Hi Grace and welcome to the forum.

It's nice to see that your helping your friend by doing some research on their behalf. It can be a very stressful time for someone when trying to deal with debts and I'm sure having a friend to help out will make it a little easier.

When someone is considering a Trust Deed and trying to decide which firm to use, they must make sure that absolutely everything is confirmed in writing by the Trust Deed company before you enter into it. You need confirmation of how any assets you have will be dealt with, what your payment is per month and how long your Trust Deed will be over. At the moment until November Trust Deeds generally last 36 months but can run to 4 or 5 years. After November the minimum timescale will increase to 4 years.

We always advise sitting down with a couple of advisors from different firms to get a feeling for who you feel most comfortable with. After all your going to be dealing with that advisor for the next couple of years so you need to feel comfortable and have that trust. As an advisor I always look at it from the point of view that I'm dealing with such a big and important part of someone's life so I want to ensure that the client is aware of everything, understands everything and is also happy. The other experts on here will be the same.

In addition to Trust Deeds, there is also the Debt Arrangement Scheme and Sequestration. Any good advisor will and should sit down with your friend in person and work through these to ensure that they are aware of all their available options.

The most important thing is for everything to be confirmed in writing and for your friend to feel comfortable with the advisor and firm that they choose to deal with.

If you are aware of your friends financial situation i.e. what assets they have, what their total level of debt is and how much surplus income they have we can give you an idea if some of the options they have available that way when your friend does meet with FD they already have an idea what options are available.

Hi Grace

As David says, it is always wise to do some research and ensure you are dealing directly with an IP firm who will review and discuss all options. Try and avoid middlement companies at all costs.

The best advise is always to look at all options and see what best suits the individual needs of the person and not what best suits the company. I always advise face to face meetings which honestly are far more relaxed than people think. Draw up the biggest list of questions befored the meeting to discuss all the points like equity in property, level of contribution, position with overtime/bonuses, cars and any other matters which you feel need to be clarified.

Never sign anything at an initial meeting and ensure all matters that are discussed are confirmed in writing. This give people time to sit in their own time and decide what best suits before making a decision.

If you follow the above, you won't go far wrong.

Mark

FD was the firm I used. Can`t speak highly enough of them. Everything was discussed and all questions answered. No pressure to sign anything and all options explored and was asked back in a week later to sign. Even up till the point of signing I was offered several chances and options to basically change my mind. I had a meeting 6 months earlier with another firm and changed my mind and hung back on the TD. I felt pressured to get every penny out of me to the point I wasn`t comfortable questioning everything but not in a helpful way. It felt almost like they were trying to say I was lying with my expenditure. I also got the feeling I would be signing on the dotted line that day with them and terminated the meeting. I shall not name them, but if your friend is looking at FD then it was a totally different experience for me and one I was happy and comfortable with.

French Duncan Edinburgh were the administrators of my trust deed, and they were superb throughout. I was in a very vulnerable place when I entered the trust deed, as I had gone from being in well paid work, to being in quite low paid temporary work and pregnant - therefore unemployable in the eyes of most companies!

They were efficient and professional, but sympathetic, at the time, and discussed the different options available to me - and did not pressurise me into going down any particular route, so for the first time in ages, I felt a little bit in control of my debt situation.

Throughout the trust deed, they did regular reviews, as required, and allowed me to reduce my payments when I was on maternity leave and extend the term - I increased the payments once I was in a better financial position, so it only went over by three months.

I finished my payments in February this year, and the trust deed was discharged on 25 July.

French Duncan made the process simple and as stress free as is possible with such a big step. I would highly recommend them to anyone considering entering into a trust deed.

Hi,
I went to FD as they are an 'ethical' company, after recommendation from CAB. I had initially called KPMG? who pushed and pushed and I never signed as I didnt have any faith when I seen the proposal, as they were offering my creditors the very bare minimum and taking approx 95% of payments ! FD were very thorough and actually refused to let me sign until I was absolutely certain and made me wait another week ! After my signing date, I had full month free before I made any payments which was a godsend and let me get on my feet a bit before xmas.
I've never had any problems, 2 years in. Regular full reviews every 6 months.I was also made redundant last month and called in to the office. They were really helpful. I've been lucky and back in employment 3 weeks later so only missing one month, which they were happy to let my dad (thankyou!) pay so I didn't fall behind. As my review is due now though, they said just write a covering letter and they will review again once wages and childcare etc settle down again. All in all - as others, highly recommended. [:)]