Hi Thomas and welcome to the forum.

It's always advisable to seek a second opinion when looking at your options as advice can vary from firm to firm.

Can you tell me how much you owe to Hitachi? Also, who else are your biggest creditors?

How much do you think you could afford to pay per month to a plan?

A Trust Deed may well be an option with another company rather than with the company you previously spoke with. When it comes to Trust Deeds creditors have a criteria we need need to try and work with. Some creditors really restrict the fee which a company can change to do the work and sometimes this fee is too small for the case to be cost effective to run. Some firms have a different free structure so that's why another firm could be able to make it work.

I have recently dealt with a case whereby Hitachi were the largest creditor and we managed to reduce our fee for the Trust Deed to work. I'm not saying this would be the same in your case but it may be possible.

If ultimately a Trust Deed proposal fails then you could consider a DAS or Sequestration.

A Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) is where you pay back all of your debts and the timescale is determined by your payment per month.

Sequestration is similar to a Trust Deed in that you pay it for 4 years and are debt free at the end. Any equity in a property needs to be managed but by the sounds of it you have minimal equity so your house wouldn't be at risk. Sequestration always sounds a lot worse than it actually is. It's also a lot more common as well. My firm currently handle over 100 of these per month.

I think the best thing to do is reach out for a second opinion on your circumstances. Kevin or I would be happy to help with this if you wanted a second opinion.

Try to remain positive as you do have a number of solutions to help you become debt free.

Hitachi 15000 over 2 loans
Tesco bank 8000 over 1 loan and 1 card
Barclaycard 8500
Fiat 4500

I still have my mortgage car insurance home insurance etc

Thanks for reply

Do you know what you can afford to pay towards your debts each month, Thomashay1979?

Hi Thomas,

With Hitachi and Barclaycard as your main creditors I think it will probably come down to the fees in the Trust Deed that are charged by a company.

Have you worked through a thorough financial statement with a qualified expert to see what you can afford to pay per month to a plan?

Taking into account everything else I have to pay I could manage 400 per month. I haven't spoken to anyone else about my problem.

Hi Thomas,

A payment at that level I think a Trust Deed would probably work for you.

Also, you could consider the DAS. At that level it would take 7.2 years.

A good expert will ensure that whatever payment you can afford to pay per month is sustainable for you as there is no point in committing yourself to a big payment that you can't sustain in a couple of months.

Is your car or finance or paid off?

My car is finance through fiat finance. My big worry is my wife n kids I have a 16 week old baby I can't loose my house.

Hi Thomas,

If your property jointly owned?

If your correct in that your house only has £3,000 of equity then it shouldn't be at any risk.

Have you received a valuation of your house recently?

When it comes to a Trust Deed we need to establish the value of your house and obtain a settlement figure for your mortgage at the outset of the Trust Deed and before you sign anything. We are happy to value your house free of charge.

If you have equity then we confirm this in a statutory form and how this will be dealt with. If you have some equity then you can extend your Trust Deed and pay this over thus protecting your property.

Properties are generally only ever at risk if people enter Trust Deeds with a lot of equity and fail to reach an agreement on how this will be managed. From what you say your house shouldn't be at risk as good equity is minimal.

Speaking directly with a good expert we will be able to reassure about all of this in the space of a 15-20 min phone call.

Try not to over think things and worry. From what you have told us you have a number of suitable options which should be fairly straight forward.

David's right, I can't see that we would be likely to have any problem setting up a Trust Deed for you based on the figures you have given, though a DAS is something else that you could consider too.

The property really shouldn't be affected at all in a Trust Deed if the equity is low. A valuation would be done prior to you signing anything, at no cost to you, and then you would only go ahead if you were happy to do so once the situation with the house was clear.

Is the car finance some kind of hire purchase or PCP arrangement?