Hi
I'm really sorry to hear that your trust deed didn't get protected. I'm not asking you to name firms, but the experts on here always say that they have a pretty good idea of the criteria that will/won't be accepted. Did you use a well known and reputable firm? I hope you haven't gone for a middle man and paid any up front fees

Have gone with a supposed reputable firm and not paid any upfront fees. Need to speak to them on Monday but I'm watching every minute until 9am on Monday and I'm sick with worry.

Hi, I too wanted to go down the trust deed route almost 3 years ago now, I was told it was not viable and to go down bankruptcy route. I have been watching this site regulary throughout the last 3 years and there appears to me to be very little difference between trust deed and bankruptcy, and no, i did not have to go to court, i done everything through citizens advice who recommended an IP to use and they have been great. Try not to worry about bankruptcy, I too was sick with worry but it really hasnt been that bad and I can see the end is in sight it will be a great relief for it to be all over. I do believe that if your property has no equity in it then you will not lose it but I am sure some of the experts on here will advise further. Good luck x

I wount be concerned if I were you. It may be the case that the trustee will have to tweak things a little or you become sequistrated.

It's no big deal, dont worry about it we have been down both routes myself a td and wife sequistrated, no court still have our house, either way its not the end of the world, just the begining of the rest of your debt free life

So get back to you Sunday and enjoy the extra hour you have today

Hi J101rd and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that your creditors have objected to your Trust Deed which has prevented it from attaining protected status.

Were you advised that there was an increased chance that your Trust Deed proposal may not be accepted before you entered into it? As saabrina has said we work to a set criteria by most of the creditors so any good knowledgable advisor should have been able to give you an idea right at the very start regarding this.

I've had one of my cases recently that received an objection due to our fee being a little higher than what creditors deemed acceptable. We reduced our fee and the creditor removed their objection therefore allowing the Trust Deed to become protected. You may want to check with your Trustee if this is possible or if there is any negotiating with the creditors.

Sequestration isn't something that you should be worried about. As I said your advisor should also have discussed this in detail with you. You don't have to attend court, no one comes to take any of your household possessions, it isn't advertised in any papers and your employer shouldn't find out about it. It really just runs the same at the Trust Deed and normally with the same monthly payment for 3 years. After 1 year your automatically discharged from it.

If you have no equity in your home then this won't be at risk the same as with the Trust Deed.

Whilst you could be discharged and try to negotiate with your creditors I wouldn't really suggest that this would be a suitable option. You could consider the DAS if you wanted to do something like that.

As I said all of this should have been discussed with you right at the start so you have a good understanding of all your options and eventualities.

Pingpong is right, you have nothing to worry about so try not to worry and speak with your Trust Deed company tomorrow.

Before I signed they said they were 99% sure it would become protected. I'm going to phone trustee first thing tomorrow, I've been so worried as since I signed creditors have applied charges etc and I'm now £800+ worse off than before I signed.

Can I ask them to renegotiate with creditors? I've got a new job with a bigger salary, would offering larger contributions make a difference to creditors accepting it?

Thanks for the advice and reassurance.

Can you give us an idea of who your creditors are and the approximate balances? Different creditors have a difference acceptance criteria and knowing this information will help us work out why they have objected.

It all depends in why the creditors have objected. It could be down to your Trustees fees, it could be your income and expenditure statement or it could be the return to them i.e. The 10p in the £.

If it's down to your Trustees fees then you can speak with your Trustee to see if they will reduce their fee. They may or may not. If it's the excessive income and expenditure statement they the creditors may want you to reduce some of your outgoings and pay an increased payment. This is up to you to work out if you can do this. If it's the 10p in the £ scenario then this could be down it both your Trustee reducing their fee and you increasing your payments.

Really though unless your case is a little unusual then I'm surprised why it has failed to become protected as every advisor should know exactly what it takes for a Trust Deed to become protected and especially if they have given you a 99% assurance it would be fine.

In relation to the charges, I wouldn't worry to much about these at the moment. If your trustee is unable it have the objections lifted then you can consider Sequestration which will take care of these. The charges would only impact you if you came out of the Trust Deed and did nothing.

Clydesdale Bank - £6500 (inc. loan, overdraft and credit card)
Barclaycard - £3400
Virgin - £800
Vanquis - £1500
Next - £800

Isn't a DAS an option?

£200 per month would see that paid off in around 5 to 6 yrs, I think.

Third sleepless night. Going to phone trustee tomorrow and ask for information on who objected and why? What else should I be asking?

Hi J101rd

My first question from looking at the information would be why the creditors objected. I am guessing that the trustee's fees are too high and they are ( somehow) ) unwilling to reduce them.

I wouldn't worry too much about sequestration as the process is very similar to Trust Deed. The main difference is that creditors to not get the chance to object the same. In effect, the trustee is appointed and provides creditors with a statement of affairs.

Mark

Hi J101rd

Sorry to hear of your situation, it must feel awful to have been given hope that everything was sorted out only for it to be taken away again.

Your two main creditors use an agency called IVA Watch to respond to trust deed proposals on their behalf. They tend to be very transparent and stick to well-defined criteria when assessing proposals. I guess that the advisor that you spoke to was not aware of their criteria otherwise I would have thought that they would have known at the outset that your trust deed may struggle to get protection.

There are basically 3 main options for going forward:
- negotiate with creditors (via your trustee) to see if they will overturn their objections to your trust deed
- apply for sequestration instead
- set up a DAS payment programme

In relation to sequestration, as others have said there shouldn't necessarily be anything to fear if you do go down this route if you have no equity in your home. However, I would advise that you do speak to an insolvency practitioner beforehand to agree the equity situation and your monthly contributions - you can then nominate them to be your trustee in the sequestration on the application form, meaning it is much less of a leap of faith. You could choose to use the same firm as set up your trust deed or go elsewhere if you no longer have faith in them.

Kevin

Hi J101rd,

I suspect that your creditors have objected to your Trustees fees.

When you speak with them today you want to ask the reasons why the creditors have objected and if it is down to the fees ask if they are prepared to reduce them. It could be with the combination of them reducing their fee and you increasing your payment your Trust Deed could proceed.

How much did you agree to pay per month to your Trust Deed and for how long J101rd?

Let us know how you get on with your Trustee today.

Hi J101rd

Looking at your creditors, the main 2 appear to be dealt with by one company and their normal reason for refusal is on the bais of fees exceeding a certain limit. I'm surprised that the proposal was not made based on this criteria as we all work to these figures.

The obvious option would be to advise that the fees will be reduced to get the objection withdrawn rather than proceed down the sequestration route.

Mark