Hi David132uk

I've never heard of them. Judging by the web address owner, it seems to be run by a guy in a flat in Edinburgh!

Probably another middleman company who will pass your info to an IP for a fee. Best avoided.

Mark

Welcome to the forum david132uk.

Have you had dealings with this website?

I'd never heard of it, so I took a quick look.

They should display their consumer credit licence details on the website. It's unlawful to operate in the debt advice area if you don't have one. There is nothing on the site that I could see.

I took a look at the consumer credit licence register on the Office of Fair Tradings website to see if I could find them. Nothing there that I could find.

The "corporate entity" operating the site should be clear on the website. There's nothing there that I could see.

I looked up the actual owner of the website. It's an individual living in Edinburgh.

I looked up his name on the OFT consumer credit licence register to see if he has a consumer credit licence personally. Couldn't see anything there.

All of which might have a perfectly innocent explanation. Or maybe not.

Ever thought of joining MI6 TDA.........?

I'm afraid I'm not allowed to answer that question Porcupine!

I have been contacted by a website (link removed) but they seem to be a cowboy company. Can I trust them?

It's an interesting post Ed209. I've removed the link (see the forum rules) but I'm happy to confirm to other readers that it was a link to the company website of Mark Mcfadyen's firm.

As they do not cold-call people, it seems very likely that your suggestion that you've been contacted by them isn't correct.

Anyone reading this whole thread will draw their own conclusions about what's going on I suppose.

OK thanks

By the way, I found them in Google and I thought it was the company that cold called me that were called the above, was not them my mistake.

There does seem to be a lot of middle men about, is this website funded by trust deed companies or is this a non profit website?

Hello Ed209.

The site is operated by Channel Active Ltd. The company details and consumer credit licence details are displayed in the footer on each page of the website.

Mark, Kevin and Julie work for three different trust deed providers which are independent of Channel Active. Their company details are in their "profiles" here. The process used to select them to feature on the site is explained on the "Scottish Trust Deed Firms" page.

In the event that the site advice team were to do significant work on a case, and that case was subsequently taken on by one of the trust deed providers, they would make payment for the work that had been done. This information is presented in the "trust deed fees" page on the site. There's also information on this page about the fees typically charged by each of these trust deed providers.

There are also cases where people get in touch with the experts via the site and no fee is paid.

Thank you for clarifying your fees. So this site also gets paid just like a middleman that Mark refers to.

What is the difference then if a "middleman" refers you to an insolvency company? as surely any bad advice would be "corrected" by the qualified insolvency practitioner? unless the middleman charges a fee? is this possible? as I am reading this forum I would not pay a set up fee.

I have a friend who was refered for a Trust Deed through a company called the Citizen Advice Bureau with no fees, would it not be better to go through them?

Can I haggle the fees that an insolvency practitioner charges as I want more money to go back to my creditors and not just administration fees.

Hi Ed209.

Mark's free to express his own opinions here (as are you), so if he wishes to further clarify his opinions about intermediaries or middlemen I'm sure he will do.

The CAB is a great source of debt advice, as are Money Advisors based outside of the CAB.

If you've decided to do a trust deed however, it's the trust deed provider that you choose that seems to be the most important decision (irrespective of how you reached them). If you read around this forum you'll find hundreds of stories about companies that people have been delighted with or disappointed by.

It's entirely up to you whether the fees proposed by any particular provider of trust deeds are acceptable to you. I cannot see any reason why they could not be discussed if you raised the subject, and a trust deed provider could then decide whether or not they are prepared to reduce them.

Mark is my IP, and very good he was to......

It was clearly marked on my paperwork that a fee would be paid to the operators of this site for pointing me in the direction of my Trustee... The big difference for me is that this fee is taken from my 36 contributions I make to my trustee and is not an upfront fee to a middleman to then direct me to a company who then take a further 36 payments of me......

That's the difference from my point of view........

Hello all,

I would like to set the record straight regarding Debt Scotland as I am one of the company directors.

Debt Scotland was created in December and is far from the ÔÇÿguy in a flat in Edinburgh' that you suggest. Both company directors have experience in the debt management industry, 2 & 8 years, and the professionals we use for advice are currently working in the industry. The insolvency practitioners that we deal with are well respected and we ensure that we meet their high standards in every aspect of our business.

It's a credit to the web developers and search engine optimisation companies involved in the site that it's currently ranking so well. We did not expect to be this well ranked within the first 4 months and the site has progressed faster than the business projections. The site isn't currently fully operational and won't be until Q4 2011. We operate well within the guidelines set by the consumer credit license as we are currently not receiving any fee for our services provided. I appreciate any concerns in regards to this and will be happy to post the license number on this forum when we are fully launched.

Also, although it appears to be a mistake from Ed209, we have NEVER done any cold calling of any sort!

Hopefully this put this matter to bed.

Kind regards,

Danny Brown.
Debtscotland.net

Hello Danny.

Thank you for your clarification on this subject.

It's good to hear that you're not involved in cold-calling, a subject that has recently been the subject of a "super-complaint" by the CAB and which the OFT is now investigating as a result.

I'm pretty unsure about the point you make about consumer credit licences though. Our understanding is that anyone providing debt advice, irrespective of whether or not they charge a fee, must be covered by a consumer credit licence. Charities providing debt advice must have a CCL for example.

However, interpretation of the compliance regime governing your business isn't my business, so I'll bow out of this thread for now.

Thank you Danny for coming on here and defending your business. Are you open to negotiation over your fees. I will sign a Trust Deed with you if you give me a 40% discount. I will mention your company to all my family and friends who are in debt but not mention my discount.