Welcome to the forum dixie33.

I'm sorry to hear that you are being made redundant.

When you come into money during a trust deed it's standard that it's used to help repay your creditors. An exception is made for the statutory element of a redundancy payment to give you some time to find a new job.

You can certainly question why the full fee will apply when they've only done 16 months of work rather than 5 years. However, much of the costs will be incurred at the start of the trust deed while it is being set-up (as that's quite work-intensive).

Whilst not privy to the details of your situation, the fees do seem very high, dixie33. You could request that they be audited by the Accountant in Bankruptcy, though that in itself could simply add further fees on I'm afraid!

if im honest ive always thought id been railroaded into taking out a trust deed . my partner died there was no will the flat was sold and his children got all of the proceeds , i was left with a joint loan to pay off and overdraft , i never missed any payments but did struggle , was rehoused and have paid full rent and council tax . i googled and clicked on what i thought was citizens advice ,turns out it was a company who find clients for the trust deed people , they said to me that citizens advise would only tell me to go with one of these companys . i went with it , missed the payments for the loan for the first time and panicked , felt there was no going back . the trust deed company told me that its normally 3 years to pay it off but the bank i got the loan from were notoriously difficult and it might be better to offer 5 years of payments , the original debt was 10'403.. over the 5 years i wouldve paid 8'400, not now though ive now to pay off 15'442.00 minus the payments ive already made , because i will be made redundant . i think i was given the wrong advise i think i couldve approached the bank and other creditors and asked for reduced payments over a longer period of time given the circumstances , this option was never pointed out to me , was in the wrong frame of mind at the time too worried about how i was going to cope .. paying for it now .. if there is ever a mis sold trust deed enquiry i will be first in the queue to claim

Hi dixie33

Was sequestration or even DAS ever mentioned?

From the information it sounds like there were minimal/no assets and sequestration may have been the better option, even allowing for the payment if £140 per month sequestration would have been over a 3 year period and DAS about a year longer.

TDA suggested you query the fee as the trust deed is only 16 months old and I think this is good advice as I fail to see how a full fee can be charged with more than 3 and a half years to go.

Mark

i had no property , no car just my monthly wage , i was not in arrears with any of the debts , had never missed a payment , just was struggling every month and was worried if i could keep up with it all . did not get offered any advice on sequestration or DAS , dont even know what that is . how do i query the fees , are they obligated to do anything about it , if not is there anywhere i can complain about it

Hi dixie33

Even allowing for the middleman intervention, there is an obligation on the trustee to make sure that the trust deed is the best option.

It may be an idea to write to the trustee and ask why the position with sequestration or even the Debt arrangement Scheme was never discussed with either the referrer of the Trustee when it appears that these may have been a better option given the asset position. You should also query the fees and as how they are justifying 4 years of fees in the 1st 16 months. The Trustee's fees can be looked at by the Accountant in Bankruptcy if required.

Mark

thank you mark , kevin ,and the tda for taking time out to answer my queries , just wish i had contacted one of you before jumping into the trust deed ,but you live and learn so they say , i will use the information you have provided when i next get in touch with the company and feel slightly more confident and informed so thank you all for that regards dixie33 [:)]

No problem. The Trustee will need to demonstrate that they have provided the correct information/advice to you irrespective of the other companies involvement.

The position regarding fees will also need to be fully justified.

Let us know how you get on.

Mark

Hi dixie33,

It's disappointing to read that all of your options weren't explained to you at the outset. As others have said you could have considered an alternative to the Trust Deed which could have made things easier for you.

The fees that you have mentioned seem to be very high for only doing 16 months of work.

I would correspond with them in writing and request a breakdown of their fees to date and how the come to the conclusion that it's £5,000. As Mark said they will need to justify it with the work they have done on your case.

Don't feel intimidated, you will find help and support here to deal with it.