Welcome to the forum Lesley.

I think you're saying that your trust deed began in 2012 and that you believed it had been completed in 2015. However the formal discharge never happened in 2015 and that error is being rectified now. Have I got that right?

When you say being "clear" of your trust deed, I assume that you mean in respect of your credit file? There shouldn't be anything to worry about in this respect, the trust deed will be removed from your credit file six years after it began.

You will remain on the Register of Insolvencies for one year after your trustee has been discharged. Their discharge will happen after yours.

If you feel there are grounds for complaint, the complaint should go to your trustee initially. You can then take the matter to the trustee's professional body if you aren't satisfied with their response.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.
The issue is a wee bit more complicated due to the fact that my ex-husband also had a Trust Deed with the same Trustee. My ex-husband had applied recently for PPI compensation and was entitled to money back from a credit card company. However the Trustee took the money and it was only when my ex questioned why he thought he was entitled to this that he discovered that none of us were discharged. It just seems odd that the Trustee knew we weren't discharged when he took the PPI money but it wasn't until we questioned him that we discovered none of us were discharged, and he then agreed to do something about it saying he had come across the files that were not lodged in error. Surely if my ex applied for PPI after the date we thought we had all been discharged, having never been asked to apply for PPI as part of the Trust Deed, then the Trustee shoud not be entitled to it as he should have been discharged by that date too. I just think it odd that he knew he wasn't discharged when he took the PPI money but didn't question why he hadn't been discharged yet or even to look into it. Afterall we are talking 18 months from when the papers should have been lodged. Do you think we have a legitimate complaint against them?

It's really for you to judge whether a complaint is justified Lesley. It does seem really quite unusual that it should all take so long.

In terms of the PPI, the trustee really has no option other than to gather this in for the benefit of the creditors if your ex husband and the trustee have not been discharged.

If your ex had applied for PPI after his discharge, but the trustee had not discharged themselves yet, the money would still have gone to the trustee.

Some trustees have also taken the view that they can retain control of such payments, even if they and their client have been discharged. There has been legal action taking place about whether a trust deed can be re-opened to gather in PPI payments which really should have been collected for the benefit of creditors during the trust deed. Some trustees are waiting to see what the final decisions of the courts are about that.

Does this mean that a Trustee can remain undischarged for as long as they want, and therefore are able to keep taking money from clients after the client is discharged. Or is there a cut-off date that the Trustee must also have discharged themselves?

Hi Lesley,

When you sign a trust deed you make your assets available to the trustee to help repay your creditors. A potential PPI claim that exists when you sign a trust deed is just such an asset.

A while ago clients could not be discharged from their trust deed until the trustee had finished all the work associated with trying to claim back PPI. This meant people could be held up for years by banks who were either overwhelmed by the volume of claims or using delaying tactics.

Fortunately this changed, so that a trustee could discharge their customer and continue working on the PPI claims independently. This work would take as long as it takes.