Hi Worried and welcome to the forum.

This sounds like a very unfortunate situation to find yourself in.

Having discovered this asset your trustee will have no option but to realise funds for your creditors, that's their responsibility.

The fact that you've paid the final agreed monthly instalment isn't relevant I'm afraid, just whether you've been discharged or not.

Had you informed your trust deed provider that these endowments were assigned to the mortgage around the start of the process?

It's unusual for policies to be assigned nowadays. As TDA says, the payments are a separate issue and unfortunately the endowment will be regarded as an asset.

It would have been wise for the Trustee to have checked out the position before the end of the Trust Deed. In fact it would have been wise for the position to have been made clear before you signed anything.

Mark

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Originally posted by Trust Deed Assistant

Hi Worried and welcome to the forum.

This sounds like a very unfortunate situation to find yourself in.

Having discovered this asset your trustee will have no option but to realise funds for your creditors, that's their responsibility.

The fact that you've paid the final agreed monthly instalment isn't relevant I'm afraid, just whether you've been discharged or not.

Had you informed your trust deed provider that these endowments were assigned to the mortgage around the start of the process?

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Hi thanks for your response.
Having been the first time we found ourselves in this position we left everything to the experts (Trustee) we provided all details of endowments and they confirmed this would all be investigated. My original debit was £32,500 and I have paid in payments £16,000 and my endowments are worth £29,500 - I take it they will take £16,500 to clear orignal debit plus fees. My questions is that they have also included a debt twice in error £16,000 (bring the debit to £50,000). I will discuss this with them but surely if I am paying off the whole debt I should have my credit score reinstated, as if I had known I had assets at the onset would have paid my debts. Also the Trust Deed, in my opinion, has been mismanaged and I wish to know how I can address this? If feels like the Trustee has deliberately withheld knowledge of the endowments so they would have 3.5 years of payments from us and then they discovered after the final payment that we have assets? What would have happened if this was discovered at the start of the process, surrely the advice should have been to cash in endowments and clear my debt. I would appreciate your thoughts?

Hi Worried.

The maximum you will pay is:

1: The value of the debts plus
2: Interest on the debts plus
3: The fees and costs of the trust deed

Your trustee has no control over your credit file other than to discharge you. With that in mind I cannot see how the trust deed could be removed from existing on your credit report I'm afraid. The debts should be marked as fully paid and defaults marked satisfied if everything is paid in full.

You can raise a complaint directly to your trustee. If you're unhappy with the outcome you can take it to their professional regulatory body.

Thanks again for your reply. Last question (honest). As I said before the idea of speaking to a debt management expert was to find a way out of debt. Surely the Trustee should have confirmed the endowments were not assiged before the start of the agreement as all details were provided and suggested this be surrendered to reduce the debit? What I am really asking is what the correct procedure is i.e. surely this should have been done first before offering the Trust Deed. If I had been advised that my endowments were an asset at the start of the process I would have settled my debts without interest or fees or a bad credit rating! PS. Can I request a reduction in fees charged by the Trustee?

I would have thought that this would normally be checked Worried as the advice might depend on their status.

You can certainly ask for a breakdown of the fees you are being charged and can also make a request for an amendment if you believe that to be justified.

Was there negative equity in your property at the time that you signed the trust deed, Worried?

Just wondering, as even if the policies were assigned it doesn't mean they are ignored altogether. Unless there is significant negative equity then the value tied up in an endowment policy can be released by a trustee forcing the sale of a property instead. In effect, it means that the property effectively contains equity because of the policies assigned to it and has to be treated as an asset instead.

Sorry if I'm comoplicating the picture a little, but if you are considering making a complaint then this is the kind of thing you should be aware of. It may be that the advice you were given prior to signing was poor regardless of whether the policy was assigned or not.