Welcome to the forum maxpower.

I think you should include your partner's student loan repayment in the figures.

With such a limited income your partner would only be expected to cover a very modest element of any joint household costs anyway.

It might be different if your incomes were more equal, but in this instance it would seem that almost all of the joint household expenditure will be assigned to you in the paper exercise of working out a fair trust deed payment.

Hopefully the representatives of some of the three trust deed providers that post here (Mark, Kevin and David) will share their views on this subject here soon.

Hi maxpower

many of the main creditors do insist when Trust Deed proposals are made that a partner's income and expenditure are shown. That doesn't mean that they are expected to contribute towards your debts, but the information is relevant in showing that a fair assessment is being made as to what you can reasonably afford from your income.

There are two ways to approach this:

1) The cost of the student loan is included as an expenditure item the same way that any other bills are. It would then be up to the creditors whether they feel this is reasonable or not when deciding whether to accept the Trust Deed proposals that are being put forward.

2) The payment is left out of the budget and the offer to the creditors is based on your pro-rata share of whatever is available.

I would suggest that the 2nd way is the correct way to proceed, as otherwise it could quite reasonably be inferred that you are essentially funding repayment of your partner's debts at the expense of your own creditors.

In practice, any problems caused by this kind of issue can be minimised to a large degree. As Trust Deed Assistant says, most of the household expenditure will be attributed to you anyway and the payment you will have to make would reflect that.

I'd be happy to have a look over your budget and work out what level we would set your payment at if it helps to clarify this for you, or I am sure any of the other experts here would be glad to do so too.

Thanks for the replies. That actually makes it a lot clearer. I'm currently drawing up a list of income and expenditure at the moment, trying to get realistic estimates of what we actually need to spend. I've been told that I may not have enough surplus to be considered for a Trust deed and may need a bankruptcy instead.

It does seem though that in any case my partner is not bringing in enough money to cover what creditors would see as her share of the expenditure and pay back her student loan. Her payments of her student loan are over half of her income. I'm not exactly sure what my surplus will be yet but it is not going to be over half of my income. As I understand it our respective surplus figures will be the same percentage of income for both my partner and I.

Thanks for the help in any case.

Is it really necessary for your partner to pay off this debt at present, or can she not defer repayments somehow instead given the low income she receives?

There is a fair bit of room for interpretation when it comes to working out contribution levels for Trust Deeds and for Sequestrations. It may be worth speaking to more than one insolvency firm for the sake of comparison, maxpower.

That's a good question Kevin. We will look into that.

I have been thinking about getting a second opinion. The practitioner that I have spoken to was recommended by my debt advisor at CAB.
When I mentioned this forum he asked what firms were involved in it. I mentioned one that I could remember off hand and his exact reply was "they'll rip the p*ss right out or yer".
This made me think two things
1. This guys not filling me with confidence
2. How do I not know you'll not do the same thing?

I have a good relationship with my CAB advisor and trust him in as much as he wont make any money out of my decision but I'm not sure if I'm happy with his recommendation for this person.

I at least feel like I'm getting answers that make sense on here.

Hi maxpower.

What an interesting response from your adviser! Everything is out in the open here - good and sometimes less than good feedback about the firms that people have chosen to use. If the site worked with firms that, actually I'm not going to repeat it (!), it would be written all over here.

If something doesn't feel quite right take a second and even a third opinion (from any firm that you have any reason to trust) before committing. It's a major decision that will almost always be irreversible so some caution and time spent will be worthwhile.

Hi maxpower,

Did your CAB Advisor provide you with a list of companies to choose or did he make a specific recommendation for a specific firm/advisor?

For anyone to use language like that or say that about another firm when dealing with a client doesn't fill me with confidence. It sounds to me like he is trying to put you off going elsewhere for advice for fear of losing you as a client.

As TDA has advised on the forum all of the experts/firms are putting themselves up for far more scrutiny than the majority of advisors that work within the profession. If we did something wrong and incorrect or someone had a problem with the way we handled their case then it would be all over the forum.

The best thing to do is to seek a second, third, or even fourth opinion on your situation from a couple of different Insolvency Practitioners. You will be able to gauge what you are being told and also assess the advisor that you are speaking with. After all, it's that advisor that you will be dealing with for the next couple of years so you need to have trust and confidence in them.

The most important thing is to receive absolutely everything in writing with regards to how your plan will work i.e. timescale, payment per month and what the position is with any assets which you may own.

Don't be rushed into anything, taking a couple of days or weeks to do your own research should ensure that things run smoothly for you.

A charming comment! I have a feeling that you could have replied to him with the name of any insolvency firm in the UK and that person's answer would have been exactly the same.

A very poor show to hear of such unprofessional behaviour, in my opinion.

Hi maxpower.

I completed my trust deed in 2012 and it was only later after i completed my trust deed that i found this site so i didn't have any dealings or meetings with TDE, Mark,David and Kevin .I joined this forum as i was looking for some guidance on a subject that involves myself. Every single question ive asked they have replied to me quickly at times and one in particular is very quick she knows who she is. They are here to help everyone and to think an IP would use language like that is shocking. They are not on here TOUTING for your business they are here to HELP and put you on the road for being debt free .

REGARDS HOOPY

Hi Hoopy

that's a really good post. The forum is a good mixture of people who deal with Trust Deeds on a day to day basis, but also and just as important are the people who have been there and experienced it first hand.

Hopefully the information provided by everyone can help people make the the correct decision.

Mark

Hi everyone

I think the guy knew hat he'd done as soon as I the words came out of his mouth because he imediately said "it's probably unprofessional of me to say that".

David - no the CAB advisor just called the guy up and asked him to speak to me. I've noticed a post on here saying that a CAB advisor had recommend the same company so I don't know if that's just coincidence or that's who the CAB tend to direct people to.

I have to say that it feels really nice to have a place that you can ask any question and get great advice (sometimes even late at night when you are sitting thinking about these things). It's a great support and I'm sure it helps a lot of people who feel worried and isolated with their problems.

I will definitely get in touch with some other people and get further opinions.

Thanks

Hi maxpower,

In my experience in working with Citizens Advice and the advisors they generally have a list of companies and provide this to their clients and ask them to pick a firm which they would like to speak with. It sounds like the advisor has a preference for using just one firm which I don't think is right.

If I'm thinking or worrying about something i find that it's at night when the kids are in bed or im out walking the dog that I find myself having the time to worry or consider things. The good thing with the forum is generally someone is always around to share their experience or give advice no matter what time it is.

Thanks for the nice words about the forum, maxpower - though I can't help thinking that logging on here every night is probably a damning indictment on the state of my social life!

Hi everyone

I think the guy knew hat he'd done as soon as I the words came out of his mouth because he imediately said "it's probably unprofessional of me to say that".

David - no the CAB advisor just called the guy up and asked him to speak to me. I've noticed a post on here saying that a CAB advisor had recommend the same company so I don't know if that's just coincidence or that's who the CAB tend to direct people to.

I have to say that it feels really nice to have a place that you can ask any question and get great advice (sometimes even late at night when you are sitting thinking about these things). It's a great support and I'm sure it helps a lot of people who feel worried and isolated with their problems.

I will definitely get in touch with some other people and get further opinions.

Thanks