Hi Joeblob

Your average guy in the street does not know about the Edinburgh Gazette listings, we who have entered a trust deed do however. This is not a publication for picking up with your copy of the daily record or the herald. This is a publication for financial institutions. So the chances of your next door neighbour seeing your information on there is slim unless they too have been listed for a trust deed or bankruptcy and have a nose from time to time.

Financial institutions, and by that I mean every company or organisation that offers credit, do make it a point to go through these listings. Even your local council will do it every week. I found out by chance about a year in to my trust deed that the council had made a claim on my trust deed for almost £300, I couldn't understand A - how they knew and B - why they would make a claim when I wasn't in arrears. The answer to A was that they check every week and the answer to B was that they hadn't applied my single occupancy discount and me thinking it was all sorted out while they decided not to bother and made a claim in my trust deed (that was sorted out pretty quickly)

Once you have entered a Trust Deed a lot of doors will then be closed to you. I too have read a lot of posts on here and it's always been clear to me that organisations will find out, credit accounts will be closed, bank accounts other than basic ones will be closed.

A note for the future, keep your insurance companies informed that you are in a trust deed, I found that out on here. In the small print with some of them they will not insure people who are in IVA, TDs or people who have been bankrupt. (I don't think this is a general question, but I'm sure if you made a claim they would be quick to point out they were not informed, therefore your insurance is invalid) I do my car through Swintons, and contents through More Than. With both, I have disclosed my trust deed, get excellent prices and can still pay monthly.

These companies are taking precautions to protect themselves and if you think about it in turn also protecting you as there is no allowance in your income/expenditure for repaying new debt. The information is out there in the public domain now, if it wasn't read in the gazette it would be seen on your credit file. Try not to worry about these things and be glad you have now taken the steps towards a new debt free life.

I was aware that financial institutions check the Edinburgh Gazette and therefore would probably find out anyway, however I do have a few positives to tell you

I have a catalogue which had a zero balance and therefore did not include in my TD and it hasn't been closed, in fact I've used and kept it up to date, I thought it would be one of the few positives on my credit file

I opened an account with Santander and I did ask for a basic account but I soon realised that with a b

Oops, continued..........
Visa card and an option of overdraft that I really shouldn't have this type of account (I don't have overdraft set up though) and it has not been closed, I'm now halfway through so hopefully nothing will happen now

Also my main creditor was Lloyds but I was advised by my Trustee that keeping my home insurance with then wouldn't be a problem, I've continued to pay every month with no issues but haven't had to make a claim so not 100% sure if this would be should I make a claim

All in all I've had a fairly positive experience with the setting up and going through a TD but I realise not everyone does or has

Next closed my account without telling me, despite always having paid my account in full and not owing them any money when they found out I was in Trust Deed and I never told them so they must check Gazette

Thanks for all the advice guys, especially the tip about keeping insurance companies informed. But once again I do think this information should be posted on here for all to see. It may not have changed my decision as I was in too deep, but it is nice too know all the facts up front. Everyone is so keen to point out how rosy life is and how the light at the end of the tunnel is quickly upon you. Nothing much said about how much of a financial leper you will become.

Thanks Saabrina. I was aware that banks and Credit card companies would find out, but when my insurance company sent me a letter saying that any payout on my policy ie. my death, would go directly to the trustee and not my wife and family was a bit off putting. I have been paying that for twenty years before this mess and now if I die in the next 4 years, they wont see a penny until my trustee deems it fit and proper. Surely that's not right. My other life insurance companies have also followed suit.

Hi Joeblob.

The Edinburgh Gazette advertisement is intended to enable financial institutions about the trust deed. This is in case someone has forgotten a creditor or deliberately excludes mentioning a creditor.

I don't think your trustee will have contacted institutions other than those they knew you owed money to and insurers where you hold policies where a payout might be relevant to the terms of your trust deed.

Life insurance in particular has been touched on in the forum quite a bit over the years and in this article:

(Link Removed 2020).

There are ways to set up a policy before a trust deed that would avoid the money initially going to a trustee. I recognise this may not be helpful to you now but hopefully other readers will benefit from the link.