Hello lise and welcome to the Scottish Trust Deed forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you have been made redundant... it must be a worrying time for you.

There have been a couple of threads regarding redundancy recently. The experts have explained that the statutory element of the payout is yours to help bridge the gap to finding new employment. The amount payable as a result of beneficial terms of your contract and/or redundancy negotiation rightly is payable towards the trust deed/your creditors.

I'm afraid that I do not see cause for complaint that the ?ú8409 needs to be paid into the Trust Deed.

There is no benefit to you in going bankrupt. You will not be able to keep the redundancy payment and will be required to pay over any surplus for a further three years if required to clear the debts.

Why do you need a new bank account?

Thanks for your prompt reply...I dont like the think banking account I have it is linked with my trust deed and find that I pay them ?é?ú12.50 per month to run it and last month I was ?é?ú16 pounds in phone calls to them constantly on hold for approx 15 mins or more...Also is it right that they should keep me in the trust deed after making this payment to them...I believe they are doing this so they can withdraw fees as the creditors wont be receiving the full amount...

Hi lise,

Try the Co-op Cashminder account provided that none of your debts are to Co-op or Smile.

You can apply for the account online or by phone. If you do not have a local branch you can use your local post office. The account is generally available to persons in Trust Deeds and comes with a debit card.

There is no monthly fee.

When you entered into the Trust Deed you accepted responsibility to repay the debts in full, and the fees of the Trust Deed company, if you found yourself in a position to do so. The company have done a substantial amount of work for you and are entitled to charge fees for this (which the creditors agreed to as part of the bargain).

If the debts and fees have not been paid in full, after the redundancy payment has been paid into the Trust Deed, the company are certainly entitled to expect that you continue to make contributions to the Trust Deed for the rest of the period if affordable for you.

I'm conscious that this post may seem a little unsympathetic but certainly isn't meant in that way.
Sometimes Trust Deeds are presented by certain companies as an easy escape from debt. In reality a Trust Deed exists to ensure that creditors are repaid as much as reasonably can be afforded. If your circumstances have changed in a way that allows more of the debt to be repaid than originally foreseen then that is fair and proper.