Hi Pablo67 and welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear that you have found yourself financially struggling. I think it's a real positive step reaching out for advice and help. I'm sure it must have been very difficult to do this. If your health is suffering please also reach out to your doctor for support.

Did Trust Deed Scotland say why you didn't qualify for a DAS? I can understand why they have said about a Trust Deed as the level of the equity is more than your debts. How confident are you about the value of your house and the balance outstanding on your mortgage?

On a DAS it's a proposal which is put forward for your creditors. They do have the right to reject the proposal and if as you say most of it was taken out within the last 4 months this could be a reason for them to reject it. If your DAS proposal was rejected it can then be put forward to the Accountant in Bankruptcy to carry out a fair and reasonable test and they do have the power to reject the creditor objection and allow the DAS to go forward. The issue however is the gambling and the short period of time which this was incurred.

Even if your equity was a lot less and you could therefore consider a Trust Deed the issue would still be around the gambling and how you accumulated the debts. This can be a reason for creditors to object.

It might not necessarily be the gambling itself that is the issue, it could be around the fact that the debt was taken out in a short period of time and then you are looking to enter into a plan.

How much do you think you could afford to pay per month to a plan if it were possible to try and set one up? The average length of a DAS is 7 years and for you to repay £56,000 in that timescale would be a payment around £666 per month. There is no real maximum timescale but the longer the plan lasts the less likely creditors are to accept it. If you did it over 10 years it would be a payment in the region of £466 per month.

Probably around 400.

Hi Pablo67,

I think the best thing to do is reach out to a qualified debt expert who is able to give advice on all options.

They will work through your full circumstances and discuss the pros and cons of all your options. I would be happy to do this and I'm sure Kevin would also.

If you are correct about the level of equity in your home then a DAS may be the most likely way forward, as David has said. Either that or look further to see if a remortgage is possible. Have you spoken to a mortgage broker at all?

Do you own your home solely or jointly with another person?

A DAS would mean that you could seek to repay your debts over time without the risk of creditors taking action against you, though it would be quite a lengthy period.

Cheers Kevin. I've only just remortgaged so there's a £7000 erc on top of the £150,000. At the time of my remortgage 5 months ago I didn't have the unsecured debt. I live in a new estate so up against the house builders who are offering incentives, low deposit etc. Currently 3 similar houses for sale between 230-235k but none of them are shifting so I wouldn't be confident of a sale.

Is it just you who owns the house Pablo67?

Or is it jointly owned with someone else?