Hi Mark.

That sounds like quite a day!

It doesn't seem too hard to make a quick call if your plans (or priorities) change and an appointment can no longer be kept.
Let's hope that you receive a call tomorrow to let you know of a real emergency that arose that made the appointment and a quick call to you impossible.

It's hard to know what to say about the advice you have reported upon. The bit (bit!) I cannot follow is how the proposed arrangements you mention could possibly be in the best interests of the clients.
Surely providing debt or trust advice has to be predicated upon the best solution and outcome for the individual(s) concerned being found?

Following your numbering system:

1 - Lots of companies will handle this without a £500 payment but offer the same outcome.
2 - Surely not! Never heard of that on this forum (which has been running in its current form since 2008)!
3 - Really?
4 - Surely not? Surely?
5 - Hmmmm. Good fees involved?
6 - For goodness sake.

It must have been a pleasure to offer your potential clients another way forwards?

Curiously, I stumbled into the Youtube channel of a "real debt expert" today. Next to the video, in the text, it makes the claim that, "We are the Best Debt Solutions Company in Scotland".
It did make me wonder how that claim could be substantiated and validated.
It also made me wonder how peers and competitors would feel about the claim if they saw it.

Hope you have a nice steady boring day tomorrow!

It must be annoying when you do prep work so that you can give the correct advice to people and they aren't there. Sometimes I wonder if it's better to have the meeting at your premises. That way, people can show they're serious about finding a solution. Like TDA said, there may have been something serious happened which made a phonecall impossible - who knows.

The other couple must have felt so much better after you left. They seem to have had terrible advice and you'll have put their minds at ease. It show how financially driven other companies can be. I know companies aren't charities but sometimes the charges seem so un-ethical, given the financial position people are in when they start a debt solution.

And Youtube for debt help!!!!!! If it was me, that'd be the last company I'd be tempted to use. Granted, I picked the first name out the phone book and if I had the same again, I'd have used this forum for advice - but Youtube? Definately not.

With trust deeds becoming more common(just look at all the telly adverts!!),more and more cowboys are making money.

I am glad I went to the CAB and was provided with a choice of reputable companies to ask for advice,because if I had just picked any old jope bloggs it could have made our situation much worse rather than better.

We will see an increase in people having issues with their TD's,mark my words.

Paul

Maybe the AiB's recent consultation will flag up that anyone can purport to be an IP when the reality is they are just brokers who are only interested in their introduction fee. Time for some form of licensing regime?

Is (name removed) not a Debt Expert? I am concerned as he claims to be a licensed insolvency practitioner. If he isn't then should he not be punished by someone?

Hello XanderCruse.

There are many individuals and firms who will describe themselves as being debt experts in their marketing.

I think you asked a very similar question about the same individual already on another thread.

As far as I'm aware that previous answer stands.
I don't see any benefit in the name being mentioned in the same way again so I'm going to remove it.

Hi Charlie1958.

There is a licensing regime in place already.

Intermediaries are expected to be open about their standing and who they have commercial relationships with. That falls under the OFT debt management guidance (as such intermediaries should hold a consumer credit licence).

I think it would be fair to say that the enforcement teams have a big job on their hands at the moment. It isn't hard to find breaches of OFT rules online for example. I understand however that there may be some enforcement action underway right now and a real determination to make things better for consumers.

Ok sorry I broke your rules I am new to this forum.

For argument sake let's call him Keyser S?Âze Real Debt Expert but if he is advertising himself as a debt expert and he is not then surely the AIBs and Trading Standards can get him told?

He has a telephone number on his website and he cant be so difficult to trackdown

TDA - thanks for the prompt and helpful advice. If this forum is viewed as a snapshot for PTDs and related issues, it is clear that not all intermediaries are as open and transparent as some of their more trustworthy competitors.

Thankfully, this forum does give some incredibly helpful pointers to those who are facing up to some real difficulties and there is the (wrong) assumption that all practicioners are reliable and can be trusted. In my view, they are targeting the most vulnerable people within Scottish society and some added form of regulation is now required.

Maybe Charlie1958. We do need to be mindful that people are much more likely to write about negative experiences in forums like this than they are to write when they are perfectly satisfied with how things are going. It can lead to a slightly distorted view.

I think most people are reasonably happy with how their trust deed is progressing, and I can only tell you that the insolvency practitioners that we often meet (not just at the firms represented on this site) are a really intelligent, professional and sincere group of people.

I do understand your view though, and some of the things we read here from time to time are distressing. I think the profession, the AIB and the OFT are all working hard to ensure consumers are treated fairly. I fully accept that there is still work to do in this respect, but we shouldn't ignore the huge amount of good work that is also being done by really good people to help clients deal with really worrying financial problems.

Hi XanderCruse.

As you say, if you personally have a concern there are bodies you can approach to check the credentials of any consumer credit license holder or insolvency practitioner.

TDA - my last words on this issue - honest! I write as one who has just come through the PTD process, with an IP whose advice I followed without fail, sometimes even when it was not what I wanted to hear. But her mantra was "work with me, be honest and we'l get you through this". I was sceptical at the time but I really had no alternative given the huge debt I owed to so many financial institutions. Now, that PTD is behind me, life is good again, but I fear that I could just as easily have ended up with someone "looking after" my financial interests when the reality was I'd have been better stopping a stranger in the street given some of the sharp practices that seem to be deployed by others.

Hi Charlie1958

Fantastic post and sums things up perfectly.

Identical situations can be dealt with in completely different ways and that should be a warning to all to do their homework, check everything and ensure any agreement is confired before doing anything. Oh! and avoid cold calling companies where commission is God.

Mark

Hi Charlie1958. Your views are valued so don't feel that you have to stop talking about this subject.

I think that your experience is probably quite typical. Where a client and their Trustee work together a trust deed can be a great way to deal with an otherwise really tough situation. Not an easy process, but generally a worthwhile one.

Where either a client or a Trustee doesn't follow through on the promises they made at the start the process can become really unpleasant. I do think that this is a minority of cases, but that fact will be of no comfort to someone that finds themselves in this position.

Companies that handle trust deeds are just like any other type of business. There are some really good ones, and some that attract more negative feedback. That will remain the case whatever regulation is put in place. I hope that this forum can help people to make informed and educated decisions, and I think the advice you have offered in your postings has played a very constructive part in doing that.