Whatever equity is available is expected to be paid across in a Trust Deed. Therefore if your home has a lot of equity then a trust deed may not be the appropriate solution - as you say, there may not be a way to release the funds without selling the house, so if this is not something you want to do then a different alternative may be better (eg DAS).

Usually, equity will be gathered in without selling a house by the individual making extra payments after the 4-year mark, or by a family member/friend making payments into the trust deed in lieu of the equity, or a combination of both.

Do you have a car on finance, pipsaholic? What are the terms (ie type of finance, amount of payments etc)?

By the way, you should feel free to contact us by telephone too if you like, pipsaholic. You are obviously keen to try and get a detailed understanding of the ins and outs of various scenarios under a Protected Trust Deed - so you might find it more useful to have a proper chat?