Hi, my husband is a cop and also has a trust deed. He has had no problems and even the Police Federation advisor said there would be no issues and it would be fine to enter it.

It seems like it’s only bankruptcy that would cause an issue.

Thank you so much for your reply. Did he have to disclose to professional standards? Did he go thru the federation?

Hi , he spoke to the federation who said there are thousands of cops in trust deeds and it’s not a problem for them. He says you should speak to your local federation rep who will put your mind at ease.

Thanks for this. Is it police Scotland? Did he have to have a sit down conversation with professional standards or did he just make his Fed rep aware? So worried about this.

Welcome to the forum Lm87.

We've been previously informed (by police sources) that no police officer should enter a trust deed without prior disclosure to professional standards.

We haven't heard anything that leads us to believe that this has changed.

Our experience has been that this disclosure hasn't caused any particular issues for the officers that we've assisted, though there may of course be some particularly sensitive roles where this might be more of an issue.

The police, like almost all modern employers, understand that employees can get into financial difficulty and that it's in everyone's best interests that they're dealt with.

Hi Lm87, welcome to the forum.

I can understand why you are worried, but as the others have already said it shouldn't be an issue for you. I can think of several police officers that my firm has helped to set up Trust Deeds and they don't appear to have been adversely affected. I know it may be embarrassing to do, but being up front is the main thing.

How much debt do you have, if you don't mind me asking, and have you worked out what you can afford to pay each month? There may be other options such as the Debt Arrangement Scheme that you could consider, as long as the debt is repayable within a reasonable timescale. If not then I'd say you may not have much choice other than an insolvency type of procedure such as a Protected Trust Deed.

Hopefully whoever you have been getting advice from will have been following good practice guidelines and will have taken you through any other options already.

Is there an option to direct message one of the experts?

If you look at Kevin's reply above, there is a contact me button which will allow you to message direct.

Hi there

We have had clients who are serving police officers enter a trust deed but as the other experts have stated, they have spoken to their superiors.

Under the sequestration process, you are unable to act as a justice of the peace.

The viability of a trust deed will be determined by the type of creditors involves. Certain creditors do object to trust deeds depending on a number on contributing factors.

If the trust deed is not a viable option then you may wish to consider the debt arrangement scheme.

Hi Lm87.

As Voice of Reason has pointed out, you'll see a "contact me" button in the footer of each of their forum posts.

This will take you to their contact form.

They're available to directly discuss debt advisory matters such as your own.

Thank you and I take it a DAS would have to be disclosed as well?

Hi Lm87.

I actually don't know the answer to that question.

Trust deeds and bankruptcy are somewhat different because they are insolvencies. We know that an intention to become formally insolvent should be reported to professional standards before going ahead.

Certainly with a debt management plan, which is not formal insolvency, there is no requirement to report this to professional standards.

The debt arrangement scheme has much more in common with debt management plans than it does with insolvency. However, DAS is formal (unlike a DMP) and there is a public register - so this is an area of difference between the two.

I think it would be wise to get advice from the Police Federation on this question. No doubt it will have come up there numerous times before.

It would be useful to know the answer to this question, LM87. So would appreciate if you could keep us updated if/when you find out. I'll try and make some enquiries myself too to see if I can find out for you.

I would concur with TDA that it would be best to check, but I doubt that a DAS would need to be declared in the same way as it is not an insolvency procedure.

It depends on the wording of your staff handbook.

Usually it will have a generic phase such as "enter sequestration , trust deed or formal arrangement with creditors" The latter would be DAS.

TDA is correct, a Debt Payment Programme under the DAS is not a debt relief solution and you are not afforded debt forgiveness.

If in doubt, always check with your HR department.