Hi Gresgow

my advice, as always, is to sit down with the IP firm of your choice and get them to run through everything and then make sure they confirm this all in writing before deciding what is best for YOU, not what is best for Thinkmoney or the IP firm.

You are doing things correctly by asking questions. The initial company you mention and should never follow the 'everything will be fine' line over the phone. This is for the regulated IP firm to discuss and advise.

It is difficult to answer your post as there are a number of factors involved and I don't have any info on surplus income, level of debts, assets etc.

Regards

Mark

Thank you for the reply. My debts total approximately ?ú12000 and my surplus income has been worked out at approximately ?ú300 per month. The Rep from Thinkmoney have said that they would propose a trust deed with a monthly payment of ?ú297. Just wondering how viable this may or may not be.

Hi Gresgow

I think the info answers my point exactly. In terms of their advice, you would pay back almost all of the debt over the 3 years of the Trust Deed. Slightly extended would pay it all back. DAS or Debt Management would appear better options, although I suppose Thinkmoney may not get their fee if they suggested these!

Can I ask what your total monthly debt payments are at present. At ?ú12,000 I wouldn't have thought it was much in excess of ?ú300.

Mark

If your debt is @?ú12000 and you can manage to pay ?ú297.00 per month your debt would be totally cleared on 40 months which is just 4 months more that a Trust Deed.......

Mind you that is if you can get all your creditors to freeze interest payments etc.... You should maybe check out DAS.......

Am only a Novice so the experts on here will be able to give you better advice......

Damn your quick, Mark......

I have always maintained that the problem that I have is not the amount that I owe but the fact that most of the debt that I have is due for repayment in the short term. I like the idea of the trust deed as if agreed then I am only paying one monthly amount and I wouldn't be getting anymore hassle from creditors. I fon't mind paying fees for someone else to deal with the creditors for me.

Hi gresgow

I think there are a couple of points here. My 1st is the advice for a Trust Deed and nothing else discussed and my second would be if the Trust Deed were to proceed, would creditors accept a proposal where the total debt is ?ú12k and you are paying almost all of that back in the 3 years anyway.

I appreciate the need to have things resolved, but best advice is to look at all options available and not those being promoted by a middleman company.

Mark

PS Porcupine, up bright and early at 7am this morning for some weird reason. Thought about 9, but once your up you tend to stay up.

Mark

Hi gresgow and welcome to the forum.

I do hope that Thinkmoney fully explained to you the alternatives of a debt management plan or the Debt Arrangement Scheme? It is important that you understand how they work as all of these debt solutions have advantages and disadvantages depending upon your circumstances.

A trust deed is the most "serious" solution of the three and shouldn't be entered into lightly. My instict would be that, given you have the ability to fully repay the debts relatively quickly, one of the other options might make more sense for you.

Both of the other options would leave you with one payment to make each month, and both would provide a third party to liase with your creditors for you.

Are you comfortable that the ?ú297 contribution mentioned is realistic and sustainable for you?

Thanks once again, to be honest having explained my circumstances, they advised that the trust deed would be the best option. I am currently in full time employment, single with no depaendants no mortgage or rental payments due and only have basic living expenses and bills to pay month to month.

Do you have hopes to purchase a property in the future gresgow, perhaps after you have dealt with these debts?
A trust deed wouldn't prevent that, but the damage to your credit rating that it would cause is likely to be more severe than the other options mentioned.

There is no right or wrong answer to which option you should choose (or to many of the other questions that are raised on this forum). We're just trying to help provide as much information as possible to enable you to make an informed decision.

You may well decide to go down the path of a trust deed, we'd just like for you to understand all of the alternatives first.
At that point "you" (not Thinkmoney or anyone else) can decide what is the best option.
That's really important... it's only you that will live with the consequences, benefits and drawbacks of whatever decision you make.

To be honest, my credit file is shot to pieces at present and I don't mind the consequences that any solution that I choose may have on that score.

Purchasing a property in the future is not the most important thing on my mind as my housing situation is secure

Without sounding rude gresgow, you posted asking for advice and info from the experts on here. A couple have kindly offered you advice and you seem to ignore what they are saying to you......

For my two cents I would have avoided getting into a Trust Deed if I could, sadly I had no other options open to me. You have options so my advice was check them out before agreeing to enter a trust deed.......

Porcupine, I know my original post said I was looking for information and advice. It was probably more information than advice I was seeking. The company who have contacted me have provided me with advice and recommended that I take the trust deed route. At the moment, this sounds like a good option to me however nothing has been decided. I certainly did not mean to sound as though I was dismissing any advice that was given, on the contrary I am glad to be speaking with people who are experts and who have been in the same position as me.

Hi gresgow and Porcupine,

Something that some of us regular posters on this site have become aware of is that a post can be written by one person in one way and read by another person very differently. The written word can be very dangerous!

You're welcome to use the site however it suits you best gresgow, and thanks again to you Porcupine for continuing to contribute to the forum and share personal experience.