Debt Advice Scotland

Can I get Scottish debt help without knowing all my debt information?

If you do not have all your debt information to hand, that isn’t a problem. With your permission, we’re able to help run a search on your credit file and get all debt information on your behalf.

It’s 100% encrypted, secure & confidential. Unlike other companies, we will never sell your details to 3rd parties. Use the Trust Deed Wizard^® tool to get started.

Can the government help with debt?

You may have seen an advert online offering government debt help, or government-backed schemes and assumed that it’s the Scottish government themselves that you should contact for debt help.

People are misled by these adverts into thinking that these debt consolidation services are free or official. It is a wrongful suggestion that the creators of the adverts are running their ads on behalf of the government.

While it’s true that Trust Deeds, Sequestration and the Debt Arrangement Scheme all use legislation created by the government, it is either a licensed insolvency practitioner or an approved money advisor that does the work involved.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB) is the Scottish government agency responsible for administering the process of personal insolvency and corporate bankruptcy, overseeing Protected Trust Deeds procedure, and administering the Debt Arrangement Scheme. The AiB implements, monitors, and reviews government policies and diligence.

In the case of Full Administration Process Sequestration or Minimal Asset Process Sequestration, if the AiB awards Sequestration, they will appoint a trustee or act themselves as trustee if no-one else is appointed.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy reports to the Scottish Government’s Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, who is Jamie Hepburn MSP.

The Financial Conduct Authority regulates the debt advice industry. Our FCA number is 820851. Whether you opt for a professional debt advice company or debt charity – you should always ensure their FCA authorisation level.

We’re an FCA regulated ‘firm that is given permission to provide regulated products and services.’

How do you get a debt written off in Scotland?

You can get interest and charges frozen by using any of the legislated Scottish debt relief solutions – Trust Deed, DAS or Sequestration.

When it comes to the question of how do you get a debt written off in Scotland, it depends on how much you owe and which solution you use. Be wary of messages that concentrate on debt write off amounts as it may not always be in your best interests.

More importantly, it’s about you and your personal circumstances. It’s about you getting the best debt advice available, and ultimately it’s about your affordability and long-term prospects.

Sometimes it is possible to ask your creditors to write-off debts, citing exceptional circumstances such as a critical illness.

Creditors do not normally agree to write off the debt. The debt still shows up on your credit file and affect your ability to get credit in the future. Creditors may choose to not pursue the debt but refuse to put this in writing. There is no guarantee they won’t chase you for the debt in the future and finally, if you have unaffordable debts to a number of creditors, some lenders may refuse whilst others you owe to will agree.

How long before a debt is written off in Scotland?

If you were to enter into a Trust Deed, any unaffordable debts would be written off after a typical period of 48 months. All legislated debt solutions should ensure that at very least, further interest and charges are written off.

In Scotland, there is a time limit of 60 months or 20 years (depending upon the type of debt) on taking legal action to claim monies owed.

This includes credit card debts, store cards, unsecured personal loans, catalogue debts, old  utility bills, finance company loans and similar agreements or student loans taken out before September 1998.

These types of debts are known as ‘Simple Contract Debts’.

You may have had a debt with an unsecured creditor that you have not heard about for a very long time. Commonly this happens because you have moved address and stopped receiving letter from them, or thought that the debt had been written off.

You should think carefully about any action that either you or the creditor has taken over the last 60 months.

It can be argued that the debt is eligible to be written off, or ‘extinguished’ if:

• You or anyone else owing the money (on a debt in joint names) have not made a payment on the debt during the last five years
• The creditor has not already obtained a decree (Scottish CCJ) against you
• You have not written to the creditor admitting you owe the debt during the last 60 months

This means that it no longer exists and there is no debt for the creditor to pursue.

If the creditor can prove that you wrote to them admitting the debt, or you or anyone else owing the debt made a payment before the debt was extinguished, then the five year limitation period would start running from the date you last made contact or made a payment.

The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 sets out the rules on how long a creditor (who you owe money to) has to take certain action against you to recover a debt. The time limits do not apply to all types of recovery action. Also, the time limits are different depending on the type of debt you have.

Limitation periods for debts are important, because if the creditor has run out of time, you may not have to pay the debt back.

Where a debt isn’t classified as a simple contract debt, which may include Council Tax Arrears, Mortgage Shortfalls, Income Tax/VAT and ‘Income Contigent’ (Post 1998) Student Loans.