Protected Trust Deed (PTD)

The Protected Trust Deed (PTD) is available in Scotland to people who are facing serious debt problems. It is very similar to the Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) in England. The PTD offers a valuable alternative to people who would otherwise face bankruptcy/sequestration.

As with all debt solutions, the Debt Advice Trust does not recommend PTDs unless they are the best solution for you. All of the advice you receive from us is not only free of charge but based on your own particular circumstances and needs.

Affordable payments

A PTD is designed to let you become debt free after a fixed period of three years. An Insolvency Practitioner works with you to assess your circumstances and propose new monthly payments to your creditors. These new payments are based on what you can afford and they will replace all of your current monthly repayments. Your new payments should be significantly less than minimum payments on credit cards and loans and you will also have any debts that remain at the end of the PTD period written off.

Support with creditors

The Insolvency Practitioner who puts together your proposal also handles all correspondence with the people you owe money to. This means that you will no longer have to deal with creditors yourself – and because the PTD is a formal legal arrangement, you are protected from further legal action by creditors once your PTD is registered. You will need to cooperate with the trustee, pay the monthly contributions and avoid further credit. You also need to tell the trustee if your financial circumstances change.

Honest advice

A PTD will usually write off significant amounts of your debt and will last only three years. This is a very attractive alternative to bankruptcy/sequestration but it is important to seek the right advice. Most of your creditors will require certain minimum standards to be met before they will accept a PTD proposal and so you need to work with someone who understands what kind of proposal is likely to succeed. The Debt Advice Trust will make sure that you receive honest, needs-based advice.