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Carrington Dean now Scotland’s leading provider of the Debt Arrangement Scheme

Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

17th November 2020

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New figures released by the Scottish Government have shown that Carrington Dean is now Scotland’s leading free provider of the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

The statistics published by the Accountant in Bankruptcy, a Scottish Government agency, show that since new laws were introduced last November, more people have now accessed the Scheme through The Carrington Dean Group than any other provider.

Carrington Dean does not charge any fees to those who enter payment programmes and has provided access to more than one in three of all those who set up programmes since November 4, 2019, when new Scottish Government legislation abolished all private management fees for new cases.

The figures also show that up to the period, ending September 30 2020, of the 2,993 people who entered the Scheme, Carrington Dean proposed up to 1,172 of the applications made, more than double that set up by any other provider.

 

New debt laws have been a ‘game-changer’

Speaking about the recently released figures, Graeme MacLeod, Head of Operations at Carrington Dean said: “We are very proud of these figures, especially as many of these cases were proposed during the coronavirus crisis and lockdown, when all our advisors were working at home.

“It has been a difficult and worrying time for many people and the fact we have still been able to offer people access to Scotland’s debt solutions is an achievement we are very proud of.  All those clients who have entered programmes are now getting interest and charges on their debts frozen, which is not something that has been offered by many finance firms as part of their Coronavirus payment holidays. Unfortunately, many people who have used these have seen their debts increase over the same period.

“The Scottish Government legislation, introduced in November 2019, has been a game-changer for those struggling with problem debts and the real “winners” have been normal Scots who are struggling to pay credit cards, Council Tax Arrears and personal loans, with every penny going towards reducing their debts.”

 

What is the Debt Arrangement Scheme?

The Scottish Debt Arrangement Scheme a formal debt repayment plan and helps those living in Scotland struggling with problem debts, allowing them to only repay what they can afford each month.

Importantly, however, it also freezes interest and charges on all debts and provides people with protection from Sheriff Officers. This means wages cannot be arrested and bank accounts cannot be frozen. Equally, important it also protects people’s vehicles from being seized by Sheriff Officers using Attachment Orders.

It can also lift earning arrestments, where they have already been executed, and that allows people to free up money, which they can then use to pay their other debts, whilst meeting their essential expenditure.

The Scheme also protects people against creditors making them bankrupt and, therefore can protect assets, such as cars and homes.

 

How does the Debt Arrangement Scheme work?

People who want to enter into a Debt Payment Programme through the Debt Arrangement Scheme can only do so through authorised advisors, which Carrington Dean is.

The advisors then help people draft up income and expenditures and calculate how much they can afford to pay towards their debts each month, before making proposals to their creditors.

Creditors can object to any proposal, but where proposals are rejected by a creditor, a Scottish civil servant, known as the Debt Arrangement Scheme Administrator can disregard any objections and approve the application.

It is believed over 90% of all Debt Payment Programmes are approved, either as a result of creditors agreeing to them or the Debt Arrangement Scheme Administrator approving applications.

 

How are payments made through the Scheme?

Once a plan is established the person then only makes one payment each month to their Payment Distributor, who then distributes the payments to their creditors. Carrington Dean is also Scotland’s leading Payment Distributors for the Scheme, performing the function not only for their own cases, but thousands of other cases that have been set up by Citizen Advice Bureaux and other free money advice services.

 

What if your circumstances change during the Programme?

The Debt Arrangement Scheme is a flexible scheme, so where people’s circumstances change, or if they experience unexpected events, they can contact their money adviser who can either propose a variation to the amount that has to be paid each month or offer a short term payment break, during which time the participant still receives all the benefits of the Scheme.

 

 

 

 

Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

Maxine is an experienced writer, specialising in personal insolvency. With a wealth of experience in the finance industry, she has written extensively on the subject of Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Protected Trust Deed's, and various other debt solutions.

How we reviewed this article:

HISTORY

Our debt experts continually monitor the personal finance and debt industry, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

November 17 2020

Written by
Maxine McCreadie

Edited by
Ben McCormack

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