Hi JamieC, I'm certainly no expert and I think others with a lot more experience will be on to help you. The only answer I do have is for the first one. You are not locked into staying with your current employer.

As I said, hopefully someone will be on later to put your mind at rest.

JamieC - see the attached link to an archive post. The situation may now be different though:

http://forum.trust-deed.co.uk/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&topic_id=474

Welcome to the forum JamieC.

You would not be locked into your current employment if you began a trust deed. People can and do change their jobs.

You'll be removed from the Register of Insolvencies one year after your trustee is discharged from your trust deed. Their discharge will happen after yours (when they have finished their work on your case).

We have heard that being in financial difficulty (of any type) can have a negative impact on recruitment to the police. A trust deed would clearly be evidence of financial difficulty.

The door will not be permanently closed to police recruitment after completing a trust deed. I don't know their current policy or procedure on this in terms of timelines, so you might want to reach out and ask them this directly.

I don't think it's accurate to say that a trust deed will permanently affect your employment opportunities. Most jobs are unaffected altogether. Some types of jobs involve risk control measures by the employer. This could include disciplined professions (like the police or prison officers) and also some types of jobs within financial services. There's really no risk to control once you've completed a trust deed and demonstrated that you're managing your personal finances well afterwards.

Hi JamieC and welcome to the forum.

Well done on taking the difficult decision to reach out for help and advice to deal with your debts. This is often the hardest step to take.

TDA has covered all of your questions asked. Only thing I would add is that if you do change jobs throughout the Trust Deed period you need to be mindful of your commitment to the Trust Deed in terms of your income and if the new job would be the same income, more or less. And reduction in income could result in an extension of the Trust Deed.

How much debt do you have and do you own any assets?

The best thing to do is to reach out to an expert for some one to one advice. They will be able to work through a very thorough income and expenditure with you to see what you can afford to pay and also if you do own any assets go over this with you. They will also look at all of your options and not just a Trust Deed. Kevin and I the two experts on the forum would be happy to help you with some advice if you wish.

Take your time, do some research and speak with an expert and you will be fine.

Hi Jamie.

The other thing to bear in mind is that your credit file only shows the last 6 years, so 6 years after signing a Trust Deed it would disappear from view.

I guess that might seem like a long time, but if your alternative is paying your debts back over even longer then it is perhaps not so bad?

Thank you all for the information and advice, it's really helpful and I really appreciate it.

I suppose I should probably think about completing an application as it seems like a good option, if even a bit too good to be true. All of my questions have been answered however due to my current employment I may not be able to apply as the contract mentions the fact you must not be insolvent which I suppose this might include.

And to answer your question David, the total amount is 9.6k of debt which is all unsecured. In terms of assets I have a car and that's about it.

I'm guessing overpayments aren't a thing? I heard that no matter how much you pay you would be stuck in the deed? So for instance if I came about enough to pay the debt in full would I be able to do so?

Hi JamieC.

A trust deed is a form of personal insolvency, so it does seem like you'll need to exercise caution with regard to your job.

Are you a member of a trade union? Do you have a friendly HR or senior management contact you could talk with? It's sometimes the case that employment contract clauses like this aren't necessarily imposed provided that risk has been controlled and prior consent has been given.

A trust deed will run for at least four years unless you pay the total sum of:

1 - The debt total at the start of the trust deed
2 - Interest on that debt
3 - The fees and costs of your trustee

This total can add up to a fair bit more than the original debt total, but there are people who finish trust deeds early on this basis.

Hi JamieC,

Everyone always thinks a Trust Deed sounds too good to be true but if it’s set up correctly then it does do provide debt someone with a fresh start.

If you are worried about your job and a Trust Deed then you could also consider a Debt Arrangement Scheme. This isn’t insolvency and therefore may be looked at more positively by your employer.

Based on 9.6k of debt, if you paid this back over 60 months the payment would be approx. £160 per month if you used an organisation that set it up free of charge.

A DAS could be a more suitable option based on your job and your thoughts around paying in more to clear the debt quicker as it’s easier to do this on a DAS than a Trust Deed.

Have you thought about a DAS as an option?

If you do reach out for help make sure the advisor/company you deal with does Trust Deed and DAS as not all firms do.

It will boil down to how much you can realistically afford to pay each month towards your debts, but I'd agree with David that you should certainly be considering DAS too.