I can't speak for DAS but when I signed my trust deed, I was told to get another bank account, stop paying my creditors and to hand my credit cards to my trustee. If DAS is the way you want to go then timing may be the thing to look at. With me, once I had decided what I was going to do, I set up a new bank account, informed my work and the child benefit people. Once this was done, I signed my trust deed. I knew how much was going to be paid to that. I also moved all my utilities bills to my new account. That way, none of my creditors had access to my new account details. For the first time in years, I finished the month with some money in my account.

You'll manage and who-ever administrates it will go through everything with you to ensure you can live on whats left over after the payment has been made. Remember you won't be paying creditors anymore so you'll have more disposable income although some of this will go towards your DAS payments.

Hi overwhelmed

I think if you are looking at a formal option the you need to organise to a point where wages go in and normal utilities etc go out via a new account. At this point you should look to get your income to meet your expenditure and neither use or repay the existing debts.

The new account will be the starting point.

Mark

Thanks for the quick replies.
Mark if we do that and dont pay the bills at beginning of July - then we will fall into arrears, which we were trying to avoid....although it would mean we have cash left to live on..does this not affect our chances of being accepted onto DAS?
Just found out that the deadline for changes to my salary for the next month was 8th June 🙁 - so looks like my wages will go to old account (and we have a bank loan & overdraft with that bank )> can they refuse me access to my money if the process has already started???
what if i transfer my wages to the new account on pay day - is that wise? or is it best if my current bank are not made aware of the new account details.
So dont want to go another month without getting this sorted Does anyone know how long it takes to get set up?

Hi overwhelmed.

This is all about breaking the debt cycle which is extremely important but understandable makes a lot of people nervous. Once you do so you'll no longer need to live off your cards.

Taking control of your money so that you prioritise the things you need (housing costs, utility bills, council tax, food, travel etc) over the things you cannot afford to pay (loans, credit cards etc) is fundamentally important when embarking on most types of debt solution.

If you've missed the payroll deadline the next best option is to get the cash out of your account as soon as possible when you are paid and get it into the new "safe" account.

Falling into arrears with some of your debts is inevitable if you cannot afford to pay them in addition to your essential living costs. It shouldn't cause a problem in terms of setting up DAS.

The debt arrangement scheme process can take a few weeks, though the adviser should be able to ensure that you're protected from your creditors while that process is underway.

Thanks TDA, as you can tell we are very nervous about all of this..
maybe you could advise if it would be better to wait until after the salary has gone in before having a money advisor set things up? the reason I ask is if an advisor gets in touch with the bank(loan & overdraft) before my salary is in then they will be aware of whats about to happen and not release my salary when they know I'm going to be unable to pay loan & OD...
Maybe I'm overthinking things but even if an advisor hasnt approached the current bank, wont they be suspicious that I want to take all my money out, particularly when my OH salary wont go in when it normally does?
Suppose what I'm saying is can they refuse to give me the cash and keep my wages as I wont be able to meet payment on loan or OD at end of month?
Does the site recommend advisors in the Glasgow area? What fees can we expect to be charged?
Sorry to have so many questions, just need to get my head sorted [:I]

Technically your overdraft facility can be removed at any time, for no other reason than the bank decides they want to. However, if you are up to date with payments etc then I would be very surprised if this happened. You may be better off waiting until you have had your wages out from this month before notifying anything to them about the DAS.

That isn't to say you can't meet with an adviser in the meantime and go through everything so that you are ready to go as soon as it suits you to do so.

Hi overwhelmed.

The companies represented in the forum by Kevin, Shona and Chris all help clients to set up debt arrangement schemes ion the Glasgow area.

Each operates slightly different fee arrangements which you can read about on our "trust deed fees" page (towards the bottom of the main menu). The fees are taken from the monthly contributions which are agreed.

There is also a fee-free option for DAS about which there is a little more information at:

https://www.trust-deed.co.uk/debt-arrangement-scheme.html