Dedicated team
We are one of Scotland’s leading debt solution providers. We are employee owned so every staff member pride themselves on the quality of our debt advice and ongoing customer service.
Our StoryDedicated team
We are one of Scotland’s leading debt solution providers. We are employee owned so every staff member pride themselves on the quality of our debt advice and ongoing customer service.
Our StoryIn a rare move in our sector, our team of almost 70 employees all become part owners of the company using an Employee Ownership Trust.
Having helped 25,000 people resolve their personal debt since 2009 and with over 9,000 customers with £234m of debts under management, our Managing Director Thomas Fox said: “I am delighted to have become a part-owner in the business alongside our knowledgeable and experienced team, who I believe provide a best-in-class service to our customers.
We are all looking forward to the future with excitement and confidence and to helping many more people deal with their debt issues in a practical and compassionate manner.”
Find out more about Trust Deed Scotland becoming Employee Owned.
Trust Deed Scotland’s owner, Harper McDermott Ltd, is one of the first Scottish debt companies to agree to a new Scottish Trust Deed protocol.
Described officially as the PTD protocol, from 1 October 2021 onwards, a number of firms that offer a Scottish Trust Deed as a formal debt solution have committed to changes designed to improve the solution for the benefit of all parties.
After lengthy discussions between the governing body for Trust Deeds, the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) and the Scottish government, it was agreed that the AiB, in agreement with Trustees and Creditors, could introduce operational changes in the short-term to improve existing processes and fill any gaps identified in the dialogue between the AiB and the Scottish government.
As the country continues to cope, many of us will have to deal with the impact of debt.
Trust Deed Scotland® build awareness of the range of statutory debt solutions in Scotland, focusing on the Debt Arrangement Scheme and Protected Trust Deeds with newly commissioned television adverts featuring TV & Radio personality Jennifer Reoch.
As the country recovers, many will need to deal with the impact of debt. Payment breaks are starting to come to an end and the advancement of redundancies and continuation of furlough are impacting the lives of millions of Scottish residents.
Trust Deed Scotland® once again takes on the responsibility of fronting a new debt advice radio campaign to build awareness of the range of options open to those who have suffered most financially during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Many debt help adverts emerge across Google and social media as a result of the pandemic, however there’s only one Trust Deed Scotland.
Trust Deed Scotland moves into larger premises that enable us to expand and improve upon our services.
With further investments in our training, compliance, and administrative functions; we’re confident that we will be able to provide help, support, and guidance to more people than ever before.
The Reel House is an Art-Deco building formerly the site of the Odeon cinema on Renfield Street. An iconic, yet practical location that is easily accessible to both the public and our staff that allows us to concentrate on what we do best: Providing people in Scotland in financial difficulties a chance to look forward to a life after debt.
Tamara Kennedy was recruited to once again reprise her role as lead ambassador for the Trust Deed Scotland® brand.
As Scotland’s leading Trust Deed company, it was important for us to choose the correct representative who appeals to people in Scotland from all walks of life. Tamara has also worked for Sony, Boots, Fylbe, Royal Bank of Scotland, Co-op, Epson. The Royal Navy & The Scottish Police Force.
Trust Deed Scotland launches our newest radio ad all across Scotland – If you do something about your debt today, you can stop worrying about it tomorrow.
Many people put off seeking help with their unaffordable debts for fear of the unknown. There is still a stigma attached to debt which causes shame and embarrassment – ultimately meaning that people will struggle on alone.
Trust Deed Scotland has always been keen to get people to open up about their debts and help them to understand that they are not alone. We offer friendly, non-judgemental advice and we like to promote our client’s stories wherever we can, to help demonstrate that it’s OK to have debts and by acting now, our clients can realise the instant benefits of taking action.
Our latest campaign message had been broadcast from Aberdeen and Dundee to Glasgow, Edinburgh and throughout the rest of the country.
As reported in the Daily Record, Trust Deed Scotland welcomes a Google crackdown on misleading debt service adverts.
We’d been aware of a number of firms operating from oddly enough, all over the world – passing themselves off as the official Trust Deed Scotland for a number of years by this point.
Stepchange, National Debt Helpline and even the Scottish Government themselves had been cloned – In 2019 alone there had been almost 100 instances of fraudulent impersonator websites reported for advertising on the Google platform as a debt charity, or other reputable firm operating in the industry.
Many of these companies are in fact based in countries as far away as the Philippines and India, and some were as close to us as call centres based in the UK.
Our qualified debt advisors reach a milestone as we help our 20,000th client look forward to a life after debt.
Our newest Trust Deed Scotland® clients reach us in many ways. Many people see our campaigns online, on television or radio.
However, in many ways, word of mouth referrals are our most pleasing way that clients hear about us. Partly because it means that our clients trust us enough to make a recommendation; which invariably means we’ve done a good job helping that person but also partly due to a word of mouth referral highlighting that more and more people are opening up and talking about debt issues, which historically have carried a stigma with them.
By opening up about debt, that stigma is slowly starting to be eroded and the message is being heard that’s it OK to have debts, there is no shame in having financial difficulties and by taking the first step of speaking to a qualified advisor, many more people can look forward to life after debt too.
When we set out in 2009, we had the aim of becoming a leading debt advice company in Scotland. There are a number of companies out there that are not authorised to give debt advice and thankfully, we’re not one of those.
As a leading provider of Trust Deeds and the Debt Arrangement Scheme, Trust Deed Scotland campaigned to highlight that we’re here for our customers every step of the way and we offer regulated debt advice that puts the customer at the centre of what we do.
As a company that operates only in Scotland with a smaller client base potential, it was with immense pride that we achieved the rank of number 1 in the category Debt Relief Service in Scotland.
Typically there are over 30 businesses listed in this category in the whole of the UK. We have a rating of excellent – Which was formerly based on a rating out of 10/10, but lately changed to a ‘TrustScore’ rating out of 5/5.
Trust Deed Scotland has been running awareness campaigns during football matches for many years. In one of our favourite occasions, in October 2017 – we were able to help promote our campaign during a Scotland match against Slovakia, which fortunately was a successful night for the national team beating their Eastern European counterparts 1-0.
However, unfortunately for us – the winning goal was scored while another ad was showing for Vauxhall Corsa and perhaps a second goal would have been too much to ask of our national team!
Trust Deed Scotland has always been at the forefront of compliance and regulation with the debt advice community.
We are fully authorised by the regulatory bodies.
Our 2015 Trust Deed awareness campaign with Tamara Kennedy agreeing to again front the campaign as our figurehead.
With TrustDeedScotland.net it’s all about trust.
PPI claim and accident advice lawyers had been bombarding people with unsolicited calls and text messages for a number of years. Eventually, this spread into the debt advice industry where unscrupulous operators began to capitalise on people’s vulnerabilities here too.
The enviable reputation Trust Deed Scotland itself was building too became a target for these scammers, so must so – that we had to put out another campaign on TV to highlight this and emphasis the importance of trust.
Trust Deed Scotland raise funds in aid of various charites.
As one of many charity initiatives, every year Trust Deed Scotland give our backing to carefully chosen charity organisations to help them to continue their hard work and further fund their cause.
Our qualified debt advisors reach a milestone as we help our 10,000th client look forward to a life after debt.
Our clients reach us in many ways.
Many people see our campaigns online, on television or radio. But in many ways, word of mouth referrals are our most pleasing. Partly because it means that people trust us enough to make a recommendation; which invariably means we’ve done a good job helping that person but also partly due to a word of mouth referral highlighting that more and more people are opening up and talking about debt issues, which historically have carried a stigma with them.
By opening up about debt, that stigma is slowly starting to be eroded and the message is being heard that’s it OK to have debts, there is no shame in having financial difficulties and by taking the first step of speaking to a qualified advisor, many more people can look forward to life after debt too.
The 2013 Regulations provided that a client must have a minimum debt level of £5,000 before being eligible to enter a Trust Deed.
Mandatory length increased from 36 months to 48 months.
New 2013 regulations were designed to ensure greater protection for creditors.
As more people become aware of the option of repaying unaffordable debt using Trust Deeds and Debt Arrangement Scheme, our Trust Deed Wizard tool becomes more popular as the first choice for researching debt in Scotland
After initially applying to register the Trust Deed Scotland as a trademarked term in March 2013, Our trademark case was finally registered on 21st November 2014.
This was gratefully received by many people in the wider industry. By 2013, there was incontrovertible evidence that copycat imitations were targeting reputable brands like ours, and that of debt charities such as the National Debt Line, Stepchange and even the Citizens Advice Bureau in Scotland across Google and elsewhere online
Before the current, improved regulation of the debt advice industry brought about by the FCA, Trust Deed Scotland became full members of the Debt Resolution Forum.
The Debt Resolution Forum promotes professional standards for resolving debtors’ financial problems, focusing on the quality of advice provided to consumer debtors by all DRF members.
Trust Deed Scotland launches its newest TV campaign featuring our recently trademarked Trust Deed Wizard tool.
Not only do we have the new Trust Deed Wizard tool to help everyone manage their debts but we adopt a new campaign tagline. For life after debt.
After much research and feedback from clients in recent years, we understood that many people saw our services as a lifesaving solution that provided light at the end of a tunnel.
Trust Deed Scotland pioneered accessible debt advice across all devices.
Being able to access expert qualified debt advice became important to Trust Deed Scotland when we realised that more people were unable to access laptops and iPads in order to research their options.
Our clients were feeling vulnerable and unable to get access to trustworthy debt advice from a public shared PC. And, with the added stigma of debt – many people would put off taking the all-important first step as a result.
Trust Deed Scotland set out to once again to revolutionise the industry by utilising the best technology available at the time and the Trust Deed Wizard tool was developed.
We were able to help successfully bridge that gap and allowing people to speed up the process. Not only had we found the perfect solution for those looking for discreet, confidential advice, but we were then further able to help people find the debts they had, remotely without needing to sift through paperwork. Still 100% encrypted, secure and confidential.
The Trust Deed Wizard itself became the attention of envious competitors and copycats, with us having to also register the trademark Trust Deed Wizard in order to stop imitations.
As heard on Radio Clyde, Real Radio and Capital Radio among other stations in Scotland.
Trust Deed Scotland’s debt advice campaigning becomes a familiar message on radio throughout Scotland.
The original brand was updated to a new logo which represented our proud heritage of being a Scottish company, helping our fellow citizens look forward to a life after debt.
The Trust Deed Scotland logo is in the shape of a Scottish thistle but also signifies a funnel to highlight that several larger payments are combined into one lesser manageable amount.
Where many companies focus exclusively on the ‘debt write off amount’ or ‘government approved’ aspect – We’ve always been focused on delivering the best possible outcome for our clients. One which ultimately means it’s about their affordability and putting our clients back in control. Research suggested to us that 90% write off pales into insignificance compared to affordability.
A follow-up to our highly successful debut Trust Deed awareness campaign.
Broadcast across Scotland in the North, West and East STV regions and with Channel4 and Channel5 added to our broadcast roster.
In order to appeal to a wider-ranging audience, we changed the voiceover from an older male to a younger female in order to help demonstrate that debt doesn’t discriminate and this would then also allow us to get our campaign message across to another demographic who were previously unaware of the benefit of our services.
The first ever Trust Deed awareness campaign seen on televisions was launched by Trust Deed Scotland.
Trust Deed Scotland had launched in 2009, after witnessing the impact the 2008 recession had on the lives of people in Scotland. Government funding had been cut and more families in Scotland had become victims of austerity measures launched to shore up the economy.
In an age of PPI miss-selling scandals, accident advice helpline, and door-to-door salespeople operating under non-regulated advice, it was clear that the right advice wasn’t being offered. People struggling with debt help were subject to cold calls, text messages, overseas call centers and few companies put the customers need first.
At Trust Deed Scotland, we set out with a vision to change that, and offer ethical advice. And late in 2010, we were able to realise our vision by taking our messages to television screens.
Scotland’s leading Trust Deed advice company moves into our first office in Glasgow’s Finnieston area.
Trust Deed Scotland nurtured a vision to become the leading provider of debt advice in Scotland. At a time when most other companies would charge a setup fee for their services, or add a fee for even a simple conversation, Trust Deed Scotland took the decision to offer free advice and waive setup fees. Why would we charge a fee and potentially put someone further into debt than they were before approaching us?
Trust Deed Scotland were amongst the first to offer home-based consultation.
Our ethos was simple in 2009 and remains the same as it does today, as it always has done with over 25,000 clients to date. To put the customer’s needs first, and provide the best in class, balanced advice. We’ve extremely proud of the hard work put into our training and compliance and the fruits of our labour are there for all to see with thousands of five star reviews on the independent reviews platform TrustPilot.
Further Information
We provide tailored debt advice to our clients. Below is some relevant solutions.
Trust Deed Scotland® was the first company to raise awareness of Trust Deeds on television, allowing Scottish residents to learn more about Trust Deeds and the Debt Arrangement Scheme.
We have our own in-house team that you will stay with until the end of your debt free journey. You will never be passed on to another company.
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