Hi Richard

Hopefully Kevin or Sue will chip in as there is a lot to cover. I've listed my comments for ease of reading:

- Is there a guarantee that interest and charges will be frozen on the
debt and creditors will not pursue the debt? The DMP suggests that
the 60 payments wwill equal the debt outstanding at present. This is
my main concern.

- The Trust Deed, as a formal agreement, would at least halt the
interest and charges if agreed and protected status is achieved.
This also has a 3 year life span, as opposed to 12. However you
would require to deal with equity and this would be by remortgaging
at the beginning, middle or end. There may be the option to make
additional contribution payments to make up the equity after the 3
years.

- The payments under the Trust Deed are based on income - expenditure,
not level of debt.

- If you were unable to meet the payments, these would be suspended
for a short period (say 3 months) to see if things improve. If they
didn't, then sequestration would be the natural option and this
could put your home at risk.

- I am not sure where the limited company comes in, whether this is
separate from your employment or part of it. If it is part of it,
and the worst case scenario kicks in then then it is irrelevant as
there would be no funds to pay the company or you. Could you
clarify this point.

- I wonder why CCCS didn't mention the DAS scheme as this may offer
better protection than the DMP??

Hope this helps.

Mark

No guarantees in place on interest yet. CCCs dealing with it all cards and letter sent back to credit card companies. Am waiting for news of acceptance from CCCs. You say 60 payments but it is monthly and lasts 12 years,
The limited company is our employment.
Think need phone CCCS and ask for clarification and discuss trust deed as maybe jumped too fast initially into accepting the DMP.

Hi Richard.
Thought I'd throw in a couple of thoughts too to supplement the info Mark has already provided. Hopefully I'm not just muddying the waters further for you!

First of all, are you sure about your level of equity? Are you basing the figures on a recent valuation? I'm sure you're aware that the housing market has taken a bit of a dive lately. I wonder if it may be possible that there is less equity than you think, which would certainly make a trust deed a more straightforward option for you.

Other factors may also influence your choice. For example:

- Is the debt fairly evenly spread between you and your wife? If the majority of the debt is in one of your names only it may be worth considering pursuing different options.

- Does the ltd co have debts and would you be liable for them under any personal guarantees if the co. got further into trouble?

It's very difficult to give you detailed advice specific to your situation in this kind of forum. It certainly sounds as though you should explore the trust deed option further before deciding how to proceed. I'm sure any of the experts on this forum would be happy to have a closer look for you if you wish.

Thanks for the help
The equity is an estimate from sale values around us, though nothing is moving.
Yes I have ?ú25000 of personal guarantees which is another worry as were taken when I could afford it.
The debt is evenly spread between both of us 40/20 tho the guarantees are only in my name.
Is it a problem if the DMP has started to change and confuse things more, and would the CCCS treat me like an idiot that I have been?

Hello again Richard.
Try not to worry about what CCCS might think - it's to be expected in a DMP that your circumstances will change from time to time and they will be used to dealing with such changes on a very regular basis. You certainly need to let them know if you are going to be struggling to afford what had previuously been agreed.
As far as trying to decide what is the best way to proceed, like I said it is impossible to give good advice tailored to your situation without being able to assess the full facts. One of the site experts would be happy to do that for you "offline" if you wish. From what you have posted so far, I'd say you have a few options at present and a trust deed may well be one of them. I guess the ultimate outcome for you will depend on how well the company performs in the current climate. At the end of the day, the viability of options such as a DMP, the DAS scheme and a trust deed will be reliant on you having a job and enough income from it to manage the necessary payments.

Thanks for the help,
I have made my first payment this month, but as things progress we will see if my earnings
keep stable for the dmp. I definitely dont want bankruptcy at any cost but was wondering how much my wages would need to drop before I would get a trust deed in place of the dmp. In the near future I should be able to tell and would be happy and grateful to contact an expert offline. What would be the easiest way?

Hello Richard,

On the menu to the left-hand side of the page you'll find profiles for each of the experts that post on this forum.

Underneath the written part of the profile you'll find a "contact form" to contact that individual.

I'm afraid that if your income dropped much further, Richard, the trust deed route might cease to be an option, or at least might only be an option for one of you. I doubt that you and your wife would have enough disposable income to be able to afford to both offer viable trust deeds. The amount you are currently paying via CCCS is probably not far from the minimum you would have to be able to pay between you in trust deed contributions to get the proposals accepted by your creditors.

Instead, you might be looking at a trust deed for yourself and your wife clearing her debts in full through a dmp.

Does this make sense? I realise this can get quite complicated - feel free to pull me up and ask me to explain myself further here.

Kevin