Knowledge Hub
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- Sheriff officers What Is An Exceptional Attachment Order? It is the only order that lets sheriff officers attach goods inside your home, and section 47 of the 2002 Act lets a sheriff grant one only in exceptional circumstances. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Stopping a wage arrestment What Is An Unduly Harsh Application And How Do You Make One? It asks a sheriff to release money caught by a bank or third-party arrestment as unduly harsh. It does not reach wages. See the test and how to apply. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Is Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy? MAP is a short, low-cost Scottish sequestration for modest debts. Eight statutory conditions, no fee to pay, and discharge six months after the award. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Is Sequestration In Scotland? Sequestration is the Scottish word for bankruptcy. Your own application goes to the Accountant in Bankruptcy, not a court. See the routes, costs and rules. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Sheriff officers What Is Summary Diligence? Summary diligence is enforcement on a document you signed and consented to register for execution. No court action, no decree, and no link to a summary warrant. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Is The 20-Year Rule For Council Tax Debt In Scotland? Council tax sits under the 20-year long negative prescription in section 7 of the 1973 Act, and executing diligence restarts it. Why waiting it out does not work. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Is The Council Tax Hierarchy Of Liability? Section 75(2) of the 1992 Act sets a running order. You stop at the first category that applies, and everybody on that level is caught for the whole bill together. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Is The Debt Arrangement Scheme? The Debt Arrangement Scheme repays your debts in full through one Debt Payment Programme, with interest and charges frozen from the day you apply and cleared at the end. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Earnings arrestments What Is The Difference Between A Bank Arrestment And A Wage Arrestment? A wage arrestment takes a slice of every pay packet. A bank arrestment is a single strike on your balance on one day, and it cannot touch the first £1,000. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Is The Difference Between A Summary Warrant And A Decree? A decree ends a court action you were cited to and could defend. A summary warrant needs no action and no hearing, and it adds a statutory 10% a decree does not. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Is The Difference Between A Time To Pay Order And A Time To Pay Direction? Timing decides which one is open to you. A direction is applied for before decree, while the action is still running. An order comes after enforcement has begun. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Earnings arrestments What Is The Difference Between A Wage Arrestment And An Earnings Arrestment? Wage arrestment and earnings arrestment are two names for the same Scottish diligence. Here is the statutory wording and what genuinely differs. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Is The Empty Property Council Tax Premium? A council can add a premium once a home has been unoccupied for more than 12 months, and since 1 April 2026 there is no statutory maximum on what it charges. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Is The Scottish Welfare Fund And Can It Help With Debt? All 32 councils run the fund under the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015. Neither grant can pay council tax arrears, and neither can be refused because you owe money. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Order Are Council Tax Payments Allocated To? Councils normally put a payment against the oldest year of arrears first. That is policy rather than law, so you can ask for it to go to a particular year instead. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Earnings arrestments What Should An Employer Do If They Receive An Arrestment Schedule? Operate it. The schedule obliges you to deduct from the employee's net earnings every pay day and pay the creditor as soon as reasonably practicable. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Should You Do About North Lanarkshire Council Tax Arrears? Phone North Lanarkshire Council on 01698 403210 or email revenue@northlan.gov.uk and ask for an arrangement before a summary warrant adds 10% to the balance. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Should You Do If A Debt Collector Contacts You About An Old Debt? Most consumer debts in Scotland are extinguished after five years under section 6 of the 1973 Act, and since 28 February 2025 the creditor has to prove otherwise. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax What Should You Do If You Receive A Summary Warrant? Check which years it covers, ask the council for a breakdown, work out what a wage arrestment would take and get advice. A warrant is not a court judgment. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Stopping a wage arrestment What Should You Do The Day You Receive A Wage Arrestment Notice? Work out which document you are holding, what comes off your next payslip and who to call. A day-one order of play for a wage arrestment notice in Scotland. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions What Should You Prioritise When You Cannot Pay All Your Bills? Pay the bills where somebody can take something away from you first: rent, energy, council tax, water, fines and maintenance. How to split what is left after that. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Earnings arrestments When Does A Wage Arrestment Start After The Paperwork Arrives? An earnings arrestment takes effect the day the schedule is served on your employer, under section 47(2). The first deduction then falls on a pay day. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Council tax When Does Council Tax Debt Become Statute Barred In Scotland? The Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 excludes council tax from the five-year prescription, so it sits on the twenty-year clock instead. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Debt solutions Where Can You Get Free Mental Health Support For Debt Worry? Free support in Scotland is a phone call away: Samaritans on 116 123 at any hour, Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87, and NHS 24 on 111 for the mental health option. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read