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- Is there a minimum debt for a debt payment programme?
- Is there a maximum debt for the Debt Arrangement Scheme?
- Why do people expect a minimum debt threshold?
- What changes if you apply with only one debt?
- What decides whether a small programme is approved?
- Is a small debt worth putting into a programme at all?
- How big are the debts in most programmes?
- Related guides
- Frequently asked questions
No, and there is no maximum either. Regulation 21(1) allows a programme where it provides for the payment of one or more debts, so a single debt of any size is enough.
Almost every other formal route in Scotland has a number attached to it. That is why the question gets asked at all.
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A trust deed needs £5,000. Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy has a £25,000 ceiling.
The Debt Arrangement Scheme is the one with no figure in either direction, and how the scheme works explains why: it is a repayment scheme rather than an insolvency.
What decides an application is not the size of the debt. It is whether the programme repays what you owe in a period the DAS Administrator considers reasonable.
Is there a minimum debt for a debt payment programme?
There is no minimum debt and no maximum. A programme may be approved where it provides for the payment of one or more debts, so a single debt is enough.
What the regulation says
Regulation 21(1) was substituted on 29 October 2018 and now reads that a debtor may apply for approval of a programme where the programme provides for the payment of one or more debts. There is no sum anywhere in it.
The public guidance says the same thing. Citizens Advice Scotland states that you can apply for a DPP with any amount of debt, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s client eligibility guidance asks only that you have one or more debts.
Neither adds a qualifying sum, and neither asks how many creditors you have. The test is about whether a programme can be made to work on your figures.
One creditor is enough
Where a page tells you that you need to owe more than one company, it is wrong on the statutory test. National Debtline puts the requirement as one or more debts.
Applying with a single debt does change one thing, and it is worth understanding before you start. It is covered further down.
Is there a maximum debt for the Debt Arrangement Scheme?
No. Nothing in the regulations sets an upper limit on the debt a programme can cover, and no maximum length applies to a programme for an individual either.
Where the five-year figure comes from
No maximum length applies to a programme for an individual. The five-year limit that appears on some pages belongs to Business DAS.
It sits in the standard conditions for a legal person, trust or unincorporated body, and in the viability declaration a business application needs. Neither reaches an individual.
The provision that assumes long programmes exist
Composition needs both twelve years from approval and seventy per cent of the debt paid, under regulation 46A(1). It is a long stop for very long programmes rather than something you can ask for.
A twelve-year long stop only makes sense in a scheme where programmes can run that long. It is the clearest sign in the regulations that no individual maximum was ever set.
What a long programme runs into instead
The period over which a programme will operate is one of the matters the DAS Administrator must weigh under regulation 25(2)(b). mygov.scot puts the entry requirement as being able to repay in a reasonable time, and neither the regulations nor the guidance defines what that is.
Citizens Advice Scotland’s practical steer is that more than ten years might be unlikely to be reasonable unless all your creditors agree.
So length is a judgement rather than a cut-off. The fair and reasonable test sets out everything that goes into it.
Why do people expect a minimum debt threshold?
Because the alternatives have one, and because most debt advice online is written for England and Wales, where the products and the thresholds are different.
The Scottish figures side by side
| Route | Minimum debt | Maximum debt | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt Arrangement Scheme | None. One or more debts | None | Regulation 21(1) |
| Protected trust deed | £5,000, including interest, at the date you grant the deed | None | Section 164(3) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 |
| Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy | None since 6 February 2023, under section 2(2)(b)(i) | £25,000 in total since 29 March 2021, under section 2(2)(b)(ii) | Section 2(2)(b) of the 2016 Act |
| Full administration sequestration | £3,000 | None | Section 2(8)(a) of the 2016 Act |
Those are entry tests, not recommendations. Whether you are eligible for Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy and choosing between a Debt Arrangement Scheme and a trust deed compare them on more than size.
The other reason
A Debt Payment Programme is not insolvency, so it has no insolvency threshold to meet. Whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme writes off any of your debt covers the trade-off that comes with that.
A Debt Arrangement Scheme writes off none of the money you owe. Interest, fees, penalties and charges stop, so the balance stops growing, but the principal is repaid to the last penny.
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What changes if you apply with only one debt?
A creditor’s silence stops working in your favour. Deemed consent under regulation 23(5) applies only where a programme provides for the payment of more than one debt, so a single-debt programme gets none.
Silence stops working in your favour
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.
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.
Take that rule away and a sole creditor who never replies has not consented. The Accountant in Bankruptcy treats that case as one for the fair and reasonable test.
The extra bar on single-debt applications
Regulation 21(3) prevents an application for a programme covering only one debt where, for that debt, you are already subject to a time to pay direction, a time to pay order or a time order under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
That bar does not apply where the programme covers more than one debt. It is the only place in the entry test where the number of debts changes the answer.
One debt against several, in one view
| A programme covering one debt | A programme covering more than one | |
|---|---|---|
| Can you apply? | Yes. One or more debts | Yes |
| Does silence count as consent? | No. Deemed consent operates only where the programme covers more than one debt | Yes, after 21 days |
| What happens if the creditor never replies? | The application goes to the fair and reasonable test | The creditor is deemed to have consented |
| Is there an extra bar? | Yes. No application where you are already subject to a time to pay direction, time to pay order or time order for that debt | No equivalent bar |
| Does the fee change? | No. The same 2% and 20% come out of what creditors receive | No |
What decides whether a small programme is approved?
Your figures, not your total. 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.
The two routes to approval
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. Whether all your creditors have to agree covers the rest.
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 conditions are the same whatever you owe
A programme covering £900 carries the same standard conditions as one covering £90,000. The first payment is due within 42 days of approval, and continuing liabilities have to be paid when they fall due.
Where the size of the debt does come in
The total amount of debt is one of the twelve matters listed in regulation 25(2), and the first two of them are the Common Financial Tool and the evidence supporting it, both added on 1 April 2015.
Regulation 25(3) then allows any other factor the DAS Administrator considers appropriate. A page listing ten factors is describing the position before April 2015.
So a small debt is not a reason to refuse, and a large one is not a reason to approve. How to apply for a Debt Payment Programme walks through the decision stage.
Is a small debt worth putting into a programme at all?
That depends on what the programme changes for you. The freeze on interest and charges and the recall of any arrestment are the two things a small balance still gets.
What you get, and what you do not
| What a programme touches | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| Interest, fees, penalties and other charges | Stop being owed on the debts in the programme, and cease to be owed altogether when it completes |
| Existing arrestment of your income or property | Recalled on approval, with notice sent to the employer or to whoever holds the arrested funds |
| New enforcement | A charge for payment and the commencing or executing of diligence are not competent for the debts in the programme |
| The balance you owe | Unchanged. A programme writes off none of the principal |
| Your name and details | Entered on the DAS Register, which is free to search and open to anyone |
| How long it takes | As long as it takes to repay in full at the assessed payment |
Interest, fees, penalties and other charges stop being owed on the debts in an approved programme, under the Debt Arrangement Scheme (Interest, Fees, Penalties and Other Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2011. Whether a Debt Arrangement Scheme freezes interest and charges has the detail.
What it does not settle
No credit reference agency publishes a retention rule for a Debt Arrangement Scheme. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion all publish what they hold and for how long, and none of them lists a Debt Arrangement Scheme at all.
The widely quoted six years is the rule for insolvency entries, and a Debt Arrangement Scheme is not an insolvency. What your creditors report is the state of each account, so ask them and check your own file.
The costs on the other side
Your details go on a public register, and the programme runs until the debt is repaid in full. The disadvantages of a Debt Arrangement Scheme sets them out without the marketing.
It costs you nothing to run, which is not true of every arrangement on offer. What a Debt Arrangement Scheme costs explains who pays for it.
How big are the debts in most programmes?
The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes a median rather than an average. It was £16,200 for 2025-26, down 4.5 per cent on the year before.
Why the median, and not the average
AiB says in its annual statistics that the distribution is skewed, so the median better represents typical debt levels than the mean.
It publishes no mean for DAS at all. A page quoting an average DAS debt is quoting something AiB does not produce.
What that figure is not
It is not a threshold, and it is not a target. Someone owing a fifth of it qualifies on exactly the same test, and which debts can and cannot go into a programme matters far more to most people than the total.
If you are weighing a programme against doing nothing, get the comparison done properly first. Which debt solution is best if you have a wage arrestment and our Debt Arrangement Scheme page both help.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum debt for a Debt Arrangement Scheme in Scotland?
There is none. Regulation 21(1) allows a programme where it provides for the payment of one or more debts, so a single debt of any size qualifies.
Is there a maximum debt for DAS?
No. Nothing in the regulations caps the debt a programme can cover, and no maximum programme length applies to an individual.
Can you apply for DAS with only one creditor?
Yes. What changes is that deemed consent does not operate on a single-debt programme, so a creditor who never replies has not consented and the fair and reasonable test applies.
Is £1,000 of debt enough for a debt payment programme?
There is no threshold to clear, so yes on the entry test. Whether it is the right answer for you is a question for a money adviser, and the advice is free.
Does a trust deed have a minimum debt?
Yes. Section 164(3) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 requires total debts including interest to be not less than £5,000 at the date you grant the deed.
What is the average debt in a Debt Arrangement Scheme?
AiB publishes a median rather than an average, and it was £16,200 in 2025-26. It publishes no mean, because the distribution of debts is skewed.
Does the size of your debt affect whether you are approved?
The total amount of debt is one of the matters the DAS Administrator must have regard to under regulation 25(2), but it is not a threshold and the list is not exhaustive.
Does a small programme still stop a wage arrestment?
Yes. Approval recalls any arrestment of your income or property whatever the size of the debt, and notice of the recall goes to your employer.
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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.