Hi Mardon and welcome to the forum.

Firstly well done on taking the brave step to reach out for some help and advice.

Can you tell us how much unsecured debt you have i.e. loans, credit cards, any overdrafts etc.

Also, how much do you think your house is worth and what’s outstanding on your mortgage?

Try not to worry too much, we will be able to help find a solution that works for you. If you could come back with the answers to the above we can advise you further.

Hi David,

Thank you for your quick reply. It's good to have someone to talk to.

I have 2 loans, one at £15,000 and one at £3,000. I've been able to pay the one at £3,000 so far. A credit card for £4,000. Two overdrafts, one for £600 and the other for £100.

I think the house is worth around £70,000 and I have about £44,000 outstanding on mortgage.

Hi Mardon,

You are welcome. I know it can be a stressful time for people so try to get back to them as quickly as possible.

In a Trust Deed your equity can’t be more than your debts and at first look this might be the case on the information you have provided. To completely rule out a Trust Deed we would need to establish the valuation of your house and obtain a settlement figure for your mortgage. Only then would we know the exact amount of equity and if a Trust Deed is an option.

In my experience people can over value their house and under estimate the mortgage and sometimes when it looks like a Trust Deed isn’t an option it can turn out to be once we have confirmed the equity.

In a Trust Deed if you have equity then a reasonable proportion of this needs to be paid into it so it can’t be too much.

If you do have too much equity then a Debt Arrangement Scheme would be the more suitable option. This has nothing to do with your house or equity and is a plan whereby you pay back all the debt. If your debts are no more than £24,000 and if you could afford £200 per month then this plan would take approx 10 years.

How much do you think you could afford to pay per month to a plan?

I think I could pay £200 per month. This may sound a stupid question but would the £200 be the amount I pay to only cover the bills I've mentioned

I could pay £200 per month, but this may sound a stupid question, would the £200 cover the bills I've mentioned only?

No question is a stupid question. Ask as many questions as you need to.

The payment you pay per month to the plan covers all of your unsecured debts, the loans, credit cards and overdrafts.

Any payment that you pay needs to be affordable and sustainable for the duration of the plan and this is why it’s key to speak with an experienced and knowledgable expert to go over a very thorough budget with you. I’d go through all of your living bills and then what was left would be your payment per month for all the debts. You can reach out to me or one or the other experts on the forum for help with this and we will keep you right.

Is your house jointly owned or just in your name?

Also who are the companies you have the debt with?

Try to stay positive as there are solutions to help you deal with the debts.

The house is in my name only.

The companies are Royal Bank of Scotland and Halifax.

Thank you. It's good to know there's help out there.

Thanks for that.

How much in total do you owe to Halifax?

I think the next step for you to take is to reach out to an expert for some advice specific to your circumstances. If you are finding that this month you can’t pay your bills it’s probably better to do this sooner rather than later. In the space or a 20 minute phone call a lot can be covered and ok positive you will start to feel better.

I'm not sure how much I owe the Halifax in total, I'll have to phone them to find out.

Thank you so much for all your help, I feel more positive about the future now.

I shall phone an expert tomorrow.

Thank you again.

To find out your debts we can run a credit report for you which will bring it all up. It can save phoning round all the lenders. It can be done in the space of 30 seconds whilst on the phone with you.

Glad to hear that you are feeling much more positive about your options and the future. That’s exactly what to focus on now is the future.

You can call or you can also click on the contact me button underneath any experts posts.