Hi James and welcome to the forum,

First off well done on reach out for help and advice and taking positive steps to deal with your debts.

To answer your questions:

1. The payment that you pay per month is always based on affordability so in theory no matter who you use to set up a Trust Deed the same payment amount should be reached. Saying that there can be slight variances in terms of firms and payments depending on how thorough the advisor is that you speak with when you go over a budget. A budget is absolutely key to the success and sustainability on your Trust Deed.

2. Any council tax arrears are included and you will be liable to pay anything going forward for the rest of the year. If you don’t have gas or electric arrears then you continue to pay that as normal. You won’t get cut off.

3. Great idea to open up a new bank account, transfer everything over and start using that. Who did you change to? Reason I ask is some banks don’t like customers who enter into a Trust Deed.

4. The legislation regarding inheritance etc is the full amount is ingathered. It doesn’t get split 45/45 etc. Trustees used to have discretion over things like bonuses etc but now your full surplus has to be paid over into the Trust Deed. Do you anticipate an inheritance or bonus? If an inheritance happened you would pay back your full debts plus interest and costs of the Trustee.

I always advise people to get a second opinion on things from a coupe of advisors. There are a lot of companies out there and some of them don’t actually handle your Trust Deed but will pass you to another firm. You want to deal with the same advisor and firm throughout your Trust Deed is possible.

Also if possible try and arrange a meeting with the actual advisor and firm you first speak with. I always think doing things face to face helps.

Make sure you get everything in writing regarding payments etc and duration. Ask about the discharge process at the end and how long this will take. You should be discharged from the Trust Deed within about 4-6 weeks of final payment. Some firms can be 4-6 months.

Don’t rush into things, take your time, do some research and speak with a couple of advisors. Kevin or I the experts on the forum here would be happy to help with a second opinion if required. If you do all of that then your Trust Deed should be set up correctly and run smoothly and before you know it you will be coming to the end.

Hi jim2007. Glad we can be of use to you. It is an important decision and is always best to ask as many questions as you need to at this point.

All insolvency practitioners have to be licensed in order to administer procedures like protected trust deeds, so should all be compliant with legislation and professional standards. As in all walks of life though, some may be better than others in terms of service etc.

Accountant in Bankruptcy do publish failure rates of different firms (ie how many Trust Deeds fail to complete successfully), which you could look up if you wish.

If you do have arrears on your gas and electric then it should be included in your Trust Deed, however it does not seem to cause people problems with their suppliers in my experience.

Where did you get the information about 45/45 split etc? Hopefully not from the firm you spoke to, as this is completely incorrect. As David says, trustees must gather in as much as is available for your creditors so would not be able to allow you to retain sums of any significance from any lump sum you might receive.

I hope that helps clarify things - please don't hesitate to ask any further questions you have - we are happy to help if we can, or provide a second opinion if you wish.

the 45/45 split was advised by the company yes and they did say something about putting it to an insolvancy company or did point to them giving over to another company to manage.

I applied for an RBS account and was accepted and today I had an email to say that they had decided not to open my account now, no reason given. Not sure if they see me as a risk?

Can anyone advise a trust deed friendly account I can mainly use for online banking with basic features, ideally with branches aswell

David, can you PM me please as be keen to speak to you

Hi jim2007.

This 45/45 split sounds like adviser confusion on how trust deeds work. In an IVA (similar to a trust deed elsewhere in the UK) you can often keep the first 10% of any extra earned income, with the remainder (45% plus 45%) being split between you and the IVA. This isn't applicable in Scotland. My guess would be that the adviser has confused income with windfalls, and Scotland with England. Not very reassuring!

I think pretty much all of the banks offer a basic account that you can use during a trust deed these days. Barclays has been mentioned positively a number of times, as has the Co-op Bank Cashminder account. These may present issues with branch access though.

Did you ask specifically for a basic bank account jim2007? You should find that you are able to open one of these up at any bank. Whilst they don't tend to come with any extras, a basic bank account should be sufficient and is in less danger of being affected by entering a Trust Deed.

I'd stay away from Bank of Scotland as they often close people's accounts if they enter an insolvency procedure, but really any of the others should be fine as long as you don't have debt with them already.