Hi I think you need to speak with an IP firm, either on the site or not. But go direct to the firm. That covers Trust Deeds.

Before that, best speak to local CAB/Money Advice re the DAS scheme.

Get everything in writing before making a decision and then decide what is best for you. Not the IP or CAB etc, but what you think provides a viable solution.

Hope this helps

Mark

Just looking for a little bit of feedback on this. After contacting all our creditors and warning them of out financial woes. We were surprised at most of their attitudes, they were on the whole very supportive (some have not responded) and asked for things like income and expenditure figures. I have made up a cover letter for sending back the same information to all 8 companies. And was hoping you could give a little feedback on it.

" Ref Account No:
Please find the attached Income and Expenditure Sheet. As you can see your company (highlighted) is marked down as a creditor with a pro-rata amount beside it, it is based on interest and charges being frozen, so as not to add to the total debt. This is amount is based on the percentage of total owed and the maximum amount we can afford at the moment, but things may change in the near future allowing us to pay more. If the amount is not acceptable, then we will have no choice but to start going down the Trust Deed route, which as you know would result Interest and charges being frozen and your company getting less money back after all the IP fees are paid. I really hope that this proposal is acceptable as I would prefer to pay our debt to yourself even if it takes a long time.
Please note this is the same letter being sent to all creditor and as such confidential information and details are not included.
If this proposal is acceptable even in the short term and is subject to review, would you please forward details for setting up a standing order in your favour."

The I&E sheet basically broke down as (creditor get everything listed)

Income £2,300.00
Essential Expenditure £2,053.07 minus the creditor below
Available Funds £263.01

Creditors Owed % Pro rata £
RBS Bank Loan £16,319.60 53.17 £139.84
HFC HP £793.43 2.58 £6.80
HFC Credit Services £2,244.82 7.31 £19.24
RBS Credit Card £2,966.83 9.67 £25.42
BarclayCard Credit Card £2,189.35 7.13 £18.76
Great Universal Catalogue £2,779.78 9.06 £23.82
Clode HP £1,200.00 3.91 £10.28
Ge Money Cl Ltd £2,200.00 7.17 £18.85

Total Creditor £30,693.81

Myself and my wife have both agreed we got ourselves into debt and will at least try to get ourselves sorted out. But if that does not work then we will have to look for professional help.

Hello head-just-above-water,

With a firm nudge from the government, in recent times the initial creditor response to an individual getting into repayment problems has improved a lot.

Your letter is well-written and the important areas are covered.

You appear to have included two hire purchase debts. These are not usually included in such repayment proposals and I'm afraid I think it pretty unlikely that the companies will accept.

I would add a firm and explicit request that all interest and charges be frozen.

Call any creditor that does not respond within four weeks and request a decision there and then.

Be aware that any arrangements that the creditor may agree to are likely to last only 3, 6 or 12 months. You will then need to start the negotiation again creditor by creditor.

Also be aware that debts may be passed at any time to debt collection companies, solicitors, or be sold to new companies. You would then need to negotiate an agreement again.

As Mark has mentioned there would be many benefits to getting some formal program in place but I do hope that you get the responses that you are hoping for.

Hi Guys, It's been awhile. Every thing has been going so-so making the payments by standing order. but just recently RBOS (the biggest debt) started contacting me via a company called triton (who I believe is owned by RBOS) they where demanding payments of £500 per month, I explained if I could not afford the normal payment of £300 odd how did they expect me to pay £500. this has went on for a couple of weeks they would phone 3-4 time a day somedays first for me then my wife (joint debt). Eventually I told them not to phone again and do every thing by post. Next thing I get is letters from their solicitors (Anderson Strathern) Demaining full payment. I have spoken to them and explained I was paying what I could, they wanted means forms which I sent them by email (the same ones that RBoS got). They said in their next letter this amount had been rejected as does not meet their clients Minimum threshold. I have explained to them if it's not acceptable I will proceed to trust deed as they are the largest creditor and are already recieving the lions share of the available money.

I did ask as side question if they wanted me to stop my payments as they said it was unacceptable. they gave me new standing order details to keep making the payments. and a statement turned up for the account which show during this time, RBoS where still taking normal payments, returning them, taking the new payment. then adding the intrest on so the debt has gone up.

Do you guys have any other suggestions or I'm better getting something formal put in place.

Thanks in Advance

Hi head-just-above-water and welcome back.

It's amazing how often debt advisers hear from people who have themselves worked hard to set up arrangements with their creditors only to be thwarted in the end when one creditor (or more) ceases to apply common sense.

You've obviously worked hard to deal with this, but if you are lacking the support of a major creditor (that is both involving solicitors and charging interest) you may wish to choose to move to a more formal solution.

As Mark previously pointed out a protected trust deed or the Debt Arrangement Scheme would bring interest to an end and provide you with legal protection from your creditors.