"A Scottish Trust Deed was the making of me" - Tracy's Story*

“I’d always craved independence and financial freedom. Yet from the very moment I left home I went backwards, getting further and further away from this goal. I’ve thought long and hard about how I got to where I am today so I don't make the same mistakes again.

I’m three months out of a Trust Deed and this is my story.

I left home at 18 to go to university around 300 miles away from my parents. I was incredibly fortunate to be sponsored by my would-be employers. I really thought I had it made and for three years I had a great time. My sponsorship money plus student loans and a generous overdraft from the bank made me believe I was loaded. Thanks to the addition of a credit card, I spent wildly throughout those three years and was hopeless at managing my money.  I even borrowed money from my parents, who never had any real disposable income, but always managed to find the odd £50 to slip into my pocket at the end of every visit. 

Within weeks of leaving university I walked straight into a high-paying position. The spending continued. Even though I was back at home and my parents didn’t take any housekeeping from me, I was sliding deeper into debt with every month that passed.

Then disaster struck. Part of my job required me to study and pass a set of professional exams. I failed them. Utterly. Within days I was sacked. My income slid from £35,000 to nothing and the firm wanted some of the money it had laid out for my studies. There wasn’t much of a last pay packet. No problem, I thought, I’ll walk into another high-paying job. Six months later I’d managed to secure a position in a call centre for £11,500 a year. Even though I was still living at home, it was not enough. A bit more spending went on the credit cards. Two job changes and three years later I was just about coping, earning £19,000 a year. My confidence was in tatters though.

Then it happened. I missed a payment on one of the loans. I didn’t have enough in my bank account to cover the direct debit and it was rejected, incurring bank charges. I was angry, more with myself than the bank, but through it I could see clearly I was in deep trouble. I was burdened with nearly £40,000 of debt from credit cards and loans. Things had to change, and change quickly.

I spent a long time looking into the options. My first instinct was sequestration, but I discounted it almost immediately. Even though at the time it was the best option for my circumstances – single with no assets - it felt like running away. I’d got myself into this mess, now I wanted to get myself out.

I looked at debt management plans. It would take me over a decade to pay back my creditors on a debt management plan and I just didn’t think I could last out that long, especially as the creditors were getting nasty. That’s when I found out about Trust Deeds.  They seemed straightforward. After my household expenses were covered, I paid the surplus income to an Insolvency Practitioner who distributed it to my creditors. The Trust Deed would last for 36 months and any remaining debt at the end of the term would be wiped. It seemed very simple.

I had nothing to lose. I managed to set up the Trust Deed through an Insolvency Practitioner that a friend recommended and from the word go never looked back. I just put my head down and worked with a single-minded focus, knowing that very soon I’d be debt-free. I made my last payment a few months ago and am just waiting for confirmation that it’s all finally over.

My credit record doesn’t look too good, but then if I gone bankrupt it wouldn’t have anyway. I do not own any property. I still live with my parents, which at 30 looks a bit odd when I’m dating, but really those are the only downsides to me doing a Trust Deed I can think of.

The upside of a Trust Deed? I’m debt-free, financially-savvy, can budget properly and live within my means. For the last couple of months every bit of my wage packet has been mine to spend as I please. And I will never touch credit again. I had to learn the hard way, but I learnt.

I really do think a Trust Deed was the making of me.

*Name changed for data protection reasons