Welcome to Trust-Deed.co.uk JJDecay.

I'd suggest giving them a call to see where they're up to with your review. It would be hard to know what to increase your payment to until that process is complete.

You might want to estimate the increase based on your own analysis and set that money aside so it's ready if you need it.

Missing a payment during a trust deed because of a large unexpected expense isn't unusual and will usually be added on at the end. Notifying your trustee of the reasons was absolutely the right thing to do. Hopefully the lack of response signified that they did not object to this.

Your assets "vested" in your trustee to help repay your creditors. An example is the equity in your home, which you're paying over by extension of your trust deed. Another asset is the potential to make PPI claims, so they're within their rights to look into this.

They could contact your bank, but this would usually only happen in cases of non-compliance or if they had reason to believe that you were hiding something from them.

I don't think they can credit check you without your permission and cannot see why they'd want to in any instance.

There would also be no reason to contact your employer, except perhaps in rare cases where someone ceased complying and making their payments.

Regards the gym, a letter from your doctor suggesting that this would be good for your mental health might be something your trustee was sympathetic to when reviewing your circumstances. You can join in any case, though as you say that might involve you shuffling money from another allowance to make it affordable.

I hope this response helps to settle some of your concerns, but please keep asking away if we can help you.

Thanks for the quick reply TDA, I've also got a follow on question - I was reading another thread on the forum about a final assessment at the end of the TD, where someone had to produce 3 years bank statements. I use online banking so don't have paper copies for 3 years - is this a legal requirement to have for a final assessment, or would it depend on who the Trustee is? If it's standard practice, I'll start printing the last years worth off, then try to keep adding to them regularly as I'm not sure how long the onlne ones are stored, and I'd prefer not to have to pay to get copies in 3 years time!

Hi again.

I really don't think that's very common at all, but you might want to check with your trustee what their process is likely to be.

Hi JJDecay and welcome to the forum.

Try not to over think things and worry too much regarding the Trust Deed.

Everything that you have done in your Trust Deed has been the correct thing to do i.e. notifying them of a missed payment and the reasons why and telling them about your chance in financial circumstances and an increase in your income.

In terms of feedback from your Trustee regarding the annual review, this can sometimes take a couple of weeks. We always respond to our clients to advise them if they payment will remain the same or If their payment will be increased and if so, the reason for this. You can give them a call to ask if they have received your review and if it's been reviewed yet.

I wouldn't increase your standing order just yet. If there is going to be an increase then you should be properly notified about it and then when your next payment is due this is when things should increase.

In terms of powers that a Trustee has, these can be wide ranging. Yes, a Trustee can look at your bank statements or contact your employer but we will only do this when we suspect that someone hasn't fully disclosed information or there has been non-cooperation from the client and they have failed to maintain their payments.

If you feel like joining a gym to improve your health and wellbeing and your doctors supports this then I see no reason why you shouldn't be allowed to do this. Under the Common Financial Statement which is the guidelines we use for looking at your budget, an allowance is made for Hobbies, Leisure, Sport (including pub/outings, gym etc) so this is an allowed expense for someone to have.

We don't look for your last 3 years bank statements and I'm not sure that many other firms do that. Obviously check with your own Trustee but as I said I don't think this is common practice.

You actually sound like a really good client to deal with JJDecay. You seem to be on top of things, communicating with your Trustee about any changes and are maintaining your agreed payments (with the exception of the missed one ÔÇô but you notified them of this).

Stick with it and before you know it you will be coming to the end and asking what happens next. You will find a lot of support and help on the forum about anything you might be worried about.

Thanks so much for replying - especially taking time out of your weekend to do it!

I always seem to be more worried at weekends - maybe because a lot of companies seem to send letters demanding money within x days so that they arrive n a Friday and you lose 2 days over the weekend before you can action them. A friend who previously worked for a large Scottish bank told me her firm used to do it deliberately, and also used to time some letters to arrive on the last working day before Xmas to basically frighten people into paying whether they could afford it or not.

I've been reading lots of things on the forum about missed payments, and it looks like I shouldn't worry too much as long as I make up the missed one somewhere along the line, or extend the term. It sounds like some people have missed a few payments but it hasn't meant the Trustee has made them bankrupt instead, which is my biggest fear - it might affect my job (technical stuff for an asset management firm, no contact with client money, but I think I'd have to declare it to HR) and I'd lose my house. I'll call the Trustee on Monday and ask them for an update - I sent my review forms by recorded delivery this time,to make sure they got there in time, but also so that I could be certain they were received (still a bit worried about the lack of reply to earlier letters, but the forum suggests this isn't too unusual)

If I had a windfall, would the entire amount be given to the Trustee?

My arrangement said any work bonus or overtime should be split 50/50 ("no incentive for you to do any overtime otherwise"), but I also explained before I signed that I may inherit about £5k from my grandmother at some unknown point in the future.

She died 18 months ago, but probate is taking a long time due to the way the will was written. I'm not named as a specific beneficiary, but the executors are family, so might vary the bequests to give something to the grandchildren.

If this happens before I'm discharged, I think the whole lot would go to the Trust - would I be allowed to keep any? I could use an injection of cash - I haven't had a working hoover or hairdryer for 2 years, the fridge was second hand when I bought it 17 years ago, and the microwave is about to go any day now!

If it happens after I'm discharged, would the fact that she died before the Trust was signed have any effect on whether I should pay it to my Trustee?

And if I'm not named as a beneficiary, but my mother chooses to give me cash from her share, do th same rules apply, or could I ask her to pay it towards my equity as third party funds, or buy me a new fridge etc with some of it instead of giving me cash?

Thanks again!

Hi JJDecay.

Your trustee might well collect all of a windfall that you receive as that's the deal you offered to your creditors.

I'm sure your trustee would be pleased to accept a payment from your mum towards your equity. I doubt very much that your trustee would have any problem if your mum were to buy you a new fridge.

I'm sure most Trustees would be amenable to allowing a small part of a windfall such as an inheritance to be used for necessary repairs/replacement of important electrical items like a fridge. There is certainly no harm in asking, JJDecay.