Does A Debt Arrangement Scheme Stop A Bank Arrestment?
Yes. Approval of a Debt Payment Programme has the effect of a recall of any arrestment of your income or property under regulation 33(1)(a), and money frozen at your bank is an arrestment of your property.
You do not have to ask the creditor. The recall happens by force of the regulation, and notice goes to whoever is holding the money.
- Part of your pay is protected by law
- The deduction is set by statutory tables, not the creditor
- An arrestment can be stopped or replaced
- Free & confidential
- No obligation
Bank account just frozen? Get free advice before the money is handed over.
Free, confidential and no obligation.Timing is the part that catches people out. Protection arrives in stages, and the stage you are at decides what a creditor can still do this week.
Here is what an arrestment freezes, when a programme lifts it, what happens to money already caught, and the short list of things a programme does not settle. Our guide to how the Debt Arrangement Scheme works covers the scheme itself.
What does a bank arrestment actually freeze?
The balance above £1,000. That protected minimum balance sits on the face of section 73F(3)(a) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 and has done since 1 November 2022.
The rules that apply whatever you do next
| The point | The rule |
|---|---|
| How much is safe | Only the balance above £1,000 can be attached, on the face of section 73F(3)(a) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 since 1 November 2022 |
| When the money goes to the creditor | 14 weeks after execution, unless something intervenes first |
| Objecting | A notice of objection has to be lodged within 4 weeks of execution |
| The hardship route | Sections 73Q and 73R, on the ground that the arrestment is unduly harsh to you or a dependant, on Form 63G and at any time while it has effect |
| Council tax arrestments | Section 73A(4) brings a summary warrant inside the meaning of decree, so the unduly harsh route reaches a council arrestment too |
| Benefits in the account | Should not be arrested where they can be clearly identified in the account. Ask the bank in writing to identify them |
The figure was written into the statute itself by the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022, which also removed the old uprating power. Section 73F of the 1987 Act is where it lives, and older figures quoted online predate that change.
Why the fourteen weeks matter
Arrested funds are released to the creditor automatically at the end of that period unless something intervenes. A Debt Payment Programme is one of the things that can intervene.
What a bank arrestment is sets out the mechanics in full, including what a sheriff officer has to serve on you and when.
When does an approved programme recall the arrestment?
At the moment the programme takes effect. Regulation 26(2) sets that at midnight on the day immediately preceding the day the notice of approval is entered in the DAS Register.
What regulation 33(1)(a) says
Approval recalls any arrestment of your income or property, and notice of the recall goes to the employer or to whoever is holding the arrested funds.
The regulation does not use the phrase bank arrestment. It speaks of any arrestment of your income or property, which takes in money frozen at a bank and a deduction from wages alike.
Who sends the notice
Since 29 October 2018 the continuing money adviser sends that notice, or the DAS Administrator where there is no continuing money adviser.
That changed on 29 October 2018, under the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018. Before then the DAS Administrator sent it in every case, and plenty of pages still say so.
Either way the paperwork is not your job. Whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme stops a wage arrestment covers the same recall as it applies to your pay.
Account frozen and no idea what to do next? Get free help
Free, confidential and no obligation.What happens to money already frozen in your account?
It stops moving. Regulation 34(2) makes it incompetent to release arrested funds to the creditor while a Debt Payment Programme is approved, so the automatic release at 14 weeks does not happen.
If the programme is later revoked
The clock pauses rather than resets. Regulation 34(2) says the period between approval and revocation is disregarded in working out whether the 14 weeks has expired.
So a programme that runs and then fails leaves the arrestment where it was rather than further along. Why a programme is revoked covers the grounds.
Do not sign a mandate without advice
A mandate signed at the bank or with the sheriff officers releases the arrested funds early. Once it is signed the money is gone.
Nothing about the mandate is urgent, because the funds are not going anywhere until the 14 weeks are up. Speak to a money adviser first.
Money already taken
Funds that genuinely left the account before any of this began are credited against the debt rather than refunded. What happens to money already taken deals with that, and your programme is built around the balance that is left.
What protects you before the programme is approved?
Two things in sequence. A statutory moratorium while the application is prepared, and regulation 30(1)(ba) from the moment the application is entered in the DAS Register.
The moratorium
A statutory moratorium lasts six months. The period was six weeks until section 23(2) of the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022 substituted six months in section 198 of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, with effect from 1 October 2022.
A moratorium does stop arrested funds being released to the creditor, under section 197(3)(d) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016, which makes it incompetent to release funds attached by an arrestment while the moratorium runs.
A statutory moratorium is the exception. It does not stop an earnings arrestment that was already running: section 197(5)(d) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 lets a creditor carry on executing an earnings arrestment, a current maintenance arrestment or a conjoined arrestment order that came into effect before the moratorium began.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy’s guidance is blunt about the risk of letting it lapse: if no application is made before the six months ends, the protection goes with it.
Once the application is in
Regulation 30(1)(ba) was inserted by the 2015 amendment regulations with effect from 27 June 2015, and it bars a charge for payment, the commencing or executing of diligence and creditor petitions for sequestration.
The old route of intimating an intention to apply, which carried its own six weeks of protection, was revoked on 1 April 2015. Protection before an application now runs through the moratorium.
Stage by stage
| Where you are | What it stops | How long |
|---|---|---|
| A statutory moratorium | A charge for payment, new diligence and creditor sequestration petitions, and the release of arrested funds | Six months, one in any twelve. An earnings arrestment already running is the exception |
| Your application is entered in the DAS Register | A charge for payment, commencing or executing diligence, and creditor petitions, under regulation 30(1)(ba) | Until approval, or 14 days after a rejection notice, or 28 days after a review application, or your withdrawal |
| The programme is approved | All of that, plus recall of any arrestment of your income or property under regulation 33(1)(a) | For as long as the programme is approved |
| The programme is revoked | Nothing. Creditors wait 14 days, or a further 28 where a review is requested | Interest and charges can be applied again once that period has passed |
How a statutory moratorium protects you explains how to get one, and how to apply for a Debt Payment Programme sets out what happens next.
What can a creditor still do once a programme is approved?
Very little, and what survives is narrow. Section 4(2A) of the Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 preserves three powers, and everything else in section 4 runs against the creditor.
Power by power
| What a creditor might try | Where it stands | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Serving a charge for payment | Not competent | Section 4(2), 2002 Act |
| Commencing or executing any diligence | Not competent | Section 4(2), 2002 Act |
| An arrestment of your income or property already in place | Recalled at the time regulation 26(2) fixes, with notice sent to whoever holds the funds | Regulation 33(1)(a) |
| Releasing funds already arrested at your bank | Not competent while the programme is approved | Regulation 34(2) |
| Petitioning for your sequestration on a debt in the programme | Not competent | Section 4(3), 2002 Act |
| Warrant for sale of attached land, or a satisfaction order | Not competent | Regulation 34(1) |
| Pressing you to leave the programme or pay more outside it | Prohibited | Regulation 33(1)(c) |
| Auctioning an already attached article, a decree of furthcoming, or a decree for sale of a ship or cargo | Preserved | Section 4(2A), 2002 Act |
Section 4 of the 2002 Act also freezes the clock: any period during which the debts were subject to an approved programme is left out when a creditor’s enforcement time limits are worked out.
The furthcoming point
Furthcoming is the court action that turns an arrestment into payment. Where a creditor already holds that decree, section 4(2A) lets it be implemented.
That is a narrow exception rather than a loophole, and it is a reason to move quickly rather than let an arrestment run its course. Our sheriff officer guidance explains who is doing what on the creditor’s side.
What does a Debt Payment Programme not settle?
Three questions have no clear answer in the regulations, and it is better to know that than to be told a tidy version of it.
Inhibition
Inhibition is not named anywhere in the recall provisions, and no source settles whether one already registered is recalled on approval. Ask your money adviser what applies to yours.
Regulation 33(1)(a) recalls arrestments in terms. There is no matching provision anywhere for an inhibition already registered against you.
Court action and decree
What is prohibited is a charge for payment and the commencing or executing of diligence. Whether a creditor may still raise an action is not settled by any source.
A page that tells you flatly what happens to a court action during a programme is going beyond what the regulations say. Ask your money adviser what is happening in your own case.
An attachment already carried out
Section 4(2A) preserves the auction of an attached article at the late stages it describes. How an attachment at an earlier stage is treated on approval is not covered.
None of that touches your home. Whether you lose your home in a Debt Arrangement Scheme deals with that question separately.
What should you do if your account has just been frozen?
Get to an approved money adviser this week. They can apply for a moratorium immediately, which stops anything further while a Debt Payment Programme application is prepared.
A sensible order of actions
- Find the date the arrestment was executed, because the 4 week objection window and the 14 week release both run from it.
- Ask the bank in writing to identify any benefits or tax credits paid into the account.
- Ask an adviser about a moratorium and a Debt Payment Programme, in that order.
- Ask whether an unduly harsh application under section 73R is worth making in the meantime.
What it costs you
You cannot apply on your own. Regulation 20(2)(a) requires the application to be made by a money adviser on the debtor’s behalf.
A payments distributor may make no charge of any kind to a debtor. You pay one figure and it is split between the creditors.
Since 4 November 2019 a money adviser may not charge an individual a fee for Debt Arrangement Scheme work, under regulation 12(2) as substituted by SSI 2019/315.
What you are signing up to
A Debt Payment Programme is not an insolvency solution. You repay the debt in full, and what changes is the pressure rather than the balance.
Interest, fees and charges stop, and whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme freezes interest covers what happens to those sums at the end.
There is a public register entry to weigh against that, which the DAS Register explains, and our Debt Arrangement Scheme page sets out how we help.
Frequently asked questions
How quickly does a Debt Payment Programme lift a bank arrestment?
The recall takes effect when the programme takes effect, which regulation 26(2) puts at midnight on the day before the approval notice is entered in the DAS Register. Notice of the recall then goes to whoever is holding the money.
Who sends the notice of recall?
Since 29 October 2018 it is the continuing money adviser, or the DAS Administrator where there is no continuing money adviser. Either way it does not depend on the creditor agreeing.
Does a Debt Arrangement Scheme stop a wage arrestment too?
Yes. Regulation 33(1)(a) recalls any arrestment of your income or property, which covers a deduction from wages as well as money frozen at a bank.
What happens to money already frozen in my account?
Regulation 34(2) makes it incompetent to release those funds to the creditor while the programme is approved. If the programme is revoked, the period between approval and revocation is disregarded in working out the 14 weeks.
How much money is protected during a bank arrestment?
Only the balance above £1,000 can be attached. That figure sits on the face of section 73F(3)(a) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 and has done since 1 November 2022.
Does a statutory moratorium stop a bank arrestment?
It stops new diligence and stops arrested funds being released to the creditor. It does not stop an earnings arrestment that came into effect before the moratorium began.
Is an inhibition recalled when my programme is approved?
That is not settled. Inhibition is not named in regulation 30, 33 or 34, or in section 4 of the 2002 Act, so ask your money adviser what applies to yours.
Can sheriff officers still act once my programme is approved?
Section 4(2) of the 2002 Act makes it incompetent to serve a charge for payment or to commence or execute any diligence for the debts in the programme. If you are contacted about one of them, tell your money adviser.
Related guides
- What Is A Bank Arrestment In Scotland? How a creditor freezes a bank balance, the £1,000 protected minimum, and how a sheriff can order money released.
- Does A Debt Arrangement Scheme Stop A Wage Arrestment? Approval recalls a live arrestment, but the date matters. What covers the gap, and how a DPP payment compares with a deduction.
- How Does A Statutory Moratorium Protect You? Six months of protection, one per rolling 12 months, what it stops, what it leaves running, and how it differs from Breathing Space.
- Does A Debt Arrangement Scheme Freeze Interest And Charges? When the freeze starts, what it covers, and what happens to the frozen charges when a programme completes or is revoked.
- How Does The Debt Arrangement Scheme Work In Scotland? One monthly payment, interest and charges frozen, creditors blocked from diligence, and an arrestment already running recalled on approval.
- How Do You Apply For A Debt Payment Programme In Scotland? Who makes the application, what you need ready, the protection available while it is prepared, and what to do if it is rejected.
- Why Would A Debt Arrangement Scheme Be Revoked? The automatic grounds, the ones the DAS Administrator decides, how many missed payments it takes, and what happens to the frozen interest.
- What Happens To Money Already Taken When A Wage Arrestment Stops? Why deductions are credited against the debt rather than refunded, where the money actually went, and how to check the balance once it ends.
- Can A Statutory Moratorium Stop A Wage Arrestment? The carve-out that lets an arrestment already running carry on regardless, what a moratorium does still stop, and what ends the deduction instead.
- What Is The DAS Register And Can Anyone Search It? What the public register holds about you, which events are recorded, how long an entry stays, and why it is not the same as your credit file.
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.