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Unemployment figures may indicate that more British people are now working compared to 2013, but this does not necessarily mean that citizens are financially stable. Having a regular job does not make paying for utility bills, rent and the overall cost of living much easier for an alarming number of taxpayers. Of course, employment is welcome, particularly in such a harsh economic climate, but figures should be taken lightly due to a high number of Britons remaining in the red.

Falling into debt problems causes real anxiety and panic among people of various age groups around the UK. Quite often people in this predicament can feel helpless, with no hope of regaining a strong economic standing. Fortunately, perceived hopelessness can soon be eradicated when you contact us at Council Tax Advisors. Receiving free and independent advice should not be underestimated – we only have our client’s best interests at heart unlike payday lenders and debt collection companies.

An option for Scottish residents struggling financially is signing up to a trust deed. People living in Scotland can typically pay off debts totalling £5,000 within four years without losing their home or car if they make the agreed regular repayments. You must have a regular income to make sure your occupation of a flat or house is unaffected by a trust deed. If you make all the agreed payments to creditors then you’re protected from losing your home.

When people sink into debt they can lose everything. Possessions, however precious some people view them, are quite frankly of minor importance to your property where you may have lived for years or where you’re raising children. Losing this is not an option – with the spiralling cost of the UK housing market it can be difficult to quickly find a replacement home. For this reason, getting a trust deed may be your best option to protect vital belongings.

Children will understand that they can’t afford a new HD television, but will be less understanding and sympathetic if you’re kicked out of a home. If you have a regular income then this can be avoided. Your eligibility to getting a trust deed is not dependent on whether you’re a private tenant, homeowner or council tenant. Trust deeds just cover your unsecured debts – arrears arising from personal loans, credit cards along with other things.

If you do not pay the agreed repayments then you put yourself at risk of sequestration and this includes prized assets such as your property. Success is not guaranteed, but if you can afford the repayments then you should be able to write off your debts without burdening yourself and loved ones with eviction. However worried you are about debt, it can be solved and contacting Council Tax Advisors is an effective first step in combating the problem.

We are committed to helping anyone with debt problems, whatever the cause. We recognise that there can be several reasons why people fall into the red, but don’t worry – call us and we’ll find a solution for you. A trust deed may be your best course of action, but we are adept at finding several other options for you to turn your finances and life around.

When faced with an overwhelming amount of debt, you may already be considering a sequestration. However, a Trust Deed could be an alternative way for you to tackle your debt. If you have at least £5,000 of debt from two or more creditors and you have a regular source of income, a Trust Deed may be an effective product for you. Before making any financial decisions, it’s always important to understand the pros and cons. Council Tax Advisors has comprised a list to help you make the best decision. If you are still unsure, CTACIC can provide free and impartial debt advice to help you make the right decision.

Pro’s
Avoid creditor hassle

Unsecured creditors who have agreed to the terms and conditions of a trust deed are required to leave you alone as soon as it is protected. Your trustee will deal with all contact from your unsecured creditors from this point on. They will distribute your payments among them according to the terms of your trust deed.

Avoid interest and charges

Any charges and interest from your unsecured debt are usually not applied, so long as you abide by the specific repayment plan. If your trust deed is protected, even unsecured creditors cannot instigate any proceedings against you.

Financial stability

Normally, a trust deed will only last for around four years. This will alleviate the weight of debt that is carried for years on end. A trust deed gives you an opportunity at a clean slate.

Disposable income will be used to pay creditors

Living expenses such as your rent or mortgage, bills, food and work-related travel costs will take priority in your trust deed budget. This means you will never have to go without in order to make your repayments. However, luxuries such as gym memberships and holidays will not be allowed.

Negotiation

You have the option to negotiate to keep your home rather than sell it. This is a huge fear people have to deal with when facing a sequestration. Being forced to sell a family home and move into rented accommodation can be incredibly distressing. A trust deed can prevent this from happening.

Carry on trading

If you own a business, or you are a sole trader, you will still be able to carry on trading. You may even be able to obtain very small amounts of credit, unless the terms of your trust deed stipulate otherwise.

Con’s
Damaged credit rating

One of the biggest issues of trust deeds is the fact that it will inevitably affect your credit rating. There really is no way to avoid this, although it is important to remember that your credit record is already being affected if you have missed payments on your debts.

Sell or re-mortgage

There is a very real possibility that you will have to sell or re-mortgage your home. This usually applies to a main residence if it has little or no equity. There are several options to avoid having to sell, however the trust deed will certainly need you to sell all high value items to raise the funds to pay your creditors.

Public record

Your trust deed will be recorded on the Register of Insolvencies, which is in fact a public record. If someone knows where to look, they will be able to find out about your trust deed. However, this is highly unlikely unless they are specifically searching for the information.

Risks of missed payments

If you miss a payment during your trust deed agreement without contacting your trustee for a discussion beforehand, you may find that the trust deed will fail. This will mean your unsecured creditors are entitled to pursue you for sequestration again.

Does not cover secured debts

Only unsecured debts will be covered by a trust deed, so any loans that are secured to your home or through hire purchase agreements will not be covered.

Does not cover new debt

Running up any new debts during your trust deed agreement means that any new creditors will be able to pursue you for your new debts. Your existing trust deed does not cover debts incurred outside of the agreement.

There are fewer jobs more divisive throughout the whole of Scotland than that of the sheriff. While across the rest of the UK it may be hard to disassociate the stereotypical image of the Wild West cowboy, in Scotland things are very different. Similar to the role of the bailiff, the sheriff has powers vested in him by the Scottish government to carry out debt recovery operations for those who have continually neglected to meet the conditions of their payment agreement.

The burning question when talking about sheriffs is always whether they possess the right to enter your home, and whether they have any legal permission to begin to take permissions in order to contribute to the repayment plan. In theory, the answer is yes but fortunately it is a rare occurrence for a sheriff to exercise this privilege – this is as much the case with Scott & Co as it is with the large majority of debt recovery firms across the country.

Scott and Co Sheriff officers can only be deployed by creditors – local governments included – after numerous other pathways have been taken to recover the money owed. You will also only be required by law to let them in should they be in possession of a relevant court order that permits them to do so; these court orders are not handed out with any serious frequency and will only be used in cases deemed serious enough by the court.

Wage Arrestment

One method that is more likely to be employed by your creditors is what is known as wage arrestment, also known as earnings arrestment. For those that do not seek the right help, support or guidance when faced with serious debt troubles, your creditor will – by law – send you an information package that highlights various paths you can take in order begin your repayments amicably. CTACIC are an example of one of these outlets, as our team of experts are experienced in dealing with personal debt – it is absolute vital you heed this warning and seek us out, or the consequences could be extremely debilitating for your financial situation.

Not doing so will give them legal right to arrest your wages – the literal taking of your wages out of your bank account, the amount dependent on how much you earn. Whether it is standard pay, a bonus, sick pay or accrued holiday, your creditors will have full access to take your money against your will. In this situation, you need to be fully aware of both yours and the creditor’s rights in order to ensure everything is being kept within the legal guidelines – with the help of CTACIC, we can guarantee this is the case.

A Countrywide Issue

One common misconception that creditors and sheriff firms such as Scott & Co love to perpetrate is that when you are in debt, you are an island – completely isolated from all help. In reality, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Council tax in particular is a serious problem throughout Scotland and the number of people who struggle to meet their payment every year is only increasing. As the cost of living continues to rise against a backdrop of wage freezes and unemployment, there are thousands of people that seek debt advice every day – but, unfortunately, there are many that don’t.

It is important that you realise you need to act as soon as you feel yourself losing control of your finances. Without doing so, you begin on the slippery slope towards wage arrestment and sheriff intervention and the longer you neglect to seek advice, the worse the scenario becomes. Here at Council Tax Advisors (CTACIC), we urge to let go of that stigma that is attached to personal debt and take positive action towards finding an amicable solution to your problems.

If you feel as though any of the issues covered in this blog relate to your personal situation, do not hesitate to contact one of the team here at CTACIC today.

We are all likely to experience times when money is tight, but the month after Christmas is likely to be a period where there is increased financial strain up and down the country. A combination of paying rent, bills and other needed living costs can leave us with limited money for other things such as transport to and from work. Therefore, avoiding debt can be easier said than done. Spending additional cash on council tax may become a more unwelcome charge than usual in January.

Here at Council Tax Advisors we help those who need financial support whatever month of the year it is.  Thankfully, we provide a range of options when people can feel helpless at their spiralling debt. Do not worry, solutions such as our Debt Arrangement Schemes (DAS) could be the first step in restoring your financial stability and dramatically improving your mood. This works simply and effectively at getting you out of the red and back into the black without the high interest rates of payday lenders.

So, what is a Debt Arrangement Scheme? It is a method of repaying what you owe by agreeing to a Debt Payment Programme (DPP) and this covers a third of people with arrears totally more than £5,000. It is a Scottish-government scheme and you get help from a specialist DAS-approved money adviser who contacts your creditors in order to request that they agree with your DPP. While this is helpful, you will be boosted by the fact that the terms of a DPP include a freeze in interest along with smaller monthly repayments. A disadvantage of this is that you will be in debt for longer, but on the other hand, you will be paying affordable amounts.

Under a DAS you pay what you can afford, which is the amount of money remaining after essential expenditure on rent, mortgage payments, bills and food. The fact that the interest of your debt, among other charges, is frozen shows that we are fully motivated at helping Scottish citizens with their financial troubles.  This arrangement is far more reliable than calling on payday companies for a quick fix. Another benefit from using this method of combating debt is the DAS means your creditors will then have no power of chasing you for the money you owe them.

Despite the positives of getting an approved DAS, it will harm your credit rating as you have defaulted on your initial repayment agreement. This means that you will be unable to borrow more money during your repayment period. On the flipside, an advantage is that you won’t lose your home as the case with some arrears where properties are repossessed. This doesn’t mean you will avoid paying rent or your mortgage, though. Your DAS only ends when you have paid all of your debts.

With council tax rising across the UK and slow economic recovery from the global financial crisis in 2008, it has proved to be very difficult for residents to keep up with property tax payments among a host of other bills. Contacting our team at CTACIC will help put your finances back on the right track and take the weight off your shoulders that financial problems bring. Getting a Debt Arrangement Scheme could well be your best option, but if you’re unsure what to do then please contact us today.

Dealing with debt in Scotland due to council tax can be extremely hard at the best of times. No matter how much we hate it, council tax is something that we all have to live with and the payments can pile up if you’re not too careful. In the unfortunate event of you not being able to pay your council tax for a while you may suffer various consequences. One of them is the possibility of a wage arrestment being issued, which takes money directly from your bank account in order to repay the arrears. There are a few steps you need to be aware of before this happens.

If it’s been a while since you paid your council tax, and you’ve been given written warnings about the arrears, then a Sheriff Officer could be called in. Sheriff Officers enforce court orders and they issue you with a summary warrant which details the amount of money due and where the payments should be made. By receiving a summary warrant you’re likely to have also incurred a 10% penalty charge on top of the council tax debt.

Sheriff Officers have slightly more jurisdiction compared to Bailiffs in England. They can repossess items from your property to the value of what you owe and they can even enter your home if they hold the necessary documents. Sheriff Officers contacting you on the phone may ask for employment and bank account details, and it’s advisable not to hand these over if you want to avoid a wage arrestment.

Anyone in employment, apart from those serving in the armed forces, can have their wages arrested. For a creditor to use a wage arrestment they must have served a charge for payment and provided you with a Debt Advice and Information Package, which explains exactly what rights you have and encourages you to seek advice. Your wage arrestment isn’t legal unless this process has occurred.

Should your wages be arrested there are certain rules regarding how much money can be taken from your account. The amount taken is dependent on how much money you earn, and even wages that include commission, bonuses and statutory sick pay can be arrested. The deduction is based on a formula and doesn’t take any other debts or outgoings into account. Should your earnings change, so will the wage arrestment deductions, but you must always be left with at least 60% of your net income.

Fortunately there are certain debt solutions available that can override wage arrestments. This includes trust deeds and Debt Arrangement Schemes, which terminate the arrestment and end the creditor’s right to withdraw money straight from your account. If you’re worried about council tax arrears and are unsure about how you’re going to deal with mounting debt, seeking help from a specialist service such as Council Tax Advisors could help to resolve all of your issues.

Council Tax Advisors offers free and impartial advice to people suffering from council tax issues or any other form of debt. If your wages have been arrested, or if you’re worried that they will be in the future, then get in touch with a friendly member of our team today. We can provide details about how best to handle your debt problems and give you peace of mind. If you would like more information on Wage Arrestments you can read our ultimate guide to wage arrestments by clicking here