you, as a client, can afford to pay doesn't add up to this minimum level over three years (after fees are deducted) creditors may well want to see the Trust Deed extended before they will accept it.

As other posters have mentioned there is no harm in doing your research on firms and you can always look at Feefo.com for independent reviews of Wilson Andrews. This will give you over a year's worth of our customers' reviews.

We appreciate that a Trust Deed is a big step that needs careful consideration and you are free to take as much time as you need.

The team here is on hand if you have any questions.

Hi Sarah.

To be fair, it simply isn't the creditors that pay that £500 fee? Surely it's to come from a third party that the client identifies?

It's also not factored into what a client can affordably pay? It's in addition to that.

This also isn't a case of firms calling fees different things. It's a case that some firms are charging £500 for something that other firms don't charge for at all.

quote:

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Originally posted by ashirley

really,

thanks so much for your advice,

would I incur any charges if I didnt go ahead with my trust deed with Wilson Andrew? as they have already paid for the survey etc and sent all my forms out

regards

---

No.
I was in an almost identical situation as you.

I had all the forms sitting in my house ready to sign when I stumbled upon this site.

I went with Mark's firm after reading a few threads on here.
Definately glad that I did.

To be fair to WA, the term "fee" is being used in two different contexts here. The £500 payment they are requesting isn't a fee in the same sense as the fee that a trustee charges for administering a trust deed. They are collecting in this amount in order to increase the return for creditors and probably only retain a small proportion of the sum as a fee for themselves.

The fact remains however that the £500 3rd party payment isn't routinely sought by many insolvency firms, so ashirley (or more precisely I guess, her third party) may well benefit by looking elsewhere.

Shop around time.

Paul

I also think we have to be careful how we treat the £500 here as its requirement does not necessarily mean the overall cost is dearer.

For example, one firm may quote £4,000 Trustee fees plus £500 renunciation of title fee (with £4,000 being deducted from overall debtor paid contributions plus realisation of any other assets and £500 being paid by a third party). Total to pay £4,500.

Another firm may quote £5,000 trustee fees with no £500 renunciation fee requested.

It does not mean the overall cost of a Trust Deed will be cheaper removing this £500 so be careful. It is all circumstantial and I would advise you to shop around for the best overall cost and that that fits your needs best.

In terms of the fees charged for trust deeds we've tried to make it clear here over the years that firms charge very different amounts.

That's fine, it's no different to any other business.

In some circumstances higher than average fees can lead to a trust deed being proposed that will last longer than the usual 36 months.

In some other circumstances an extension beyond 36 months might be unavoidable in terms of trust deeds due to relatively high debts compared to the size of the affordable monthly contribution.

As a general rule of thumb we'd suggest anyone "quoted" a term of longer than 36 months might want to have a chat with another firm or two to ensure that the extended term isn't just for the benefit of a trust deed provider charging higher than average fees.

In such circumstances consideration of sequestration might also be wise. Any contributions deemed to be affordable will only run for 36 months.

Speaking from the point of view of someone in a PTD, the semantics of what to or what not to call this £500 pale in insignificance compared to the stress of thinking you are going to have to approach a friend or family member and ask if they can pay it to safeguard your home.

The fact that it is a time when we, us of us who found the need to enter a PTD, are already at rock bottom, shouldn't be downplayed either, imo.

If this money/fee/contribution/security... is not legally required to be paid in this manner, then I would go as far as saying it should actually be illegal to take it in such a manner.

It's a perfectly legitimate charge made for the benefit of the creditors Jinty. Firms can choose whether to charge it and consumers can choose which firm they wish to use.

Plenty of firms charge it and are very open that they do.

From a consumer point of view it's just worth knowing that some firms don't charge it.

I have no issue with the charge TDA
Its the manner that it seems to be taken - if it is taken.

Asking, almost forcing in fact, folk who are such a low ebb to either ask someone close to them to stump up £500 or risk losing their home in 3yrs time, could be enough to stop that person in their tracks from entering a PTD at all.
That could see some folk tipped over a very high ledge.

If they want, or need, the £500, then why can't the just add it at the end of the PTD and let the individual pay it themselves. Either in a lump sum after X amount of months, or as an extra 2,3,4.. payments.

I'm not sure if this helps. But the TD firm I'm with also required me to pay £500 via a 3rd party within my first 6mths. Which I had done. When I had received my first annual statement, it turns out that this money has been deducted from my outstanding equity to be paid at the end of my TD next year.
Worth asking the question,don't you think?

Carol

The payment will be seen in a different light be each individual. Some will of course begrudge paying it. In my experience many are happy to have a 3rd party pay it and secure their home. The fact that they are not required to realise equity for creditors and can deal with it in this manner reasonably quick and painless has never caused me much problem down the years. We as a firm are flexible in our approach to collecting the fee in sequestrations. We will agree with the client at the start how and when they wish a third party to pay it. Either in a lump sum or via instalments. We also let them chose when they pay it either the start or the end of their case. Rarely an issue.

If you can find someone who doesn't require it, and the overall cost of the deed is cheaper, makes perfect financial sense however. Simple!

Seems all firms are indeed different in as much as, if they take it and when they take it. Ours was 18mths in when we got a letter saying it was due now. At the start we were informed it would be due mid way and by a 3rd party. We like many I think didn't say to anyone we were in a PTD we saved the odd £10 here and their no holidays at all during our TD and sent them the money via our bank acc where our weekly DD came out off. Our reviews were annually on the anniversary. Were we lucky it slipped through, were they happy they got it and............who knows!

I think Jinty makes a very good point about how it must feel to have to ask family/friends to help out to the tune of £500. I think this is the main reason that we stopped asking for this payment some time ago in Trust Deeds. It just seems like a way to embarrass people unnecessarily and is actually more hassle than it is worth in many ways - all that to-ing and fro-ing to gather in a very marginal extra amount for creditors.