Welcome to the forum lightbodyae55.

I can't say I have heard of GMHB Financial Solutions, but Knightsbridge is a well-known firm based in England.

It slightly worries me that you are under the impression that it would be on a joint basis with your wife as it is not possible to set up a joint Protected Trust Deed. You could set up one each, but it will depend upon the breakdown of the debts and income between you as to whether it makes sense to do this.

Is most of the debt joint, or is it unevenly split between you? Also, do you earn a similar amount or does one of you earn much more than the other? Also do either of you own any assets of value?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but these kinds of details can make a big difference to the most appropriate way forward for both of you.

As a matter of interest, are you being asked to pay an upfront fee at all?

Hi Lightbodyae55

I've never heard of GMHB to be honest, although I'm aware of Knightsbridge who I think are based in Manchester.

I'm sure someone from the forum will have dealt with them and can share their experience. The only advice I can give is to speak directly to an insolvency firm or perhaps 2 directly, that way the advice comes directly from the form you are dealing with. That way it avoids any confusion over advice and agreements on any specific matters.

Mark

Hi Kevin

That was spooky, our 1st paragraphs are almost identical.

Mark

quote:

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Originally posted by Kevin Mapstone
[br]Welcome to the forum lightbodyae55.

I can't say I have heard of GMHB Financial Solutions, but Knightsbridge is a well-known firm based in England.

It slightly worries me that you are under the impression that it would be on a joint basis with your wife as it is not possible to set up a joint Protected Trust Deed. You could set up one each, but it will depend upon the breakdown of the debts and income between you as to whether it makes sense to do this.

Is most of the debt joint, or is it unevenly split between you? Also, do you earn a similar amount or does one of you earn much more than the other? Also do either of you own any assets of value?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but these kinds of details can make a big difference to the most appropriate way forward for both of you.

As a matter of interest, are you being asked to pay an upfront fee at all?

---

Hi Kevin

My wife is disabled and I am hher full time carer, so neither of us actually work. Our income is benefit based.

The original contact was through a web site offering loans to people with bad credit rating. I received a phone call early yesterday (Monday) morning, once I had explained the situation to the girl on the phone she told me that I would not get a joint loan due to the fact of what was outstanding and that the change in the law earlier this year regarding lending to people with large outstanding debts, so she transferred me to her colleague in another department.
It was this lady that suggested this Trust Deed, and it was implied that it would be on a joint basis.
The debts that we have are mainly in my wife's name, however as we are a couple then we both should take responsibility for the debts not just one of us.
Assets was explained to us, however during the conversation it was established that we do not have any that need to be taken into account.
We are in a housing association wheelchair friendly disabled property with the rent paid by the council under housing benefit, and the car we have is through motorbility.
My understanding is that the first monthly fee of £264 is the fee for setting this up, and then the next 47 payments are for the deed.

Lightbodyae55

Hi Lightbodyae55

Firstly you should not make any payment for 'setting up' a trust deed and secondly the trust deed is not an option for you both as you cannot do a joint trust deed and a trustee should not be seeking contributions from benefit based income.

As you have stated that you have no assets, sequestration would appear to be the option better suited as the trustee in sequestration would not seek a contribution.

Mark

Hi Lightbodyae55,

It's interesting to hear that the lady you spoke with is suggesting a joint Trust Deed to you both. Based on your circumstances and because your income is made up of benefits then a Trust Deed is not a suitable option. It sounds like she doesn't know the legislation or how Trust Deeds actually work. That's why it's important that you speak with a qualified advisor.

To be suitable for a Trust Deed you need to have an income from a job or private pension or an alternative private income from investments for example. If your income is solely made up of benefits then you are not suitable for a Trust Deed.

As Mark has said, the most suitable option would be Sequestration (Bankruptcy) for you both. This is nothing which you need to be worried about. Under a Bankruptcy because you receive benefits you would not be asked to make a contribution per month and after 1 year you would both be automatically discharged and debt free. No one will come to your house and look at any of your household possessions so don't worry about that either. For someone with your circumstances it's actually a very straight forward process. Friends or family won't find out about it either and it's not advertised in any newspapers.

You would still control your budget, pay your bills and you should still be able to have a bank account as well.

To apply for Bankruptcy it doesn't involve the court either. It's simply an application that is filled out (1 each per person) but it does cost £200 to apply for Bankruptcy per person. Once you have completed the application it is then sent off to the Accountant in Bankruptcy (who are a department of the Scottish Government) who review the application and then that's you officially declared bankrupt. You can look up the Accountant in Bankruptcy for more information on this and who they are.

For assistance with applying for your own Bankruptcy you can speak with your local citizens advice or your housing association may have an advisor that can come to your home and discuss all of this free of charge with you. I would always suggest trying to do everything in person with an advisor is possible.

No one should ever be making a payment to ÔÇ£set upÔÇØ a Trust Deed. There should not be any set up fees regarding a Trust Deed.

How do you feel about applying for Bankruptcy Lightbodyae55? Hopefully other forum users who have been down the bankruptcy route will be able to share their experiences with you.

quote:

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Originally posted by David Tannock
[br]Hi Lightbodyae55,

It's interesting to hear that the lady you spoke with is suggesting a joint Trust Deed to you both. Based on your circumstances and because your income is made up of benefits then a Trust Deed is not a suitable option. It sounds like she doesn't know the legislation or how Trust Deeds actually work. That's why it's important that you speak with a qualified advisor.

To be suitable for a Trust Deed you need to have an income from a job or private pension or an alternative private income from investments for example. If your income is solely made up of benefits then you are not suitable for a Trust Deed.

As Mark has said, the most suitable option would be Sequestration (Bankruptcy) for you both. This is nothing which you need to be worried about. Under a Bankruptcy because you receive benefits you would not be asked to make a contribution per month and after 1 year you would both be automatically discharged and debt free. No one will come to your house and look at any of your household possessions so don't worry about that either. For someone with your circumstances it's actually a very straight forward process. Friends or family won't find out about it either and it's not advertised in any newspapers.

You would still control your budget, pay your bills and you should still be able to have a bank account as well.

To apply for Bankruptcy it doesn't involve the court either. It's simply an application that is filled out (1 each per person) but it does cost £200 to apply for Bankruptcy per person. Once you have completed the application it is then sent off to the Accountant in Bankruptcy (who are a department of the Scottish Government) who review the application and then that's you officially declared bankrupt. You can look up the Accountant in Bankruptcy for more information on this and who they are.

For assistance with applying for your own Bankruptcy you can speak with your local citizens advice or your housing association may have an advisor that can come to your home and discuss all of this free of charge with you. I would always suggest trying to do everything in person with an advisor is possible.

No one should ever be making a payment to ÔÇ£set upÔÇØ a Trust Deed. There should not be any set up fees regarding a Trust Deed.

How do you feel about applying for Bankruptcy Lightbodyae55? Hopefully other forum users who have been down the bankruptcy route will be able to share their experiences with you.

---

Hi David

It would appear that if the legislation is correct and that a Trust Deed cannot be used by people on benefits, then you could be correct in that the lady does not know the correct advice, however we are supposed to receive the paperwork today, so we can have a look at everything before we sign it and send it back.

As for bankruptcy we cannot afford to pay £200 each for the application, unless it can be paid monthly?

Maybe we should contact one of the experts on the forum like yourself or Mark or Kevin, and get their advice.

Two other pieces of advice the lady gave me was to open a new bank account as we owe approx £15000, to our existing bank, we are going to open a different one today, the other piece of advice was to cancel the direct debit for the monthly repayment of our personal loan which is due tomorrow (12/11/2014), I have followed her advice and did that yesterday afternoon, now I wonder if I have done the right thing.

Lightbodyae55

Looking through the post & the advice given, it does seem you were given 'call centre' advice, where effectively you are being sold something which is not in your best interests.

I think every advisor should make you aware of all options and then you can decide what best suits you and not what best suits someone's commission. There are plenty of good free advice companies out there, unfortunately finding these on the internet can be difficult.

I spoke to someone recently who searched CAB, put in their number and received a call ( numerous calls!) from a company trying to flog them a debt management plan! The net result is that this girls advice could have tied you into a proposal for 48 months, making ongoing payment into something which did not suit either of you, when there was an option available to deal with your debts with no payment from your benefits.

Mark

Hi lightbdyae55,

It sounds like they have done an ÔÇ£initial assessmentÔÇØ with you on the phone and posted the paperwork without really explaining things properly. You could look over the paperwork and it might not mention what we have told you about benefits and the Trust Deed. If you decided to proceed and sign the paperwork then you could be tied to the Trust Deed. That's why it's always best to speak directly with a qualified Insolvency Advisor.

You could give them a call back and query the advice you have received on the forum and question the issue over only receiving benefit income.

The £200 payment can be paid in instalments to make things easier for people who are financially struggling. Instead of applying for both of your bankruptcies at the same time you could stagger this. You could save the £200 and apply for 1 Bankruptcy at a time. If you do decide to proceed with Bankruptcy you would need to pay your debts any longer and therefore could use that money to pay the application fee.

Opening up a new bank account was good advice. You don't want to bank with a bank which you have debt with. Once of the downsides of Bankruptcy is that some banks can freeze and close your bank account.

Due to your circumstances and level of your debts I think that you will need to do something to help you manage. Not paying your debts won't really cause you any issues. I will tell my clients that if they are happy to proceed with a plan i.e. Trust Deed, Sequestration or a Debt Arrangement Scheme that they no longer need to make any payments to their creditors. Advice from her regarding this was ok so don't worry too much about that.

I'm happy to speak with you about your situation and give you advice on your options and also Bankruptcy. Depending on the area which you live in, I may have a personal contact with your housing association or local Citizens advice and can refer you directly to them for face to face advice and assistance.

Hi David
I filled in the form on this web site to contact you so hopefully you will receive that soon.

We live in Buckie Moray, close to Elgin if that helps!

Lightbodyae55

Hi lightbodyae55,

It was good to speak with your earlier and hopefully I have been able to reassure you about Sequestration and the full process of this as an option.

As I said on the phone it really isn't something which you should be intimidated about. It's actually very straight forward based on both your circumstances.

You have my number if you have any problems or questions.

Let us know how you get on.

I'm glad you got in touch before going ahead with a Trust deed and hopefully before you paid any set-up fee.

Before a Trust Deed becomes "protected" and therefore binding on your creditors, it has to be registered as such by the Accountant in Bankruptcy. Their guidance is that no contributions should be paid from benefit income and as far as I am aware they are likely to refuse to register a Trust Deed as protected if this is the case.

I think you could have easily ended up paying out this set-up fee and then not getting a protected trust deed at the end of it. Not to mention the fact that there is a much more appropriate (and much shorter) solution for you in sequestration.

A close call!

Hi David

Thank you for your advice which we have taken today, we visited our local CAB who has arranged an appointment with Money Advice at our local council offices in Elgin on Friday morning 10.30am.
This has taken a lot of stress from us now.
I would like to give my thanks to you for all the advice given.

Hi Kevin

Yes it was a close call, I am glad I found this forum with you guys giving out useful information.

Thanks to you all once again.

lightbodyae55

Hi lightbodyae55,

Your welcome.

It's good to hear you have been proactive in dealing with things and already have an appointment to see your local money advice team on Friday morning.

Try to take along as much information as you can to the appointment. Ideally you want to take a list of your debts, if you could try and work out an income and expenditure, take details of any benefits which you will receive as this will help the advisor assess your full financial situation.

Keep in touch and let us know how you get on with things following Friday.