Last year in Scotland (2019-20) the number of times Sheriff Officers took action to recover debt from people, increased from 272,690 to 291,405.
The methods used, known generically in Scotland as diligence, included wage and bank account arrestments, attachments (for property kept outside the home) and exceptional attachment orders, which is when Sheriff Officers come into your home to seize goods.
In addition Sheriff Officers also served a record number of charge for payments, which are formal legal demands for payments. Numbers soared to 274,995, with 211,760 of them alone being for Council Tax arrears.
Scottish diligence statistics
The latest figures, known as the Scottish Diligence Statistics, are produced annually by the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) which is Scotland’s insolvency service. The AIB provides a breakdown of how often different procedures are being used, and for what types of debts and in which sheriffdoms, which is the legal administrative areas that Scotland’s Sheriff Courts are organised within.
There are six sheriffdoms in Scotland and only two of these saw the number of diligences being executed falling in 2019-20. These areas were Lothian and Borders and Grampian, Highland, and Islands.
The remaining four sheriffdoms all saw increases, with Glasgow and Strathkelvin seeing an increase of almost 40%.
Nine out of ten wage arrestments for Council Tax debt
The figures also show that 71,670 wage arrestments were executed in Scotland to recover debts, and that 65,000 of these were for Council Tax arrears (90%), with HMRC only using the procedure 340 times and other creditors, such as banks and finance firms, only using the procedure on 6,330 occasions.
For local authorities, this represented a 10% reduction in the number of times they used their powers to arrest people’s wages.
Bank account arrestments increase
However, when it comes to bank account arrestments, the number of times Scotland’s local authorities attempted to freeze bank accounts increased by 5% on the previous year, to 175,460.
In total there were over two hundred thousand attempts to freeze bank accounts in Scotland (218,225), with Scottish local authorities being responsible for 70% of them for Council Tax Arrears.
Attachments remain low
The number of Attachments in Scotland remains relatively low and only Scottish Councils increased the number of times they attempted to attach property kept outside people’s home, with the number of times they did so increasing from 105 to 260. Other creditors, including HMRC, attempted the procedure on 895 occasions, with commercial creditors being the most likely to use the procedure, instructing Sheriff Officers to do it on 815 occasions.
It is believed the reason Attachments are not used more frequently is because they are primarily used to seize cars and with over 90% of all new cars being purchased using Hire Purchase, Conditional Sale and PCP agreements, these vehicles are typically protected from Diligence until they are paid off.
Cars can also be exempt from Attachment where they are valued at less than £3,000 and the owner can show they have a reasonable requirement for the vehicle.
Exceptional Attachments Orders
The most controversial form of Diligence. known as Exceptional Attachment Orders continued to decline. Exceptional Attachment Order is used to seize property inside people’s home.
In total the procedure was only used on 165 occasions, with local authorities using the procedure 160 times (down from 225 in 2018-19) and commercial creditors only using it on 5 occasions. For the 6th year in a row, HMRC has not instructed Sheriff Officers to execute Exceptional Attachment Orders in people’s homes to recover debts.
Have you been subject to diligence?
If you have been subjected to diligence by a creditor, or you are worried you may be, then Scots Law offers remedies and protections.
For example, a Statutory Moratorium, often known as Scotland’s Breathing Space procedure, can protect you from diligence being executed, where it has not already happened. Statutory Moratoriums prevent any Diligence being executed whilst they are in force and can be registered for free online. Currently they can protect you for up to six months, under emergency Coronavirus Legislation.
Where wage arrestments have already been executed and are being taken from your wages each month, these can be recalled if you enter a formal debt solution such as a Debt Payment Programme under the Debt Arrangement Scheme or a Protected Trust Deed or Bankruptcy.
