Hi Sherbo.

We'd normally delete links on the forum but I'll leave this one here for a little while as people may well be interested to read the article.

We found it interesting, in fact we retweeted the author's Twitter announcement that the piece is online just this morning via our own Twitter account @trustdeedforums.

If he's reading this (which he sometimes does) I think Alan (the author) might be interested to see what people think.

I wouldn't disagree with a lot of it, sherbo and will be very glad if the proposed changes manage to bring the "rogues" engaged in "mis-selling" trust deeds into line.

My fear though is that they will find another way around the regulations and will continue as before, with the only ones losing out being those in debt that are having to pay for a longer period.

Interesting article. I think the changes sit somewhere between curbing the rogue element of the industry and increasing revenue for the AIB. Call me cynical, but I would guess;

An increase in the time period for Trust Deeds to 4 years with the AIB taking an annual fee for every year the case is live as opposed to a one off fee.

A new charge for registering the Trust Deed in the Register of Insolvencies, having done away with the Edinburgh Gazette requirement.

Removing the courts involvement in most insolvency matters and replacing it with the AIB ( at a cost) In effect the AIB make a decision and you appeal via court to be replaced with the AIB dealing with the appeal against their own decision!!

An resulting increase in sequestration with the AIB receiving £200 up front and 17.5% of all fees in addition to other standard costs.

Yeah! Maybe I'm just cynical.

Mark

Hi Mark, as the person that wrote the piece, I don't disagree with you in relation to the wider bankruptcy law reform programme and have covered that in other articles in my column; but in relation to the fee changes for Trust Deeds, I do think it is about taking the air our the bubble.

But the question is - will it work?

I think it will to a degree,I think lead generators will always exist and should, such as CABx and professional advisers. I think referral fees will still be paid, but to the extent that the same kind of marketing campaigns can be run, I don't think so.

Hi Robinhood

I think you are spot on. With the restriction on fees, it will make it impossible for firms to maintain the same level of payments and as a result, restrict the market.

I've seen proposals from 2 main firms where firstly the time period for the Trust Deed is based on the time it will take to recover their substantial fee ( normally 5 years) and secondly where the fee is calculated to achieve the minimum 10.1p in the £. I have had sight of almost identical cases with fees of £5,763, £6,120 and £3964. The common factor? The dividend always ends up the same in each.

Mark