For most people that live in Scotland, the differences between debt solutions that are available in England compared to those in Scotland can be some what confusing to say the least.  If you have previously taken advice from debt agencies and are still struggling to understand the various options available to clear your debts as a Scottish resident, please read this blog post further as we believe this will help you.

• Trust Deed

Most people are now familiar with the term IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), for those that are not, it is a legal agreement between you and your creditors in England ONLY, and is a form of Insolvency that allows you to pay back an amount of the money you owe within a set or fixed period of time, usually 60 months or 5 years.  The remainder of what you owe that has not been repaid is then written off by your creditors leaving you debt free.

• The Trust Deed, is very simply the Scottish alternative to the IVA in England.  The difference is that in Scotland, the Trust Deed lasts for 36 months, not 60 months like an IVA in England.

Creditors are not duty bound to agree to Trust Deeds as they do need to make sure that they are obtaining a satisfactory percentage of the total debt to be repaid.  This is not always possible when the clients circumstances are investigated as the client sometimes does not have enough disposable income (the money left over after essential bills and living costs) each month to meet the financial repayments, in this case the client can then consider a debt management plan or Bankruptcy.

• YOU SHOULD NOT APPLY FOR ANY FURTHER CREDIT ONCE ACCEPTED ONTO A TRUST DEED!

A Trustee will manage your Protected Trust Deed for you and Trust Deeds can only become protected if certain requirements are met by the individual, if the Trust Deed becomes protected, your creditors cannot take legal action against you and the interest or charges on your personal debt will become frozen.

You will NOT be charged to enter a Trust Deed arrangement, your creditors are responsible for paying your Trustee out of the contributions you make whilst the agreement is in place.

• Bankruptcy in Scotland is sometimes referred to by some as Sequestration

Sequestration involves removing or seizing a persons belongings or assets, to a value of the debt owed with a view to being of financial benefit to the creditor owed the money or in some cases this can be for monies owed to the Scottish state.

Laws in Scotland that appertain to personal debt and finance agreements can vary based on what type of agreement you have signed and with which company or lender.  For an exact definition of different legal agreements, you should without question consider speaking with a Scottish Insolvency Practitioner or solicitor.

The above is a very basic explanation designed to give you a brief outline of the differences between, debt help in Scotland and that to the rest of the UK.  For a more detailed explanation you can contact our personal debt helpline which is open 24 hours a day.

• Debt Management Plan
• IVA or Trust Deed in Scotland
• Bankruptcy

Lewis Alexanderis a specialist debt management company, we help people clear debts without loans, we also offer a free from a landline debt helpline to UK residents struggling with personal financial problems.  The advice we give is based on individual personal circumstances and is often not what the person (possibly you) wants to hear.

This is where debt counselling comes in, we have a proven method of helping those that wish to be helped.  Often in life, the truth is the hardest to accept, usually with any personal financial problem, there is an element of truth that needs accepting before the individual can move ahead.  That is the hard part to get over and after what we call the acceptance period, the individual feels so much relief from the stress of the debt problem that they really can continue with a normal daily life just like they experienced before being in debt.

If you are suffering with financial problems such as mortgage arrears, missed or late payments on credit agreements etc, you must deal with the situation as soon as possible, in the time it has taken to read this article so far, you could have dialed our free from a landline debt helpline using 0800 018 6868.

Our advisors will help you to make a fresh start financially and offer you tested and proven methods that you can employ to combat the pressure from debt collection agents or lenders that may be chasing you.  Letters and phone calls are the most worrying to people along with the threats of court action.  There are laws that appertain directly to debt collectors and the procedures of collection that they undertake, more importantly, the Office of Fair Trading sets out debt collection guidance that the collection industry is expected to adhere to, just the same as the debt management guidance set out for debt agencies and not for profit debt charities.

For further advice and help on how to clear debts without loans, contact our personal debt helpline today, lines are open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week and your call is FREE.