It does not work that way. The decision belongs to the DAS Administrator rather than to your creditors, and how the Debt Arrangement Scheme works sets out the rest of the scheme.

Two things follow from that, and both are missed by most pages on this subject. The threshold is measured by value rather than by number, and falling short of it does not end the application.

Not all of them. Since 4 November 2019 a programme for an individual is approved where not less than nine tenths in value of the creditors consent, under regulations 23(1)(a) and 24(1) of the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011.

By value, not by head count

The test is nine tenths by value, not by number. A single creditor holding more than a tenth of the total can withhold consent and put the application to the fair and reasonable test.

Five small creditors refusing may add up to nothing. One large one refusing changes the route the application takes, which what happens if a creditor objects deals with in detail.

Where the rule comes from

Regulations 23(1) and 24(1) were both substituted by the 2019 amendment regulations, in force 4 November 2019.

The unamended 2011 text still says every creditor must consent, and that text is what legislation websites display. It is out of date for individuals.

Nine tenths is not the whole test

Reaching nine tenths does not end the matter. Regulation 24(1) is subject to regulation 24(1A), in force since 1 April 2015, so a programme for an individual may only be approved in accordance with the Common Financial Tool.

AiB describes the effect plainly: at that threshold the programme must be approved, subject to the Common Financial Tool condition, regardless of the amount of the debt or the length of the proposed programme.

Silence counts as consent. Regulation 23(5) deems a creditor who does not respond within 21 days of the request to have consented, irrespective of any assignation of the debt.

The 21 days is the objection window

National Debtline puts it in one line: a creditor who does not respond within 21 days is treated as if they have agreed to your payment proposal and is bound by it.

The 21 days runs from the date of the request. Silence is the commonest outcome and it works in your favour.

The exception on a single-debt programme

That rule applies only to a programme providing for the payment of more than one debt. A programme covering a single debt gets no deemed consent.

So a sole creditor who never replies has not consented, and the application goes to the fair and reasonable test. Whether there is a minimum debt for the scheme covers what else changes with a single debt.

What is happening to your debts meanwhile

Interest, fees, penalties and other charges are frozen from the date the application is recorded, and it is not competent to serve a charge for payment or to commence or execute diligence while it is pending. Whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme freezes interest and charges covers the freeze.

An objection does not end the application. Where approval cannot be given under regulation 24, regulation 25(1) requires the DAS Administrator to approve a programme that is fair and reasonable.

The test that takes over

Regulation 25(2) lists the matters the DAS Administrator must have regard to, and regulation 25(3) makes that list non-exhaustive, so any other relevant factor may be weighed.

The matters include the total amount of debt, the period the programme will run, the Common Financial Tool assessment, and any comment made by the money adviser. The fair and reasonable test sets out all twelve.

Where consent sits in that list

The extent to which creditors have consented is one factor among them, at regulation 25(2)(h). It does not decide the question on its own.

Regulation 25(1) is written as a duty rather than a discretion. Where approval cannot be given under regulation 24, the DAS Administrator must approve a programme that is fair and reasonable.

The consent levels in one table

It can stop automatic approval if it is owed more than a tenth of the total by value. It cannot block the programme, because the fair and reasonable test still applies.

The creditor that most often has that weight

A council owed several years of council tax, or a lender holding the largest single balance, is the usual candidate. Whether council tax arrears can go into a Debt Arrangement Scheme covers that case.

A creditor does not have to give a reason

There is no statutory list of grounds. Nothing in regulations 23, 24 or 25 restricts why a creditor may withhold consent, and nothing requires one to give a reason.

So a page listing valid grounds of objection is describing something that does not exist. What happens if a creditor objects sets out what actually follows.

What a creditor cannot do

Regulation 33(1)(c) prohibits a creditor from attempting to persuade you to withdraw from the programme, or to make additional payments towards a debt included in it.

Approval also recalls any arrestment of your income or property. Whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme stops a wage arrestment covers the timing of that.

Business DAS, and any programme applied for before 4 November 2019. The nine tenths rule is for individuals and it is not retrospective.

The four cases

Business DAS

Business DAS kept the old rule. Regulation 24(1ZA) still requires every creditor of a legal person, trust or unincorporated body to consent.

Regulation 23(1)(b) says the same thing from the other end. What Business DAS is covers that separate route and who can use it.

Older programmes

Programmes applied for before 4 November 2019 are not affected. Those keep the unanimous consent rule and the old eight per cent distributor fee.

So if your programme has been running since before November 2019, the rules that applied to your application are the older ones. That matters when you read about the fee as well.

A request for consent, sent by the DAS Administrator or by your continuing money adviser, on the form provided for that purpose.

How the request goes out

Regulation 23(3) requires the request to be sent by the DAS Administrator or the continuing money adviser. AiB’s guidance for creditors describes it reaching them through eDEN or by post.

Regulation 23(4) requires the form provided by the DAS Administrator to be used. The posting requirement that used to sit in regulation 23(3) was repealed on 2 July 2013.

What a creditor is agreeing to

Payment in full over the programme’s life, out of one monthly figure split pro rata, with fees deducted before they are paid. Whether DAS fees are taken from your payment or added to your debt explains the deduction.

AiB puts a creditor’s recovery on a completed programme at 78 per cent of the debt for applications made on or after 4 November 2019, and what a Debt Arrangement Scheme costs sets out where the rest goes.

Neither is fatal. Approval is not invalid by reason only of a missing consent where you did not know and could not reasonably have known who the creditor was.

Assignation

Deemed consent operates irrespective of any assignation of the debt, since 2 July 2013. Regulation 23(8) requires a creditor who assigns the rights to notify the DAS Administrator immediately, with the assignee’s details.

So a debt sold to a collection company during the 21 days does not restart the clock. The record of consents is kept by the DAS Administrator.

Missed creditors

Regulation 23(6) is a safety net rather than a strategy. Debts have to be verified before the application is submitted, and how to apply for a Debt Payment Programme sets out what the adviser checks.

You ask the DAS Administrator to review the decision first. Only once that review is decided does an appeal lie to the sheriff, under regulation 47C.

The two stages

Who else can ask for a review

A creditor named in the application may apply for a review of a determination to dispense with its consent or to approve a programme. The route runs both ways.

Everyone involved is intimated the outcome, including the payments distributor and any employer operating a payment instruction. Whether you qualify for the Debt Arrangement Scheme covers the entry test if you are starting again.

Get advice before you concede anything

Free help is available from Citizens Advice Scotland and National Debtline, and our Debt Arrangement Scheme page explains how we help.