Welcome to the forum Hope4me.

Having no equity in your home will likely be to your advantage if a trust deed is the option that you believe will be right for you.

You'll want that situation with the equity to be agreed in advance (before signing) and the property can then effectively be left out of the trust deed (assuming that you complete it).

Are you paying the builders back on a regular basis, or is this a lump sum that you need to find in 2019?

There is a £3000 threshold for cars to be considered as assets. With your husband's car you may therefore need to work out with a prospective trustee how any excess will be dealt with (for example this might be done via an extension to the trust deed).

If your car has finance secured upon it you're probably not the owner and therefore it wiould not be an asset at this time. Any prospective trustee will want to see the loan agreement so that this can be confirmed to you in advance.

Your mortgage should normally be unaffected provided that you continue to pay it on time and in full. It's very likely that you'll need to move your bank account elsewhere though.

Thank you very much TDA for your help it clears a good bit up for me, can I just check though with regards to the car threshold of £3k is this at the beginning of the trust deed or the end as they depreciate so quickly I would think it would be less than £3k in a further 3-5yrs (I assume a trust deed last for between 3-5yrs)

with regards to my shared equity this is a lump sum I have to pay the builders in 2019, was supposed to be saving for this each month but due to personal circumstances & my finances being terrible this has not yet happened although on speaking with stepchange previously regards a DAS they said it would be classed as a secured loan therefore they were adding in a payment to my expenses each month to help with this.

I am just going to get my car documents to see re finance what this shows.

thanks again

Hi Hope4me

As mentioned by TDA above, there should be nothing to prevent you looking at a trust deed based in the information you have provided.

The fact that there is no equity would mean that there would be no interest in the property, although it is wise to have this confirmed before signing anything. This can easily be resolve.

Our normal process with property is to assess any value at the start and if there is no equity or negative equity then this position will remain throughout with no other valuations being carried out. The position is confirmed with creditors.

As mentioned above, if the cars are essential for work then you would retain the use of these.

It's a common question where a creditor and mortgage provider are the same. The unsecured debt needs to be included, however this has no effect on your mortgage which would run as normal. If you bank with Halifax then it's wise to open a new account.

Mark

Thank you Mark for also getting back to me with this information, I have just checked and my car finance is a conditional sale agreement, would this mean if I took out a trust deed I would have to hand my car back or as you said with requiring this for work could I continue to make these payments along side any payments for the trust deed??
how long does it normally take to set up a trust deed & what documentation/information is required??

Thanks again

Hi Hope4me

No, if it's conditional sale, then you would retain the car and maintain the payments, so the Trust Deed would have no effect on this.

How long does it take is a common question, my personal record from initial meeting to signed paperwork was 18 hours, but there were circumstances to get it through asap. The normal process is to sit down and discuss the options. All matters are thereafter confirmed in writing in the next day or so particularly with the property and cars and then it is up to you if and when you wish to proceed. The paperwork is pretty much standard, so it takes little time to get things up and running.

I normally look for income/expenditure, copy mortgage statement and shared ownership paperwork and creditor details. That's normally enough to do a review.

Mark

that sounds fantastic Mark thanks again for helping with these questions, could I also ask you with regards to my shared equity would I be able to incorporate a monthly payment for this as a secured loan in my income/expenditure if going through with a trust deed and finally with regards to my husbands car being finance free but being valued around £5-6k will we have to sell this or is the value of this looked at when the trust deed is complete??

Hi Hope4me

I would need to have a look at the shared equity agreement. Incorporating a payment in a DAS is easier as the debt is paid in full, however a lot will depend on the wording. The normal security allows only for a repayment at the end of the terms as opposed to an ongoing payment in reduction of this.

There would be no issue with your husband's car as this is required for work and it would be something to be reviewed at the end of the Trust Deed.

Mark

Hi Hope4me,

Well done on doing your own research about options to help you try and deal with your financial difficulties. Being proactive can really help.

First thing I always say to someone is try to remain positive as there are solutions to help you deal with the financial difficulties and debts.

AS TDA and Mark have advised, if your property doesn't have any available equity then the Trust Deed will not be put this at risk. Also, your cars should not be put at risk either based on the type of finance on one and the valuation of the other. We would review the value of this at the end of a Trust Deed.

In terms of what options you have available, you can consider a Trust Deed but you also have Sequestration (Bankruptcy) available. Normally as soon as I mention this people panic but it can be a fairly straight forward process. We always advise speaking with two or even 3 different advisors from different companies about all of your options and then decide how you would like to proceed.

Processes, how a firm will deal with your assets and customer service can vary quite considerably from firm to firm. You need to be comfortable with the advisor that you use as you are going to be with that advisor for up to 4 years in a Trust Deed. Have a look on the forum for some advice and reassurance. If a Trust Deed is set up correctly then it does work in providing the debt relief and you can actually be debt free in 48 months!

Thanks again this is a lot of helpful information for me to digest.

I would be unable to enter into sequestration due to my employment to which I feel a trust deed is my best alternative.

In relation to my shared equity it does state that it is full payment of the £33k which is required at the end of the term to which I would be looking to put away a payment each month to build this up whilst on the trust deed and then when the trust deed is complete I can top up the payments to allow me to make this deadline. (does that make sense??)

when saying 48months to be debt free, do you think that is the time frame I would be looking at for a trust deed??

I have done a SOA and based on this I feel I would have around £400 per month left for my creditors, this would be allowing me to continue making my car payments & also putting aside £150 per month for my shared equity.

the thought of being free from debt is so encouraging I just want to get started :)))

Hi Hope4me

The trust deed requires be be over a 48 month period. This changed from the previous 36 months in Novrmber last year.

The property and car positions are key and it should be easy enough to clarify exactly the position before you need to do anything.

We work with a standard income/expenditure for which allows for minimum/maximum expenses depending on number of adults, children etc so calculating this should be straightforward enough.

Mark

Oh! and the top up bit makes sense.

Mark

I must say it all seems quite straightforward to me and even just clarifying things takes some of the stress away,

Judging by how quick everything can be sorted I think I will try looking into an alternative bank account and see how I get on with that then I will need to decide who to use for the trust deed as David says there is lots of companies with varying advice/services,
feel the advice on here has been second to none, very easy to understand, I hope it will be that easy when trying to put plan into action,

will there be up front fees that I should try to put aside or is this taken from my monthly payments??

Hello Hope4me.

My advice to you (and anyone else reading) is that there is no need whatsoever to pay any upfront fees.

None of the firms that answer questions here charge them, as don't the vast majority of insolvency practitioners as far as I'm aware.

Some intermediaries seem to charge them though... and it's not for your benefit!

Hi Hope4me

No, there should never be upfront payments under any circumstances. It the reason why people should avoid fee paying middlemen.

The process itself is straightforward as long as you have everything confirmed in writing. That was there are no doubts or gray areas, just a clearly planned way forward with no unknowns.

Mark