Because Scotland has its own government and justice system, the laws regarding debt are different to English legislation. As a result, Scotland has developed a range of unique Scottish debt solutions designed to help people with varying levels of debt and in different financial circumstances. Perhaps the best known of these is a Trust Deed, although there are others such as DAS (the Debt Arrangement Scheme) or LILA (the Low Income, Low Assets route into bankruptcy) designed specifically for Scottish residents.
What is a Trust Deed?
A Scottish Trust Deed is similar to its English ‘counterpart’ – the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) – with a few notable differences. Both are legally binding agreements arranged between the borrower and their unsecured lenders and both can only be administered by a licensed Insolvency Practitioner.
The purpose of a Trust Deed is to reach an agreement that enables the borrower to repay as much of their unsecured debt as they can afford over a fixed time period – usually 36 months – after which time any remaining debt still outstanding is written off, as long as the Trust Deed has worked out as planned.
Your Insolvency Practitioner will need to assess your eligibility for a Trust Deed in order to draw up a proposal to put to your lenders. This will show how much you can pay towards your unsecured debt each month by itemising all your income and expenditure. This money – called your ‘disposable income’ is then put towards your unsecured debts and split fairly between your lenders on a pro rata basis, once the cost of administering the Trust Deed has been taken into account.
What is a protected Trust Deed?
Unless your proposal meets with objections from over half of your lenders – or from lenders who own over a third of your debt between them – your Trust Deed will become protected by law.
This means that your lenders cannot commence any further action against you and all interest and charges are frozen on your debts. Providing you stick to the terms of your Protected Trust Deed for its duration – usually 36 months – any debt still outstanding on your Trust Deed will be written off on completion.
A Protected Trust Deed can help you avoid some of the stigma associated with sequestration (bankruptcy) and avoid the financial restrictions that it brings. However, if you are a homeowner you will be required to release most of the equity in your property – usually through a remortgage – and the money raised will be put towards your Trust Deed.
Of course, entering into a Trust Deed isn’t something to be treated lightly as it will be recorded on your credit history for six years, making it difficult to obtain credit during that time. You can find out more about Protected Trust Deeds at http://www.dacscotland.co.uk/.