Hi daftspender,

You are certainly doing the right thing in seeking advice about your options. Whilst it is hard to give proper advice just based on the information you have given, it certainly sounds like trust deeds may well be a viable option.

I can understand your concerns regarding your house, which is very sensible and is the reason that you should not rush into any solution without getting full clarification of the position with the house first. We would always get a valuation prior to someone entering a trust deed so that the equity position is firmly established and any arrangement that is necessary to safeguard the house can be agreed. That way you know where you stand before going ahead. You should make sure that whatever firm you choose to approach will do the same.

Having said that, the level of equity might be less than you think, as a valuation done for insolvency purposes would normally be very conservative anyway

Thanks kevin for that, it was the halifax who done the survey very thorough basically my mortgage advisor descibed it as being way over the top for a remortgage, as the house is of wooden construction there were few lenders around who would touch us, and as I say the current balance is around 67k and also the requirement for 2 cars.
It makes me sick how quick the money has been spent and also nothing but panic to show for it, between childcare, petrol, loans, food and clothes..

I'd be surprised if your property couldn't be easily enough accommodated in a trust deed based on what you have told us. Cars are rarely a major problem either.

Try not to panic. Hopefully you will feel a lot more positive once you have gotten proper detailed advice on your situation. If you'd like to speak with any of the experts on this site for this then feel free to contact us via the buttons provided. Alternatively you could contact your local free advice agency.

Hi Daftspender

At this stage all you are looking to do is look at options to see what best suits.

The position with the property is always key to any decision and you should ensure that any proposal incorporates this. It is good practice for the IP firm to carry out a valuation before you agree or sign anything. That way there are no nasty surprises.

Personally I've never sold a house in 20+ years doing this job as there are always alternatives, so don't worry too much on this point.

Mark

Daftspender, make an appointment to speak face to face with a firm. The firms represented on this site all get great reviews from the people that use them. I used a different firm and although I haven't had too much trouble, others post very negatively about them.

Once you've spoken to someone, you'll feel a lot less panicky about your options. Like you, I was at my wits end but am almost through the other side of a trust deed now and it was the best decision of my life. The first step is the hardest to take but you'll be so glad you did.

Thanks for the positives guys, i'll be speaking to my wife about this and hopefully we can start moving forward and out of this hole..

Good luck Daftspender.

From years posting on this forum I think you'll find a big sense of relief just from taking advice and knowing, for sure, your options.

Good point TDA.

The first step is just seeing what options fit the circumstances and then making a decision based on what best suits.

The key point seems to be the home, so best advice would be to have the position with equity discussed and agreed before doing anything. That way you are safe in the knowledge that there is a precise and definite plan in place.

Mark

Do you know how much your cars are worth much, daftspender?

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin Mapstone

Do you know how much your cars are worth much, daftspender?

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My car for work is worth about 1k if that, and the wifes car is worth about 7/7.5k but as I said both are required for work as we both work 13 and 22 miles away from home in opposite directions of each other.
Obv the distances and traveling each day you could guess how much each car we spend on petrol..

Hi Daftspender

Your own car would not be regarded as an asset as it fas below the £3k mark. It is our practise to value any car over the £3k limit at the end of the trust deed and if the value was in excess of £3k at that point, then normally it would be extended to pick up the difference. ie valued @ £4k, then the sum of £1k would be sought

Cars are rarely an issue as creditors realise that these are required for work purposes.

Mark

Sorry, daftspender - I just realised you did already give us that information in your initial post.

As Mark says, the lesser value car would be ignored altogether in a trust deed, though there would be likely to have to be some extra funds paid in at the end of a trust deed in respect of the higher value one. Not likely to cause too much of an issue though.

Brilliant again im beginning to feel a lot more confident, about this, hopefully get the chance to speak to my wife tonight, but thanks for the invaluble advice and time taken to reply.

Hi Daftspender

It's all about regaining come control. After the meeting, you are left with a choice of what options are workable and a precise plan to deal with each matter. This should fully explain the contribution, position with equity, cars and any other matters and hopefully this will allow you to read through the options in your own time and make an decision of what best suits.

Mark