Hi Marwil82.  Thanks for your query - I can well understand your frustration with the situation.  This is actually more complex than you might think and as a result the Accountant in Bankruptcy (who have a supervisory role over all Protected Trust Deeds) released some guidance to Trustees recently as to how equal pay claims should be dealt with. You can read it yourself here if you wish: https://www.aib.gov.uk/publications/dear-trustee-equal-pay-claims  

To translate what it says into less technical terms; whether the settlement that you are expecting can be claimed by your Trustee depends partly upon the period to which it relates.  Money due to you in respect of the period prior to the date you signed the Trust Deed can all be claimed by the Trustee for the benefit of your creditors.  There is case law to back up this position.

If part of the settlement relates to a period of employment after the Trust Deed was signed then this is less clear.  It counts as income, which may affect how much your Trustee would assess that you could afford to pay each month as your income contribution to the Trust Deed.  Given that you are now finished your 4-year contribution period, I think it you could definitely argue that you did not receive this income during that period and therefore it should not be available for them to take.  They might see it differently and reckon they can backdate your contribution calculation, in which case it becomes a legal argument that you might need the help of a solicitor with. 

In respect of the fees, it would be £2,500 plus 20% of realisations (ie the amount that you pay in in total) that they would be able to take, not 20% of your debt figure.  There are also expenses that they would be able to claim on top of this.  Is £6,500 the amount you have paid in during your Trust Deed, or is it definitely the amount they are claiming in fees?

@kevin-mapstone Thank You for your reply. I signed for my Trust deed in October 2018. My equal pay claim was from April 2019. My total Debt was £8365, I paid £9998 total to my Trust. My Fees definitely accumulated to just over the £6500. I will read up on that link that you sent. Than You again for your reply.

@kevin-mapstone Sorry, can I just clarify that this means they can still hold me in this trust. I am not disputing the fact that they may potentially be able to claim some of the money from my claim. It is more the holding me within this trust deed and not closing the account that I am wondering about. As I said, I am unsure as to when I will be getting this claim money. It could potentially be a year or more down the line. I was just thinking that surely they couldn’t keep me on the register for that long after final payment has been made. I just want to be able to move on from this and get on with my life.

The Trustee can refuse to discharge you if they say you have not yet met all of your obligations to the Trust Deed, though you also have the right to appeal against this.  S184 (8) of the Bankruptcy Scotland Act states:

"If, on request by the debtor or as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the period for which payments are required under the trust deed, the trustee refuses to apply to AiB for discharge of the debtor, the trustee must—

(a)inform the debtor by notice in writing—

(i)of the fact and the reason for the refusal,

(ii)that the debtor is not discharged from the debtor's debts and obligations in terms of the trust deed, and

(iii)of the debtor's right to apply to the sheriff for a direction under section 189(1), "

Regarding the fees, I'd have thoughtit should only be £4500 plus outlays.  £2000 would seem an extremely high amount for outlays, so it would be worth asking for a breakdown of oiw they have got to the £6500 figure as you could request for this to be audited by the Accountant in Bankruptcy.