Fees

Cleanslate is a trading style of UK Debt Expert Limited.

While all the initial debt advice we give is free, if you enter into a debt solution, a fee will be chargeable which is dependent upon your preferred debt solution. Chargeable fees are paid by your creditors from the agreed contributions that will be paid by you to them during the term of your agreement.

If you’re a resident in England, Northern Ireland or Wales and qualify for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, this will be provided by Creditfix Limited (part of the same group of companies as UK Debt Expert Limited) and separate fees will apply.

If you’re a resident of Scotland and qualify for a Trust Deed or the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) this will be provided by Carrington Dean Group Limited (part of the same group of companies as UK Debt Expert Limited) and separate fees will apply.

Fees differ for both Trust Deeds and the Debt Arrangement Schemes, which are solutions that are only available to people living in Scotland.

Trust Deeds

Affordable, sustainable contributions are paid by you for the term of your arrangement. The proposal considered by creditors will include the amount of the agreed monthly contribution which will be assessed on the amount you can reasonably afford and will be reviewed every twelve months. This contribution covers the running costs of the Trust Deed. 

• We charge a fixed fee of £4,250.
• The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) charges a supervision fee for each year of the Trust Deed arrangement (typically £400 over the course of a four year arrangement).
• We also charge 20% of any additional assets or realisations paid into the arrangement.
• Dividends to creditors will be paid from month three of the arrangement.

The monthly fee will cover all costs associated with your Trust Deed  including the work involved in keeping your trust deed running.

Trustees work with you to draw up your trust deed proposal and can take care of any more serious issues that occur (e.g. asking your creditors about changing your payments if your circumstances change significantly).

Note: It is very important that you keep up your Trust Deed payments, or the arrangement could fail. If it does, you will be liable for the outstanding balance and any costs already incurred.

If the Trust Deed fails the client is not liable for any outstanding balance and any costs already incurred. The client’s creditors are advised that he has failed to maintain the terms of his Trust Deed and that the trustee will seek his discharge and not grant the client/debtor his discharge.

Any costs incurred are deducted from funds held and if there is a deficit this is written off. Any unpaid contributions remain outstanding.

Debt Arrangement Scheme

If you enter into a Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) Debt Payment Programme through Carrington Dean Group Limited, there will be fees payable by you and your creditors.

A fee of 20% of your payment is charged for the administration of your case. Essentially creditors pay this fee so you will never repay more than your debt level. The Accountant in Bankruptcy charges a 2% administration fee to oversee your DAS.

Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA)

If you are a resident of England, Wales or Northern Ireland and opt for an IVA this will be provided by Creditfix.

Creditfix will only charge a fee if the IVA is approved by creditors.

Creditfix fees are taken from your monthly payment or asset realisations paid into your arrangement.

Creditfix operates a transparent, inclusive fixed fee cost of £4,200 which incorporates the Nominee Fee, Supervisory Fee and all costs and expenses associated with the arrangement unless otherwise specified within your proposal.

Creditfix also offer, as part of your proposal, to start distributing a percentage of the payments made by you within 30 days of commencement of the IVA, or within 30 days of receipt of your first contribution whichever is later, which means the balance owed to your creditors begins to reduce from the outset.

In some cases, creditors may try to amend the terms of the IVA fees. Any request to modify either or both of the fees in a downwards only manner (Downwards Adjustment), the Nominee and/or the Supervisor will deal with the Downwards Adjustment as they see fit.

In an IVA there are three different types of cost charged by an Insolvency Practitioner.

Nominee’s Fee

This fee covers the setting up and preparation of your IVA. This includes assessing your current financial situation and your repayment offer to creditors, issuing the Proposal to your creditors, the administration and facilitation of the creditors’ decision process used to consider the IVA, and any negotiations with creditors during this process.

Most other IVA providers will typically charge a Nominee’s fee of £1,000 but will also charge various other costs and charges in addition (see below). Creditfix charges a fee of £2,400 to include all other necessary expenses.

Supervisor’s Fees

 These fees are charged for the ongoing administration of the IVA which includes collecting and distributing your monthly repayments, dealing with any queries raised by you or your creditors, completing an annual review of your financial circumstances, reporting annually to you and your creditors about the progress of the IVA, and dealing with the closing formalities.

Again, most other IVA providers will charge Supervisor’s fees based on a percentage of any monies paid into the arrangement, typically 15%.  This means that the more you pay into your IVA, the higher the Supervisor’s fee.

Creditfix charges a fixed Supervisor’s fee of £1,800 regardless of the amount of your monthly contribution.  Creditfix will charge an additional 15% on any other asset realisations that may come into your arrangement, for example, windfalls or compensation for misselling claims.

Disbursements

These are costs paid by the IP to third party companies for various costs and expenses of administering the arrangement and will typically include software licences, insurances, and registrations that are required as part of the arrangement. These may also include payments made for the provision of additional services to provide the best return for your creditors.

Typically, the disbursements of an arrangement equate to an average of £2,000 per case if they are charged separately to the other fees, however, this is subject to individual circumstances and could vary.

IPs who charge disbursements separately to their Nominee and Supervisor’s fees will ensure that those disbursements and all accrued fees are paid before any payment is made to your creditors.  This can mean that your creditors do not receive any payments for up to two years and in some cases even longer.

By charging an overall fixed fee of £4,200 to include all costs and expenses of the IVA and by making payments to your creditors from the outset Creditfix believes it is offering a fairer allocation of your monthly contributions.