I would possibly compare the suggested plans with 2 companies who don't ask you to pay for not having any equity.

I'm guessing the difference in monthly contributions may just be down to different allocations for household costs being used but not sure.

Welcome to the forum Steve. You ask some really good questions.

If you think a trust deed is the best option I'd suggest that being selective about who you use and being mindful about your own interests are both very important.

Your contribution each month is important, and should be based on a compromise between you being OK financially for the term of your trust deed and your creditors perceiving that you are paying what you can reasonably afford (so that they agree to the trust deed becoming protected). If that balance isnt found there is too much potential for things to go wrong.

This forum, built up over years of shared experience, is 100% proof positive that different trust deed firms offer their clients varying degrees of service.

Finding the right "deal" for you is hugely important for you. As well as monthly contribution think about proposed fee levels and the reasons that you have to perceive that you can have trust/faith in a particular firm.

Beyond these comments I should probably hand over to others...

A good point from Pamjo on the £500 for equity "thing".

It seems increasingly like an anachronism given that more and more firms (including those represented here by Mark, Kevin, Shona and Chris) don't charge it.

Is there anything wrong with asking for £500 for this? No. From a consumer point of view should you pay it? I'm not sure why you would.

Hi thanks for the replies so far.

Yes i see your point about the £500 thing, but do you understand what i mean when i say 3 months x £150 less per month just about covers the £500 fee then i would have 33 months of paying £150 per month less? In principal i wouldn't be happy paying £500 for something that isn't necessary but then it would be silly of me to ignore the fact that the company that is asking me to pay it is so much less per month than the one that isn't. If that makes sense!

I just worry that this is so much less per month for some reason that i am missing or that they say this amount then it doesnt get protected and can they then come back to me and say "oh we will have to increase the monthly payment by £100 to get it protected"?

When i started out on this process i didnt really think that it was a case of different companies looking for your business i thought it was a kind of standard thing and it was irrelevant who arranged it. So now I am confused and wonder if you should contact as many companies as possible and get them all to give you a monthly payment figure and try and find the one who is lowest and try and find ones who don't charge this £500 etc etc, as if you're looking for car insurance!!

I just want to get out of this debt hell that i am in first and foremost. But if I can pay less with one company than another then common sense says it would be best to use them. Also less chance of me coming stuck halfway through by not being able to keep up with the payments.

£150 per month is a big difference Steve.

How do you feel about the affordability of the higher of the two proposals?

Nothing wrong with exercising a little consumer muscle and choice here. The right decision is more important than a quick decision.

If you have a good read around the forum I'd propose that three of the most important things are:

1: Prioritising service. Three years is a long time.

2: Affordability. Unaffordable payments benefit nobody normally.

3: Understanding. Working through the big issues in a face-to-face meeting then having written confirmation of where you stand before signing.

As TDA says, ?é£150 is a bit of a difference. I can see a variation between 2 firms, but not to that extent. There are guides on expenses used by the people who agree the accept or reject the Trust Deed, so I am at a loss as to why there is a difference of that amount.

I'm also surprised that the CAB referred you to a specific IP (actually I'm not that surprised) My understanding is that they should have a panel and would give you the names of 2 or 3 firms.

Dare I suggest trying a third firm, one that does not charge ?é£500 for having no equity. It would be an interesting excercise.

Mark

Presumably the two firms both went through your income and expenditure with you in order to arrive at these figures? Do you have a copy of their breakdown, and if so where are the main differences?

It is impossible to say which is closer to the mark, or whether the lower one will be likely to be acceptable to your creditors, without going through the figures in more detail with you. If you would like to contact any of us to do so then you are very welcome.

Yes I suppose I could get a 3rd opinion but I would like to try and get it up and running asap. Is it likely though that the company referred by the CAB would charge less fees than the one I found myself? As the details I gave both were identical then I was thinking maybe fees were the difference?

Thanks again for the replies....

Does anyone have any experience with grant Thornton and would you think they would be likely to submit a proposal that wouldnt be acceptable to the creditors? Or likely to give me a low figure which will not be accepted then ask me to pay more?

Hi steve1984.

I cannot answer your question on Grant Thornton, but I don't think that fees will have had any influence on the £150 difference between the two potential payments suggested to you.

The monthly payment is based upon your total income minus your reasonable expenditure.
Any fees are then taken from the monthly payment.

HiSteve1984,
I was like you I never new who to go with I was worried my TD would not get protected I was not bothered about fees as long as the TD got protected.I had not found this site when I signed my TD or I would have gone with one of them,that said I never had a problem with the company I went with.I made myself ill waiting the five weeks and when they phoned me to tell me it had protected I burst out crying and could not talk to them,they had to phone me back on the Monday.I will say the most important thing is get every thing in writing before you sign anything no matter who you go with.I'ts the best thing I have ever done.Good luck.

Yeah I know what you mean but still im sure you would like to save 150 per month all the same! I am just worried it is too low and maybe wont get accepted. It would ne nice to hear from anyone who has used grant thornton for their feedback tho. I would like to think they would know what creditors would accept prior to submitting. Oh and reference an earlier point the CAB advisor was going to give me a list of companies if I wanted or she would just contact one on my behalf so I just asked her to do that to save me doing it.

Hi steve.

There are a few trust deed firms that seem to attract regular criticism from their clients here. The one CAB pointed you towards isn't one of them.

The firm in question would not happen to have a B in the first name and a T in the last name ? if so I would not touch them . Trying to be diplomatic , in case TDA , SLAPS MY WRIST . But I speak from the orcale of personal goings on .