Personal Insolvency in Scotland: What are your options?

Insolvency Advice for Scottish Individuals including Trust Deeds, Sequestration and DAS

Local Offices:

Aberdeen Office 01224 418 700 -  Office Details: Aberdeen Insolvency Practitioners
Dundee Office 01382 684 997 - Office Details: Dundee Insolvency Practitioners
Edinburgh Office 0131 203 3416 - Office Details: Edinburgh Insolvency Practitioners
Glasgow Office 0141 278 6165 - Office Details: Glasgow Insolvency Practitioners
Inverness Office 01463 642 850 - Office Details: Inverness Insolvency Practitioners

At Real Business Rescue in Scotland, we also offer expert insolvency advice to individuals who are suffering from escalating debts. We help hundreds of Scots each and every year; working through their situations to find the best possible solution for all parties involved – the debtor and his/her creditors – allowing the debtor to breathe easier once again.

The most common personal insolvency solutions in Scotland are Trust Deeds, Sequestration (bankruptcy) and Debt Arrangement Schemes (DAS). We’ll shed more light on these procedures to help you understand how they work:

Trust Deeds

Trust Deeds is a term you may have seen bandied around the subject of personal debt; they are a voluntary agreement between a person in debt and his or her creditors. It’s a fairly common arrangement – around 9,000 Trust Deeds were agreed in 2013 – between the debtor, creditors and a qualified independent ‘Trustee’ who takes control of the debtor’s repayments.

The process is effectively a repayment compromise that has benefits for both debtors and creditors; the debtor begins a monthly repayment schedule based on what he or she can afford, whilst the creditor is able to recover at least some of what is owed to them.

This repayment schedule will normally last four years and after that, any outstanding debts are effectively written off.

Based on information released by the Accountant In Bankruptcy (AiB) in November 2013:

Sequestration

Known as bankruptcy south of the border, Sequestration is a process that sounds ominous yet could be the best solution for your individual circumstances. It would involve the debtor transferring all of his/her assets to a licensed insolvency practitioner – also known as a Trustee – who would act on behalf of the creditors due to the debtor’s failure to pay their debts.

The Trustee’s duty of care to the creditors means they must look to sell all assets – such as property, vehicles, valuables, savings) to realise funds for the creditors. The whole Sequestration process will last for around a year and will have serious implications on the availability of credit in the future. 

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages, which include:

Advantages

Disadvantages

Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS)

The Debt Arrangement Scheme – known as a DAS – is run by the Scottish Government and is designed to allow individuals the time to pay their debts over a designated schedule – known as a Debt Payment Program (DPP).

This statutory scheme provides breathing space for the debtor from any creditor action, and will also freeze monies owed meaning interest and charges cannot be applied.

 Whether a DAS is right for your circumstances is subject to analysis and application – a Real Business Rescue insolvency practitioner who specialises in personal insolvency can speak with you during a free consultation to ascertain whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme is recommended or whether an alternative solution is best.

Once approved, the DAS will be legally binding and creditors will have to comply with the agreement.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Real Business Rescue has five offices across Scotland in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. Our personal and corporate insolvency experts have helped hundreds of individuals and businesses in times of financial distress and are on hand to assist with your query.