Hi sunflower1

Re this and your previous post, the position on both should have been discussed and agreed and at least confirmed to you in writing before proceeding. If this was agreed, I'm afraid your stuck with it.

A large number of firms avoid this £500 nonsense, however unfortunately others don't. There are a number of posts on the subject, but if you agreed then you best have a third party pay it.

Mark

Hi again sunflower1.

Just to add to Mark's comments, this £500 charge is legitimate and is in use by a number of trust deed providers (though fewer than used to be the case).

For other readers it's important to know that you can get the same benefits without having to pay the £500 depending upon which trust deed provider you select. Amongst others, the three companies represented here by Mark, Kevin and Julie now all handle equity in the same way but without the £500 charge. One of them never had the £500 charge at all.

Thank you for your responce it seams as though it is the same old story you think something is legit and then find out it is just another money making scam. These people make you think that they are out to help you but are just linning their own pockets. There should be set rules with things like this that no matter what company you go with they should all sing from the same song sheet after all this is peoples lives that they are dealing with and if everybody is like me you do not enter into something like this unless you are at rock bottom in the first place. This is a scary place to be espcialy if you are not financialy minded and do not understand all the jargon that goes along with it.

Hi sunflower1.

I can appreciate your frustration but I don't think it is a money making scam. That extra payment will go into a pot that helps to repay your creditors. A lot of companies charge that £500 entirely legitimately.

Having said that there are some differences between the way some trust deed providers operate, and also their attitude to delivering some service as well as a debt solution. That's clearly hard for a consumer to identify in advance of signing a trust deed.

As it happens, the Accountant in Bankruptcy are currently in the process of drafting a trust deed "protocol" which they envisage will lead to better standardisation of practice across insolvency practitioners. Too late for you I guess, sunflower1, but at least a potentially positive development.