Welcome to the forum Karen.

I'm sorry to hear that you find yourself in this difficult position.

I think that the fact of the matter is that you'd almost certainly have been unable to raise 100% of the equity in your home before signing your trust deed, as well as finding yourself in that position now.

It was very clear in 2011 that folks in trust deeds could not remortgage all of their equity out of their home and that other means to raise equity could need to be found.

Sometimes this could be an extension to pay extra monthly contributions, or sometimes a friend or family member might step in with a lump sum.

Whatever the solution, I guess I think that a solution should have been identified at the start before you committed.

The issue for you now is that, by signing your trust deed, you made your trustee legally responsible to raise the equity that's in your home for the benefit of your creditors. It would always be as a last resort, but this could sometimes involve the sale of a home if the money cannot be raised somehow. They have no option other than to work to raise this sum now.

In terms of the fees for your case, you may wish to check your initial paperwork. You will have agreed to a level of fees at the time, as will have your creditors. Are the current fees much higher than the sum that you agreed to?

Where do you go from here?

How much have you been paying into your trust deed each month? I'm wondering how long an extension would take to pay over this lump sum in instalments.

Is there anyone that could step in and offer a lump sum for you (even if it's less than the full £18,000 being asked for)?

Do you agree with the valuation that has been used to calculate the equity in your home?

You also have the option to complain to your trustee if you choose to, and can then take the complaint to their regulatory body if you're unhappy with the response you get.

Unfortunately whatever the outcome of any complaint you're still likely to have to deal with the equity I'm afraid.

The problem is that I was in a position to remortgage and release equity before I entered the trust deed and then negotiate a settlement with my creditors directly. KPMG told me a trust deed was the ONLY option I had which is clearly not the case. Unfortunately I don't have wealthy friends and family who can just hand over 18k. I'm not disputing that I signed the trust deed but was not fully informed of the consequences when I did. Is it not the job of the trustee to explain the very real cons of a trust deed prior to closing the sale? On the form it clearly states that the creditor will receive a maximum of 28.5p in the pound (and agreeing to accept nil in the pound) which is approx £8,550. I have already paid the creditors £5760 through the debt management and £1800 to the trust deed.

I was in a very similar position however I was told that I could remortgage or sell my endowment. I signed my TD in 2008 when even then it was apparently clear to mortgage brokers that a remortgage wouldn't be an option. I was poorly advised on the endowment issue as my adviser implied that this was a back up plan that I could sell this if I couldn't remortgage for whatever reason. This turned out to be impossible as I couldn't get out of the TD without paying the equity and I couldn't sell the endowment till I was out of the TD. I'm still of a mind to put a complaint in, it won't help me now but it might help others. Sorry I can't help you with your situation but at the very least I'd ask that you ask them to review the advice given.

Thanks Wikikee, it does seem that the profit to be made from trust deeds is huge and in turn it means that the advisors are offering poor advice in order to meet a sales and target bonus at the end of the week without realising the impact it has on people.

Really feel for you Karen, hope it works out for you..honesty is everything re equity etc...particularly at the start when you feel so vulnerable and exposed. I've been lucky that I've had a fantastic experience with honesty from the outset. And everyone's experience should be like that. Take care
Cal

Hello karen.

I don't think that anyone reading this would dispute that anyone thinking about signing a trust deed needs to understand the negatives as well as the positives beforehand. Nor would they dispute the role that a professional adviser should play in this.

It's clear that the FCA (which took over regulation of debt advice a month ago from the OFT) is concerned that companies should draw a clear distinction between advice and sales.

I think most firms achieve this pretty well, but it's sadly not that uncommon to hear from people here that appear to have dealt with salespersons rather than true debt advisers.

How can most firms achieve the clear distinction between advice and sales when you say yourself it's not uncommon to hear from people that have dealt with salespersons rather than true debt advisers?

Also I spoke to a manager within kpmg and asked the question if they are regulated by the FCA and I was told they are not!

Thanks Cal,I feel like I was under duress when I was sitting there and told a trust deed was my ONLY option. It clearly wasn't. Glad you had a good experience though but I think it might be a battle ahead for me.

Hi karen.

I can say that because it's my experience of the industry. Forums tend to attract feedback where something goes wrong and under-report the majority of cases whet everything works out just fine.

The FCA took over regulation of debt advice from the OFT on April 1st. Insolvency practitioners may fall outside of the scope of the FCA, depending upon the precise scope of their activities. They're regulated by their own insolvency regulatory bodies.

Obviously you are a highly experienced professional within the industry and I do understand that forums attract people where poor advice was given etc. I'm sure you must be aware about the extent of the cold calling regarding trust deeds as it is such a saturated and lucrative industry. Sales targets and commission seem to be more important than sound advice where this is concerned I'm sure you'll agree. I don't know of any privately owned call centre that exists purely to phone around and offer free advice for no profit.

I would like to thank all the experts who post on here. I appreciate what TDA is saying in that the negatives and the positives should be understood before signing a TD, however in my experience I understood what was advised to me at the time. The advice itself however contained points which were simply not true and if I had any proof I would have taken the matter further. I would advise Karen that if she is not happy with the service, advice or the outcome is not what she was TOLD it would be that she asks them to review it. I would expect negative feedback on here as this is where we come for help when things have gone wrong, sometimes it's our fault but clearly sometimes there are other factors that have made their mark. I certainly wouldn't recommend the firm I used and from what I have read on here neither would anyone else however I would recommend any of the firms that the experts on here represent as I've read nothing but good things about them. Hopefully there's some positive feedback to balance my opinion, thanks again to all who share their experiences and to those who help.

Hi karen.

I agree with you.

There's a common thread throughout the forum connecting cold calling with poor outcomes.

We've been suggesting here for many years that people avoid cold callers for many of the reasons you've explained so well. I do appreciate however that when people are feeling vulnerable the offer of a "helping hand" can be hard to resist, especially when you're unaware of exactly what you're getting into.