Ask someone if they know what a Scottish Trust Deed is and you’ll get one of two responses. They’ll either think it has something to do with the property market or they won’t have a clue what a Scottish Trust Deed is at all. What they usually won’t know is that it is a very useful type of debt solution specifically aimed at residents of Scotland who are struggling to make repayments on their debts.

So what is a Scottish Trust Deed?

A Scottish Trust Deed is the Scots equivalent of an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), although the criteria are slightly different. For a start, they are more in your favour! Instead of you being relentlessly pursued by your creditors for the full amount and all the stress that entails, a Scottish Trust Deed sets out a legally binding agreement with your creditors to only repay what you can afford towards your debts over a specific period (usually 36 months). Whatever debt is left over at the end is written off and you become debt free!

What are the criteria for setting up a Scottish Trust Deed?

You may have taken out too much debt to cope with a pay cut, illness or redundancy, all of which are very good reasons to look at a Scottish Trust Deed as a debt solution, and you’ll find the criteria are pretty straightforward to qualify. First you should be a fixed resident in Scotland. Second you should owe a minimum of £10,000 of unsecured debt. Third, you should be in full-time employment, because you will be required to pay a minimum of £150 towards your debts every month. If you fulfil these criteria, then you should be able to apply for a Scottish Trust Deed.

What are some of the benefits of setting up a Scottish Trust Deed?

If you’re finding it tough to repay your debts, if you’re worried that your assets are at risk of being taken by your lenders to pay off your debts and you cannot find a viable debt solution, Scottish Trust Deeds are loaded with benefits to help you.

For example, all the interest and charges on your debt are frozen at the time your agreement is signed so the debt will not continue to accumulate. Also the majority of your monthly repayment will pay off the debt and not go straight into the bank’s pocket. Your assets – your car and your home – are also safe from repossession by the banks during the time you are making payments to your plan.

Even better, a Scottish Trust Deed must be taken care of by a qualified insolvency practitioner who arranges meetings with your creditors, negotiates on your behalf and distributes payments accordingly. So you don’t have to have the stress of dealing with your creditors any more.

What are the downsides?

There are some disadvantages to Scottish Trust Deeds. Your credit rating is affected during the time you are making your repayments. However, circumstances may have already forced you to default on your payments to lenders by the time you set up your Scottish Trust Deed, which will have affected your credit rating anyway. Just keep in mind that your credit rating will start to recover as soon as the plan is finished and you will one day have a good rating once more.

You may even find that after the Scottish Trust Deed is complete, the likelihood of you wanting to obtain further credit will be a fairly slim and you will probably want to steer well clear of debt and credit for good!

Author Bio: For more information on Debt Help in Scotland and to see if you qualify for a Scottish Trust Deed, use our Free Debt Calculator. We can also recommend the most suitable company to help you on the road to debt freedom!

Category: Finances
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