Can You Get The £150 Sequestration Application Fee Waived?
In a large number of cases, yes. No fee is payable where you receive one of the prescribed benefits at the date of the application, under regulation 7A, or where the common financial tool assesses you as having no surplus income, under regulation 7B.
These are exemptions rather than favours. Where the conditions are met the fee is simply not payable, and nobody has to be persuaded.
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Cannot find the £150 to apply? Check whether the fee is waived for you.
Free, confidential and no obligation.Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy carries no application fee at all. The £150 belongs to full administration.
The rules changed in 2023 and a great deal of advice online has not caught up. Pages still quote fees that were abolished, and one English figure that never applied here at all.
What follows is the full list of qualifying benefits, which no page in this market publishes, with the instrument and the date for each. What a sequestration costs in total covers the rest of the money.
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What is the £150 application fee?
It is the charge for the Accountant in Bankruptcy considering a full administration debtor application, set by item 22 of the Schedule to the Bankruptcy Fees (Scotland) Regulations 2018.
Who it is paid to
The Accountant in Bankruptcy, as part of the application. It is not a court fee and it is not a payment to a debt firm.
Scotland does not use a court petition for your own bankruptcy. You apply administratively under section 2 and the Accountant in Bankruptcy decides it.
The current wording, and its date
Item 22 was substituted in its entirety by regulation 4(3)(c) of the 2023 Regulations, in force 6 February 2023, so that it applies only to a debtor to whom section 2(2) does not apply.
Section 2(2) is the Minimal Asset Process. That is why there is no fee on that route rather than a fee that is always excused.
Who does not have to pay it?
Two groups, under two regulations. Regulation 7A covers prescribed benefits and regulation 7B covers a nil surplus assessment.
The prescribed benefits, in full
| The benefit | The condition | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Universal credit | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| Another income-related benefit within section 191 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| Jobseeker's allowance | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| State pension credit | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| Child tax credit | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| Employment and support allowance | Received at the date of the application | Regulation 7A |
| Working tax credit | Only with child tax credit in payment, or a disability or severe disability element, and gross annual income of £18,000 or less | Regulation 7A |
| Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015 assistance | Received within the three months before the application | Regulation 7A |
The income-related limb points at section 191 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, which is where that phrase is defined.
The last row is the one nobody mentions. Assistance under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015 received in the three months before the application counts.
The working tax credit limb has conditions on it
Working tax credit on its own is not enough. Either child tax credit must be in payment to you, or on a joint claim including you, or the award must include a disability or severe disability element.
There is an income test as well. The gross annual income taken into account for the working tax credit calculation must be £18,000 or less.
What the date of the application means here
The benefit has to be in payment on the day the application is made. A claim that ended the week before does not meet regulation 7A, and one that starts the week after is too late.
The Welfare Funds limb is the exception, because it looks back three months. Tell your adviser about a crisis grant or a community care grant received in that window.
The two exemptions side by side
| The provision | What it covers | When it came in |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation 7A | Prescribed benefits at the date of the application | Inserted 29 March 2021 by SSI 2021/148 regulation 9(2) |
| Regulation 7B | No surplus income, as assessed by the common financial tool | Inserted 6 February 2023 by SSI 2023/9 regulation 4(2) |
| What they exempt you from | Item 22 of the table of fees, and nothing else | So they matter to a full administration applicant |
| What they do for a Minimal Asset Process applicant | Nothing, because there is no fee | Item 22 no longer reaches a section 2(2) debtor at all |
Citizens Advice Scotland is the one consumer page in this market that dates the changes correctly.
Money already being taken from your wages? Get free help
Free, confidential and no obligation.What is the no surplus income test?
It is the assessment your adviser runs anyway. Regulation 15(1) prescribes the common financial tool, and regulation 7B exempts a debtor assessed by it as having no surplus income at the date of the application.
Which tool, and why the name matters
The prescribed tool is the Common Financial Statement, under regulation 15(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2016.
Most sources name the Standard Financial Statement, which is the tool used elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Regulations that would have moved Scotland to it were drafted in 2018 and never made.
How the assessment works
Regulation 15(2) takes your whole surplus income above the lower of the published trigger figures for reasonable expenditure and your actual expenditure. It is subject to qualifications in the same regulation.
Regulation 15(7) is the clearest of them: no contribution is due where your income is solely social security benefits and tax credits. How a contribution is calculated goes through the whole calculation.
Why this test does two jobs
The same assessment decides whether a fee is payable and what your monthly contribution would be. A nil result means no fee and no contribution.
That is also why the figures behind it matter more than the fee itself. An assessment that overstates your surplus costs you every month, not once.
If you are told the fee is payable
Ask which exemption was considered and on what figures. Understated expenditure produces a surplus you do not actually have, and the same assessment sets your monthly contribution.
That makes it worth getting right twice over. Whether you need a money adviser covers what the appointment involves.
Is there a fee for a Minimal Asset Process?
There is no fee to apply for Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy. The fee that used to apply was removed on 6 February 2023, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s own guidance lists no application fee.
Removed, not waived
Item 22 now reaches only a debtor to whom section 2(2) does not apply, so a Minimal Asset Process applicant is outside it entirely. The Minimal Asset Process fee question sets out the whole history.
That distinction is why five different figures are still in circulation. A fee that has been removed cannot be exempted, and pages describing an exemption keep the old figure alive.
What the route requires instead
The conditions in section 2(2) are narrow: debts of no more than £25,000 since 29 March 2021, assets of no more than £2,000, no single asset over £1,000, and no land. Whether you are eligible runs through each.
A vehicle you reasonably require and worth no more than £3,000 is disregarded under section 2(3)(b), and how the route works covers the rest.
Why do you see £200, £90 and £680 quoted?
Because each was right once, somewhere, and the pages carrying them have not been updated. Only one of the figures below is current in Scotland.
What each figure actually was
| The figure | What it is | The detail |
|---|---|---|
| £150 | Correct for a full administration debtor application | Item 22, as substituted on 6 February 2023 |
| £200 | The full administration fee before 29 March 2021 | Three commercial pages still print it |
| £90 | The Minimal Asset Process fee before 29 March 2021 | Removed entirely in 2023 |
| £50 | The Minimal Asset Process fee between 2021 and 2023 | Removed entirely in 2023 |
| £680 | An England and Wales figure | It has never applied in Scotland |
The fee history runs through three instruments: the 2018 Regulations as made, SSI 2021/148 from 29 March 2021, and SSI 2023/9 from 6 February 2023.
How to date any figure you read
Look for the instrument and the commencement date rather than the number. A fee page without either is telling you what was true when it was written.
Three moments matter here: the 2018 Regulations as originally made, the reduction on 29 March 2021, and the substitution on 6 February 2023. Every figure in circulation belongs to one of those periods.
One trap for anyone checking it themselves
The consolidated Schedule on the legislation website does not display item 22 correctly and reads as though a Minimal Asset Process fee still exists. Read the amending instrument instead of the consolidated page.
Its explanatory note is express: the fee is removed. That is the sentence the wrong figures have survived by nobody reading.
What else is free, and what is not?
The advice and the certificate are free. The trustee’s costs and your contribution are real costs, but neither is paid up front.
The costs of a case, in order
| The item | What you pay | When |
|---|---|---|
| Money advice | Free at a citizens advice bureau or council money advice team | Before the application |
| The certificate for sequestration | No fee is chargeable for granting one | Before the application |
| The trustee's outlays and remuneration | Met from the estate and your contributions | Through the case |
| Your debtor contribution | Your whole assessed surplus income | Monthly, normally for 48 months |
Regulation 9 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2016 says no fee is chargeable for granting a certificate for sequestration, and what that certificate is explains why you may need one.
The contribution is the one that lasts
It normally runs for 48 months, which is longer than the twelve months to discharge. The payments carry on after you are discharged.
Where the assessment shows no surplus there is no contribution and no fee, which is the same test doing both jobs. How long a sequestration lasts sets out the periods involved.
What if neither exemption applies to you?
Then the £150 is payable, and the better question is whether sequestration is the right route at all on figures that show a surplus.
A surplus changes the comparison
Income that supports a contribution may also support a repayment programme, and the Debt Arrangement Scheme freezes interest and charges while you repay in full.
Bankruptcy against the Debt Arrangement Scheme sets out where that choice turns, and it is a conversation worth having before the fee is paid.
And check the Minimal Asset Process first
If your debts and assets fall inside the section 2(2) limits, cost stops being a question at all. Whether you are eligible is worth working through before anything is paid.
Student loan debt is left out of the £25,000 calculation, which brings some people inside the limit who assume they are outside it. That change has applied since 29 March 2021.
Ask before you assume
The Accountant in Bankruptcy is the body that takes the fee, so ask it or your adviser what applies in your case. National Debtline’s Scottish bankruptcy guide covers the fee position too, though it is not consistent on the exemptions.
How you apply and how much debt you need set out the conditions the application has to meet in any event.
Frequently asked questions
Do you pay the £150 if you are on universal credit?
No. Universal credit received at the date of the application is one of the prescribed benefits in regulation 7A, which has applied since 29 March 2021.
Which benefits qualify?
Universal credit, another income-related benefit within section 191 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, jobseeker’s allowance, state pension credit, child tax credit and employment and support allowance, plus working tax credit on conditions.
What are the working tax credit conditions?
Child tax credit must be in payment to you or on a joint claim including you, or the award must carry a disability or severe disability element, and the gross annual income taken into account must be £18,000 or less.
What is the no surplus income exemption?
Regulation 7B, in force since 6 February 2023, means no fee is payable where the common financial tool assesses you as having no surplus income at the date of making the application.
Is there a fee for a Minimal Asset Process?
No, and there has not been since 6 February 2023. The fee was removed rather than waived, so there is nothing for an exemption to apply to.
Does the exemption apply to a creditor petition?
The exemptions attach to the fee for considering a debtor application. A creditor’s petition is a different route brought by a creditor owed at least £5,000.
Does paying no fee mean sequestration costs you nothing?
No. The trustee’s outlays and remuneration are met from the estate, and any assessed surplus income is collected under a debtor contribution order for up to 48 months.
Who decides whether you have no surplus income?
The common financial tool assessment does, and in Scotland that is the Common Financial Statement prescribed by regulation 15(1). Your money adviser runs it as part of the application.
Related guides
- How Much Does Sequestration Cost In Scotland? The four costs of a sequestration, when the £150 fee is not payable, where the trustee is paid from, and the costs that are not money.
- How Do You Apply For Sequestration In Scotland? Which debtor application you qualify for, why a money adviser comes first, what it costs, and what the Accountant in Bankruptcy does next.
- Is There An Application Fee For MAP Bankruptcy In Scotland? The MAP fee was abolished on 6 February 2023. What the £150 figure refers to, and whether a MAP can still cost you money later on.
- How Is A Debtor Contribution Order Calculated In Sequestration? How the common financial tool sets your surplus, what spending can be allowed above the triggers, and what a payment break does.
- Do You Need A Money Adviser To Apply For Sequestration? Why advice is a legal requirement, who can give it, whether you pay for it, what the appointment covers, and who submits the application.
- What Is A Certificate For Sequestration In Scotland? What the certificate does, who can grant one, how long it lasts, what it does not do, and what to sort out before you ask for one.
- How Does Sequestration Work In Scotland? The three routes in, who becomes your trustee, what you pay, what happens to the things you own, and what discharge does not clear.
- How Does Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy Work In Scotland? Who has to apply for you, what the Accountant in Bankruptcy does with the application, and what changes on the day the award is made.
- How Much Debt Do You Need To Go Bankrupt In Scotland? The £3,000 minimum for a full administration application, what a creditor needs to petition, and why so many pages still print £1,500.
- How Long Does Sequestration Last In Scotland? When discharge comes, why twelve months is a decision rather than a date, what carries on afterwards, and how long the record lasts.
Written as general information about Scottish debt law rather than regulated financial or legal advice, and your own circumstances may change the answer. Free, impartial help is available from Citizens Advice Scotland, StepChange, National Debtline and Advice Direct Scotland.