Hi James,

I see TDA answered this in your other thread. I'll try to help a little more.

The amount you pay into your Trust Deed per month is based on affordability and your income. If you earn more per month because of overtime or you do overtime as a one off then the Trustee can review this and request these funds for the benefit of your creditors to increase the amount the receive and reduce the amount that is written off.

Is this something which was discussed with your Trustee before you entered the Trust Deed?

The legislation is pretty clear that all surplus income left over after you have paid your bills needs to be paid over.

Let's say for example you work an extra Saturday and Sunday but you have the extra costs of travelling to and from work. These costs should be factored in and the amount left over can be the amount you pay into the Trust Deed.

Prior to a change in the legislation a while back we used to be able to be more flexible regarding overtime and would adopt the approach of splitting this with a client.

It's best that you discuss this with your Trustee.

Does this help to clarify things for you?

Of course, it is easy to see why many people might question why they would bother working overtime if they are not themselves any better off for it.

I understand this to an extent. Can you change from a trust deed to a das? In a das do you have to pay over any overtime you're able to do ?

Hi James77.

I'm afraid there's no ready way to switch. You, your trustee, and your creditors, all voluntarily became legally committed to each other when the trust deed began.

As you may have judged from the comments here, there's some real sympathy that the powers that be have determined you cannot benefit from voluntarily working harder. Hard to see who wins from that.

It's a tough one. Company's keep workers who are willing to work extra when asked to do so. They'll choose to keep the worker who is a company person and commits to helping them out. If I choose not to then someone else does I'm out the door first. No income and hard to pay a trust deed if that makes sense?

Hi James,

I can completely understand that and that's why we used to try and take a balanced approach.

Can you tell me some more information about your circumstances:

1. How long do you have left on your Trust Deed?
2. How much is your total debt?
3. How much do you pay per month?
4. How much extra overtime do you recon you will earn and how regularly?

You can't simply switch to Debt Arrangement unfortunately.

There is no easy way of saying this but it might need to be something which you have to accept and work through in order to become debt free. Try and focus on the long term picture of becoming debt free and securing your job and future for life after the Trust Deed.