Trust Deed Complaints: Your Guide

The most recent edition of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) newsletter is particularly focussed on the rising amount of complaints regarding lending, debt collection, and debt advisory services. You can read all about complaints relating to trust deed advice Scotland and the part FOS has in this in our article...

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has heard very few complaints relating to debt advice Scotland companies. When complaints about debt advice Scotland services are made, FOS categorises them as "debt adjusting" complaints. In the previous quarter the debt adjusting category received a mere 101 complaints. Under this category just a small proportion of these complaints are liable to have been made in relation to debt advice Scotland companies. Here are some more revealing figures from the same quarter:

-30301 PPI complaints
-4032 credit card complaints
-3421 current account complaints
-1566 overdraft and loan complaints

There are reasons to think that these statistics are not entirely representative. Complaints about trust deeds are no longer recorded by FOS the minute they get signed. Trust deed advice companies are under the auspices of FOS, but after a trust deed is started the complaints are dealt with by the insolvency regulator of the individual Trustee. FOS do monitor and receive complaints about debt advice providers as such providers have to have a consumer credit licence.

For lots of people a trust deed is a quicker way to manage debt and, after speaking with debt management services, numerous people enter a trust deed. The FOS newsletter expands upon two examples of complaints relating to debt management companies. If you are a debt management service or a debtor thinking about lodging a complaint relating to your debt management company, you might find these examples helpful:

In the first example a complainant claimed that his debt management company had "failed to get rid of his debts". During the FOS investigation of the complaint it was discovered that the debt management service had been completely clear and honest with the complainant. At no point had they been misleading, concealed fees or suggested that they could write off his debts. Actually they had strived hard for the complainant to negotiate agreements with creditors. Their excellent practices and thorough record keeping ensured the complaint was rejected. If the complainant tried a different debt management method, maybe a trust deed, he may have been able to write off more of his debt - a better debt advice company would have told him of this.

A debtor who alleged she had been told that her debts would be written off is at the crux of the second example. She patently had not been told that the debt management service she was involved in could not do this. It was found that the service's brochure incorrectly suggested that they could write off your debts and FOS validated the complaint. The complainant's fees were refunded. This is a great illustration of the idea that if a debt advice Scotland service seems too good to be true - it probably is.

If your trust deed is not operating in the way you expected and you want to file a complaint - FOS should not be your initial port of call. Attempt to sort out your issue with the trust deed firm involved before pursuing other avenues. If this doesn't work you'll have to get in touch with the right professional body. If your complaint is related to advice you have received, FOS could be the right place to lodge your complaint, once your trust deed has been started, the whole thing is out of their hands.