sorry second paragraph should read "passed my debt to a debt recovery company"

Hi debtfree

There is no reason in a Trust Deed to contact employers, unless you fail to provide payslips and continued not co operate and they couldn't get the information any other way.

I am surprised ( or possibly not!) that the CAB did not cover all options, DAS, Trust Deed. Taking account of the payment etc I think even the DAS scheme would have been an option as this would at least allow for interest relief and protection from creditors.

Mark

Sorry to sound so stupid Mark but is the DAS scheme. I was literally spoken to about a debt management plan and that is it.

Hi debtfree

The Debt Arrangement Scheme is a legal arrangement where you repay the debt in full over a set period of time. It freezes interest and stops legal action, but the debt needs to be repaid in full. The main difference with this and the Trust Deed is that the Trust Deed has debt write off, whereas the DAS scheme doesn't

This link may assist:

http://www.moneyscotland.gov.uk/das/MoneyScotland/Homepage

Hope this helps.

Mark

Hi debtfreeplease,

I'm sad to see that the CAB did not run through all of the available options with you (though they may have concluded due to your occupation that DAS or a Trust Deed were inappropriate).

What is it that you do for a living?

The reality of a debt management plan is that agreements with creditors are temporary because the lender will expect to receive a higher amount each month if your circumstances improve. As such reviews of the amount from time to time are not unfair. They do however create an ongoing task/inconvenience that some people would prefer to avoid.

Scottish Trust Deeds and the DAS scheme are more formal and could be seen as less flexible arrangements than debt management plans but for many people the legal protection, stability, and external assistance that they offer make them more appropriate for their needs.

Hi Trust Deed Assistant,

I work for an insurance company that is attached to a bank and my contract specifically mentions this sort of thing in it.

It looks as if I am going to have to take my chances though, it I provide all my wage slips then there shouldn't be a problem.

I wish I would have known about the TD a year ago as I would have done this then.

Would your advice me a TD or DAS Scheme? I obviously would like to see an end to this sooner rather than later. I don't own a house and I am currently house sharing and this is not even in my name. I have a car but this is not valued at very much. I haven't had a problem making the payments that were put in place nearly a year ago but I think sooner or later one of these companies is going to instruct a debt recovery company and I don't want the hassle of this as it is bad enough now with the constant letters.

Thanks for your help.

You'd be taking a bit of a chance entering into a trust deed and not mentioning it to your employer if it is specifically stated in your contract that you must do so - these kinds of things can be sackable offences. I would normally advise that you should speak to your employer before signing anything, you may find that they don't mind you entering a trust deed as long as they are aware of it.

If they do have a problem with you going ahead, then a DAS payment programme might well be more suitable.

Hello debtfreeplease,

The experts on this forum have worked with many financial services employees over the years. Where Trust Deeds and other similar solutions are mentioned in contracts it is sensible to be concerned and to make some investigations.

If you are a member of a union at your workplace it might be a good idea to speak with them. You are likely to find (according to the experience of previous visitors to this site) that colleagues of yours have in the past taken similar measures to deal with their debts and that the employer offered support rather than a rigid interpretation of the contract.

To provide a comparison between a Scottish Trust Deed and the DAS scheme for you it would be useful to know how much you can reasonably afford to pay towards your debts each month.

Hi Kevin,

It doesn't actually say in my contract that I have to tell them so I am more inclined to take the risk. I think it is more to do with them coming across anything, how I don't know.

Fair enough, but do you have an employee handbook that might mention this, or any HR policies? Is probably worth checking just to be on the safe side. It may be unlikely, but it is possible that your employer could find out - the Edinburgh Gazette is publicly available after all and can be searched online these days.

TDA thanks for your reply. I could probably afford between ?ú500-?ú550 per month to pay off my debts. I am not a member of a union and tbh I am not even aware of representatives within the company, I have not yet been with the company a year which is one of the reasons I don't want to notify them of this.

What are the month to month costs difference between a TD and the DAS scheme?

Kevin thanks for the comment about the Edinburgh Gazette it is something I will bear in mind.

Hello debtfreeplease,

Monthly payments into a Scottish Trust Deed or into DAS are likely to be similar as they are calculated in similar ways.

If you were paying ?ú500 per month via DAS it looks as though the arrangement might last around six years.
Around 10% of your monthly contribution is kept by the organisation that acts as the creditor payment distributor.

In a Trust Deed the arrangement is likely to last three years.
Any fees charged by the Trustee would be deducted from the funds that you have contributed to the Trust Deed.

Both routes could provide legal protection from your creditors. As such the main difference between the two appears to be the duration.

In DAS you are likely to repay the full amount of the debt owed which is a factor some people consider to be important and which in certain circumstances, I suppose, might make a difference to the view of an employer looking at a situation such as this.

Like Kevin I would suggest being careful regarding your employment but how you choose to proceed is of course your decision to take.

DFP - I work in Insurance also, completed my TD Jan 2009, employer never advised or had to get involved. Best thing I ever did. Good luck. B