Apologies for the brain dump!
This is a little over due but.

Im a few months into a TD .

This website has been an unbelievably good support.

But most importantly big thanks to Kevin from GT the adviser on here

I'm sure all the contributors/advisors are great but I can attest that Kevin was excellent to deal with. We met quite quickly after contacting him and everything was great.

Going through the process was 'emotionally' difficult and lots of admin etc, but was really worth it for my mental health.

My main concern was risk to my home. The good thing is that loosing your home is very rare.

Things to be aware of from my experience ( my experience/observations only )

- The 12 weeks or so waiting for objections is a little nerve wracking. I got on to all of my creditors and asked for a 2 month payment holiday. Most agreed and this stopped letters in the meant time. Theres no need to tell creditors you're in this process while applying.

- Many staff at creditors have never heard of a TD - so calls/letters might continue for a longer time than you'd expect. For me the 'anxiety' about such calls is totally gone away.

- I have had no problems keeping regular bank account ( not basic ) with a bank I have no debt with.

- I desperately needed access to a credit card for regular work travel/car hire - Your partner/spouse can add you as an additional card holder on a credit card ( emergencies / car rental etc) . Cleary, , you should avoid this unless absolutely necessary. I'm not sure if this is possible 'after' the TD is registered. But might be useful to know for some. Obviously the bill on any card cannot come from your income.

- When I had moments of ''guilt'' about debt I'm unable to pay. I remind myself of some of the interest rates that some of the companies were charging, and the fact that a hight % of the debt was to pay other debt, The guilt subsides quickly

- Might be IMPORTANT to some -
I have an empty account that I forgot about with a two friends, it was used to run some sports team outings 5 years ago and was dormant. RBS ( a creditor ) wrote to my friend telling them telling them they were no longer able to provide me with banking facilities , signing off '' the debt management team ''
This was highly embarrassing , but the friend was very close and it wasn't the end of the world.
i complained to RBS- they replied saying that my insolvency was a matter of public record. ( searchable on the AIB etc). While true - I still think they breeched GDPR - by revealing to a third party that I had debt with them , and I'll consider complaining to discourage such behaviour towards others.

Anyway - thanks for the support to this site and Kevin.