Debt solutions
DAS, trust deeds, sequestration, debt management plans and more.
- Can You Get A Trust Deed If You Are Self-Employed? Yes. Section 164(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 lets any living individual grant one, sole traders included. What it means for your van and tools. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Get Credit Or Borrow Money During A Trust Deed? Legally, yes. No criminal offence applies, because the credit offence in the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 is aimed at sequestration rather than a trust deed. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Include Council Tax In A Trust Deed? Yes. Arrears from before you grant the deed go in with your other unsecured debts, and once it is protected section 173 ends an existing earnings arrestment. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Use A Statutory Moratorium More Than Once? Yes, but not twice in the same year. One moratorium per rolling 12 months, each lasting up to six months, with a narrow exception for some former joint DAS applicants. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Do You Have To Be Insolvent To Use The Debt Arrangement Scheme? No. There is no insolvency test in the Debt Arrangement Scheme and nothing in the 2011 Regulations imposes one. It is built on being able to pay something. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Do You Have To Live In Scotland To Get A Trust Deed? Not on the day you sign. Section 164(1A) asks whether you were habitually resident in Scotland at any point in the year before the deed is granted. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Do You Have To Tell Your Employer About Your Trust Deed? In most jobs, no. Part 14 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 places no duty on you to notify an employer. Any duty comes from your contract or profession. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Debt Arrangement Scheme Show On Your Credit File? Two answers. A Debt Payment Programme is on the DAS Register, which anyone can search free, and what reaches your credit file is how creditors report the accounts. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Trust Deed Stop A Bank Arrestment In Scotland? Not the way it stops a wage arrestment. Section 173 ends an earnings arrestment on the date of protection, and Part 14 has no equivalent for your bank account. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Are Trust Deed Monthly Payments Calculated? Your payment is the whole of your surplus income, meaning total income less the expenditure your trustee allows. Section 168(5) applies all of it to creditors. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do Trust Deed Payment Instructions To Employers Work? Section 174 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 lets your trustee have contributions deducted at source after two missed payments. It is not a wage arrestment. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Apply For A Trust Deed In Scotland? You do not apply. You grant a trust deed through a licensed insolvency practitioner, and your trustee then registers it with the Accountant in Bankruptcy. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Build A Budget When Money Is Taken From Your Wages? Budget from the pay that will actually reach your bank after the deduction, not your usual net pay. Work the arrestment figure out first, then set the bills against it. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Cope Financially After A Sudden Drop In Income? Protect the priority bills, claim everything you are entitled to in the first week, and tell creditors in writing. CONC 7.3.4R requires FCA firms to show forbearance. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Rebuild Your Credit Score After A Trust Deed? Start with accuracy rather than tactics. Get written confirmation of your discharge, pull all three credit files, and correct errors by the statutory route. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Talk To Your Family About Debt? Pick a quiet moment, say the important part in the first sentence, and take a written list rather than explaining from memory. What to say, and to whom. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Does A Statutory Moratorium Protect You? A statutory moratorium gives six months of protection, one per rolling 12 months. It stops a charge for payment, new diligence and creditor petitions. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Long Does A Debt Payment Programme Last? There is no statutory maximum. A programme runs until the debts are repaid in full at a rate you can afford, and the AiB average is around six years. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Long Does A Trust Deed Last In Scotland? The payment period is 48 months from the date you grant the deed, not the date it becomes protected. Section 168(2) allows longer where payments are missed. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Long Does A Trust Deed Stay On Your Credit File? Six years from the date the deed starts, not from your discharge. No law sets that period, and the entry is a separate thing from the Register of Insolvencies. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Long Does Debt Information Stay On Your Credit File? No law sets six years. It is an industry convention, and the three credit reference agencies publish retention schedules that do not match each other. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Many Creditors Have To Agree To A Trust Deed? None. Section 170(2) deems your creditors to have acceded unless a majority in number, or a third in value, object in writing within five weeks. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Much Debt Can You Write Off With A Trust Deed? There is no set share, and nobody can honestly quote one at the outset. What goes is whatever is unpaid at discharge, after what you can afford has been paid. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Much Debt Do You Need For A Trust Deed In Scotland? At least £5,000. Section 164(3) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 requires your debts, with interest, to total no less than that on the day you grant the deed. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read