I have no idea how the experts will reply to your post. I can only reply as I see it.

You came to this forum because you were unsure about the company you had chosen to manage your proposed trust deed. You never said why you had decided that a trust deed was the best option for you.

It's still not clear why you think that a trust deed is the best option for you. Even after your very detailed questions about your car, your house, your tourer caravan, your bank account, and what happens if you die.

All very good, and very valid questions. But questions which should surely be part of the process of deciding which debt relief/debt management option is best for you.

Have you actually sat down with someone, face-to-face, person-to-person, to discuss your financial situation, and your options? If you haven't, then I would strongly recommend that as the first step.

Afterthought.

You have told us that you have over 40,000 pounds worth of unsecured debt, and minimal assets.

How much is your trust deed company suggesting that you pay per month (from salary etc)?

Hi scruffy.

The comment that the "AIB has adjusted this figure to £500" is total nonsense. Your concerns about this one particular firm (or adviser) may be well placed.

Candlewick asks some very relevant and important questions and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on them.

Get a second opinion-or third, it is not a given that these payments of hundreds of pounds are required (now seems some are breaching the £1000 mark!!)If you do opt for a person/company who charges this, make sure it's because you decided it's worth asking someone to pay it to work with that particular person/company. Ask who sets the figure and is it negotiable. And remember you can always vote with your feet.
I would be tempted to get a valuation done if you feel this having been done restricts your choice. This is too important.

I worry when Scruffy says ..." the guy who i was going to arrange my TD suggested..." sounds like a broker who will simply take an upfront arrangement fee, tell you waht you WANT to hear with the reality likely to be wildly different. It is what your IP will value your property counts - this forum is littered with those who have been badly advised, usually adding to their further costs and future worries.

The bottom line is that there is no requirement to pay this payment regarding your property unless you choose to sign up with a firm who insists upon it. Your property is not any less protected if you decide to sign up with an IP that simply recognises that there is no equity in a property and therefore agrees to abandon any further interest in it, without charge.

First of all i'd like thank candlewick for their in depth response to my latest post concerning my journey into the workings of Trust Deeds....well ive spent some weeks now researching all i can about how TDs work and how some ip companies can poss not be as committed as others in their approach....but its very refreshing to see that there seems to be a concerted effort to help people on this forum...in response to candlewicks concerns i will re assure that i have exhusted all other forms of debt advice and only as a matter of professional guidance by the CAB have i reached the point of taking on a trust deed!!!!...now this is a forum for all members to voice there conceens at this delicate time in their financial life and

cont/d...it is surprising that a member wishes to quote each and every question that ive posted in order to advise me that i should have asked these questions before i went down the road of a TD..!!!...now as far as im aware this is a forum!!!!....what was even more surprising was the trust deed assistant says they have asked " some very relevant and important questions " ...i think we shouldnt deviate from helping members...and should actively encourage questions!!!...by judging people ,this changes from an advice forum to a judging panel...and this is not what members are looking for...its only my observation...but please remember that people are entering a situation which they dont have any knowledge of...and are looking for advice and not dictation from select members.

Kind Regards.

Hello scruffy.

I'm sorry if you feel you've been "judged", but I think you've misunderstood the posts you refer to.

The questions asked have been intended to help you, though I accept it might not be immediately apparent to you in which way they were trying to accomplish that.

Each of the important questions you have asked have been answered by a number of people who have given their knowledge and time to you.

If you continue to consider that I/we have dictated to you then I accept you may no longer wish to participate in the forum. That would be a shame though, because the decision would have been made on a mistaken premise and there are loads of people here who would be happy to continue to give their time to help you.

Hiya Scruffy!
I felt like you did in the initial stages of entering into a trust deed. I also felt just a little prickly when, let's face it, strangers started to disect what I was delving into. I, like your good self, had done some research and thought I had my finger on the pulse. I contacted a company who then actually strung me along (for around four months) and still needed "some information" from me to allow them to put a "package" together for me.
I turned to this forum which I found while just browsing through my options and boy, am I glad I did. Now there are lots of experienced folks on here Scruffy and I assure you now my friend, NO ONE will judge you. They are, in my humble opinion, a great bunch of guys who may at times appear to be going full steam ahead and might even appear to be a little single minded on occasion. But I asked for help and got it! There are some people who have came to the forum and have felt they were being judged or even been made to look a little silly ....unfortunately, we, apart from people like TDA and the experts and a few of our more "seasoned" members of the forum are all quite amateurish at this subject; we may not all have the social skills required to make mirror like comments which are as smooth as silk and have no seams or cracks in them! We are all just here to support one another and once you get to know them Scruffy, they are a great bunch!! I became protected last week and what a feeling!! I know I made the right choice when I found this forum. I went with Mark McFadyens' team with Phili Gill and Co. and they had thing fixed out for me in an inordinately short period of time! There are of course other firms on here, but it's your choice of course.
So come on Scruffy, please don't think you're being picked on: I was down on my haunches a few short weeks ago, now things are looking a WHOLE lot better! Why not join us: THIS is the place to seek REAL professional help....so take advantage of picking some of the finest brains on the subject and also asking questions of people who have been over the course, as it were. I felt so low, now I feel I'm a part of something really helpful and exciting. Go for it Scruffy, you won't regret it! Oh and by the way I AIN'T NO EXPERT !!!!
Regards
Toby

Hiya Scruffy

If I was judging anyone, it was the company/guy which you were going to arrange your trust deed with. Not you.

However, as I didn't/don't want to cause problems for TDA and the others linked to the forum, I didn't come right out and say what I think about the quality of advice you've been given by that company/guy.

I thought it would be obvious in the fact that I reminded you that you had come here because you had doubts about the company - HINT

That the company clearly hadn't covered some big questions with you - HINT

And so on.

Luckily, some of the other posts after mine have stated those points much more clearly. And, they have shown me that I don't have to be quite so circumspect in what I say about the 'advice' given by some of 'middlemen' organisations out there!

Some of those organisations will 'sell' a trust deed to anyone. That's very different from being an organisation which assesses an individual's situation, and makes sure that a trust deed is the best/only option before recommending it.

Be very sure about what kind of organisation you're going with - HINT