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Topic starter
17/04/2015 11:03 am
After three years, I've done it, it's over and I have my Form 5.. Just wanted to say although I haven't contributed a great deal to this forum, it has been invaluable when it came to getting advice. The forum experts really do go above and beyond when it comes to helping people, so thank you all, experts and contributors.
It hasn't been easy, 8 months into the TD I was made redundant after 15 years with the same company. I got quite a good redundancy package but had to hand over a very large chunk of it to the Trustee. What I was left with only enabled me to continue with the £500 a month payments and a little left over to keep me going till I found a new job. Luckily I got a job after about 3 months and lucky for me they didn't worry about the TD when checks where done.
However, fast forward two years, I'm coming to the end of the TD, two months to go, then bam! made redundant again!! I couldn't believe it, here I was after 3 years of struggle about to be debt free, then - no income coming in!! I didn't even have savings so it looked increasingly likely I would have to default on my mortgage, bills etc. Unbelievable, could my luck get any worse? It did. Every job I went for insisted on credit checks and every one of them said if the TD was showing on my credit file, no chance! Every one of them. So here I was, no job, no money but debt free!! You couldn't make it up. Then, at the last minute funny how life turns out - I got offered a job! With £100 left in my account and no way of paying bills, a lifeline was thrown. Then, joy of joy, the Form 5 arrives and I'm discharged!!!
So I guess I'm saying, if your thinking of entering a TD, think of the consequences regarding employment but for some people the TD has literally been a life saver. I am now debt free, have a job and the future is looking a lot brighter.
Hang in there - it will end! Good luck to all and thanks again for all the support over the years.
17/04/2015 11:18 am
Hi SkintMink,
Well done on successfully completing your Trust Deed especially given the issues you have faced during it.
A really encouraging post for anyone who is considering reaching out for advice or for people already on their journey to becoming debt free again.
Is it a particular area which you work in that required a credit check to be carried out? Information like this I think is always useful for others and also for me when giving debt advice to clients on the consequences like you say.
Best wishes for the future, good luck with the new job and enjoy being debt free.
David is not currently posting in the Trust-Deed.co.uk forum
17/04/2015 11:25 am
Hi SkintMink
What a great post, although probably not so great at the time.
It's a very good point you make concerning employment as there are few certainties with employment these days. It's something I do have concerns about when people sign up to 14 year DAS or DMP plans as they then have to hope that things stay the same for that period of time.
I think you comment 'I am now debt free, have a job and the future is looking a lot brighter' will be nicked as a tag line for some advert!
All the best for the future.
Mark
Mark is not posting regularly in the Trust-deed.co.uk forum.
Topic starter
17/04/2015 12:09 pm
Hi Mark and David, thanks for your replies. As I said before if it wasn't for you guys answering promptly and politely every time with clear and concise information there would be a lot of people struggling to make sense of it all. Thanks once again.
I should maybe clarify the employment situation in my case. I work in IT albeit in a slightly more specialised role. Therefore the type of jobs I was applying for would have been mainly in the financial sector, although not all. Some were for large multinationals, some were for smaller organisations. However I think the same would have applied if I was going for a job in a supermarket or service type field as it appears that more and more companies are doing these type of checks as a way of filtering out applicants.
What astonishes and annoys me more than anything is how you are made to feel like you are classified in the same way as an applicant with criminal convictions! On the application forms the part that asks about criminal convictions is in the same section as 'previous IVA's, Trust Deed's etc'. They all make it very clear that they will not consider someone with 'adverse credit history'.
At no point was I ever in arrears with my debt, I just struggled to manage the payments. I therefore took decisive action, sorted out my affairs and did the sensible thing. I took responsibility for my own actions and dealt with it. You'd think that would show you in a good light with employers but unfortunately not. Luckily in my case, I found a job with a company that were understanding and I knew them from previous work, therefore they gave me a chance.
Trust Deeds are an excellent way of sorting out the mess that I found myself in, however if you think you may become unemployed during the period of the TD or you are thinking of changing jobs, think very carefully about how the TD will affect your chances. I didn't realise until it was too late. I still think I did the right thing and the TD saved me in many ways so no regrets.
17/04/2015 12:57 pm
Congratulations SkintMink - thanks for sharing your experiences.
Scottish Debt Solutions Expert - Ask me for help setting up a Scottish Trust Deed or Debt Arrangement Scheme plan.
