Should You Choose MAP Bankruptcy Or The Debt Arrangement Scheme?
For most people the choice is already made. A debt payment programme needs surplus income to pay from, and a Minimal Asset Process is defined by having none.
The same assessment decides both. Run it once and it usually points clearly at one door rather than leaving you to weigh them up.
- 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
Weighing up a MAP against DAS? Check which one your budget points to.
Free, confidential and no obligation.That does not make them interchangeable. One writes off what you owe in six months and the other repays every penny over years.
Both are statutory, both are administered by the Accountant in Bankruptcy and both need an approved money adviser. How a MAP works and what the Debt Arrangement Scheme is cover each on its own.
Which one does your budget actually point to?
The income assessment settles it. No assessed contribution points at a Minimal Asset Process, and a surplus points at a debt payment programme.
Why the two are near opposites
Section 2(2)(a)(i) requires an assessment that you need make no contribution at all, which is the condition of entry to a MAP.
A programme needs money to distribute each month. Someone who satisfies the MAP income test has nothing for it to work with.
The same tool does both assessments
The prescribed tool is the Common Financial Statement, under regulation 15(1) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Regulations 2016.
So you are not assessed twice on different rules. One conversation with an adviser produces the figure that decides the route.
Where assets change the answer
You must not own land. Section 2(2)(e) rules out a MAP for anyone who does, whatever it is worth.
A programme has no asset ceiling at all, so a homeowner with a surplus is usually looking at it rather than at bankruptcy. Whether you are eligible for a MAP runs through each condition.
Not sure which route your budget points to? Get free help
Free, confidential and no obligation.What does each one do to the money you owe?
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.
A MAP writes off, a programme repays
Section 145(1) discharges you of the debts you owed at the date of sequestration, subject to the exceptions in section 145(3).
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.
What survives either way
Section 145(3) lists what survives. Fines and other court penalties, debts obtained by fraud, and aliment or a periodical allowance payable on divorce are not written off.
Student loans are not written off either, by the separate route of section 145(7), and whether a MAP writes off all your debts sets out the whole list.
What each does about interest
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.
In a Minimal Asset Process the question does not arise in the same way. The debts themselves are gone at six months.
The two side by side
| The point | Minimal Asset Process | Debt Arrangement Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A short form of sequestration | A statutory repayment programme |
| The legal basis | Section 2(2) of the Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 | The Debt Arrangement and Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 and the 2011 Regulations |
| What creditors receive | Nothing, with no claims process and no dividend | The debt in full, less the distributor's fee |
| Debt limits | No more than £25,000, with no minimum currently prescribed | No minimum and no maximum |
| What your income has to show | No assessed contribution at all | A surplus to pay from each month |
| Assets | £2,000 in total, £1,000 for any single item, and no land | No asset ceiling |
| How long it lasts | Discharge six months after the award | As long as the programme takes, with no maximum for an individual |
| Interest and charges | The debts themselves are discharged | Frozen from the approved programme |
| What it costs you | Nothing | Nothing |
| The public record | The Register of Insolvencies | The DAS Register |
Do your creditors get a say in either one?
In one of them, yes. A debt payment programme normally needs creditor consent, and a Minimal Asset Process gives creditors no vote and no claims process at all.
How consent works in a programme
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.
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.
Approval is also subject to regulation 24(1A), which requires the programme to accord with the common financial tool.
Where enough creditors object, the Accountant in Bankruptcy must still decide whether the programme is fair and reasonable, so an objection is not a veto.
A MAP has no equivalent stage
Paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 disapplies the claims and creditor meeting provisions, and requires AiB to tell creditors that no claims may be submitted.
So creditors are informed and that is the end of their involvement. Nobody votes on whether you get a MAP.
What that means for the decision
A programme can fail at the consent stage and a MAP cannot. Against that, a programme leaves you outside insolvency altogether.
Which one reaches a wage arrestment faster?
An award of sequestration ends an earnings arrestment. Section 72(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 says an earnings arrestment, a current maintenance arrestment, a conjoined arrestment order or a deduction from earnings order ceases to have effect on the date of sequestration.
The award ends it, the approval recalls it
Section 72(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 ends an existing earnings arrestment on the date of sequestration, and section 72(4) bars a fresh one for a debt claimable in it.
Regulation 33(1)(a) recalls any arrestment of your income or property on approval, and notice of the recall goes to the employer or to whoever is holding the arrested funds.
Timing is the real difference
mygov.scot says a decision on a debtor application usually arrives within 8 working days, while a programme goes out to creditors for consent first.
Whether a MAP stops an existing wage arrestment and whether the Debt Arrangement Scheme does each cover the mechanics.
What protects you in the meantime
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 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.
Each route against each kind of diligence
| The point | Minimal Asset Process | Debt Arrangement Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| An earnings arrestment already running | Ceases to have effect on the date of sequestration | Recalled when the programme is approved |
| The provision | Section 72(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 | Regulation 33(1)(a) of the 2011 Regulations |
| Who tells your employer | Nothing in section 72(2) requires anyone to | Notice of the recall is sent to the employer |
| A new arrestment afterwards | Blocked for debts claimable in the sequestration | Blocked while the programme runs |
| Protection before that point | A statutory moratorium of six months | A statutory moratorium of six months |
| How long from application to protection | mygov.scot says a decision usually arrives within 8 working days | Longer, because creditors are given a consent window |
How do the entry conditions compare?
A MAP has eight of them in section 2(2) and a programme has almost none. That is the single biggest structural difference between the two.
The conditions, side by side
| The test | Minimal Asset Process | Debt Arrangement Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Income | The common financial tool must assess no contribution, or six months of prescribed payments that are your only income | Enough surplus to fund a programme |
| Total debt | No more than £25,000, and student loans are left out | No limit either way |
| Assets | £2,000 in total and £1,000 for any single item | No test |
| Owning a home | An absolute bar under section 2(2)(e) | No bar |
| Previous insolvency | No MAP in 10 years, no other sequestration in 5 | No equivalent bar |
| Who applies | An approved money adviser, on your behalf | A money adviser, on your behalf |
| Who decides | The Accountant in Bankruptcy awards it | The Accountant in Bankruptcy approves the programme |
Two figures that get printed wrongly
No minimum debt is currently prescribed for the Minimal Asset Process. The old £1,500 floor stopped applying on 6 February 2023, though the power to set one again remains.
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.
And one carve-out almost nobody prints
Student loan debt does not count towards the £25,000 limit. Section 2(2A), which has applied since 29 March 2021, leaves it out of the calculation.
It decides eligibility for a lot of graduates. Which debts count towards the MAP debt limit sets it out with the provision.
What does each cost, and what goes on the public record?
There is no fee to apply for Minimal Asset Process bankruptcy. The fee that used to apply was removed on 6 February 2023, and the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s own guidance lists no application fee.
Nobody charges you for either
A payments distributor may make no charge of any kind to a debtor. You pay one figure and it is split between the creditors.
Twenty per cent for an individual, under regulation 17(2) as substituted by SSI 2019/315 with effect from 4 November 2019. For Business DAS it is a ceiling rather than a rate, because a distributor may charge no more than eight per cent.
The fee comes out of what is distributed to creditors rather than being added to your debt. Your creditors fund the scheme out of what they receive.
Both are public, in different places
The DAS Register is free to search and open to anyone, and it is kept by the Accountant in Bankruptcy.
mygov.scot says a MAP entry stays on the Register of Insolvencies for 18 months from the date of bankruptcy, though no statute sets any retention period.
The credit file question, answered honestly
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.
For a Minimal Asset Process the position is different, because insolvency data is reported and mygov.scot puts it at least six years. No statute sets that either.
Cost and record in one place
| The point | Minimal Asset Process | Debt Arrangement Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee | None since 6 February 2023 | None |
| Adviser's fee | No fee is chargeable for granting a certificate for sequestration | A money adviser may not charge an individual for scheme work |
| Who funds the process | The Accountant in Bankruptcy administers it | Creditors, out of what they receive |
| The distributor's fee | Not applicable | Twenty per cent for an individual, taken from the money distributed |
| The public register | The Register of Insolvencies, free to search | The DAS Register, free to search |
| The credit file | mygov.scot reports at least six years, and no statute sets it | No agency publishes a retention rule for a programme at all |
Can you move from one to the other?
Some grounds are automatic. Sequestration, a protected trust deed and the death of the debtor all end a programme without a decision to make.
A programme ends if you are sequestrated
The two cannot run alongside each other. An award of sequestration ends the programme without anyone having to decide anything.
Your adviser would need to check every condition in section 2(2) before an application was made, because a failed programme does not create eligibility for a MAP.
A MAP can change shape too
Paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 lets AiB end the MAP modifications where it assesses you as able to contribute, or where your assets rise above the prescribed figure.
The automatic six-month discharge in section 140 then goes with them, which whether a MAP can be transferred to full administration explains.
How often each is used
In 2025-26 the Accountant in Bankruptcy approved 5,288 Debt Payment Programmes and 2,402 completed, with around £68.9 million repaid through the scheme.
The Accountant in Bankruptcy awarded 2,976 sequestrations in 2025-26, up 19.9 per cent on the year before, made up of 2,415 debtor applications and 561 creditor petitions.
Where to take the decision next
The Accountant in Bankruptcy’s guide for MAP debtors sets out what a Minimal Asset Process involves, and the same comparison from the Debt Arrangement Scheme side is worth reading alongside this one.
If neither fits, the informal route is compared at a MAP against a debt management plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Debt Arrangement Scheme better than a MAP?
Neither is better in the abstract, and the assessment usually decides. A programme suits someone with surplus income to pay from, and a Minimal Asset Process suits someone assessed as having none.
Does a debt payment programme write off any of your debt?
No. It repays the debt in full while interest, fees, penalties and charges stop, so the balance stops growing but the principal is repaid to the last penny.
Can you have a MAP and a debt payment programme at the same time?
No. An award of sequestration automatically ends a programme, so the two cannot run alongside each other and a money adviser has to check the MAP conditions before any application.
Does either stop a wage arrestment?
Both reach one. Section 72(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 ends an existing earnings arrestment on the date of sequestration, and approval of a programme recalls an arrestment of your income or property.
Do creditors have to agree to either?
Only to a programme, where consent by nine tenths in value normally approves it and the Accountant in Bankruptcy applies a fair and reasonable test otherwise. A MAP has no creditor vote and no claims process.
Do you need a money adviser for both?
Yes. A MAP needs a certificate for sequestration that only an approved adviser can grant, and a programme application must be made by a money adviser on your behalf.
Which one is quicker?
A Minimal Asset Process, in the ordinary case. mygov.scot says a decision usually arrives within 8 working days, while a programme goes out to creditors for a consent period first.
Can council tax arrears go into either?
Yes. Arrears can be included in a debt payment programme, with the ongoing bill still paid as it falls due, and arrears owed at the date of sequestration are discharged in a MAP.
Related guides
- Which Should You Choose, A Debt Arrangement Scheme Or MAP Bankruptcy? Why your income and assets usually decide this for you, and what each route costs, how long it lasts and what it leaves on record.
- What Is The Debt Arrangement Scheme? The statutory Scottish scheme that freezes interest and charges while you repay in full, what it costs, and what it does to an arrestment.
- Are You Eligible For Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy? The eight conditions in section 2(2), how the income and benefits routes differ, and how your assets are measured against the limits.
- Does MAP Bankruptcy Write Off All Your Debts? Which debts a MAP discharge clears at six months, which ones survive section 145(3), and why a student loan is treated differently.
- Which Debts Count Towards The MAP Bankruptcy Debt Limit? Why a student loan stays out of the £25,000 total, which debts go into it, and how the debt limit differs from the £2,000 asset test.
- Does MAP Bankruptcy Stop An Existing Wage Arrestment? The deduction ends on the date sequestration is awarded. What happens to money already taken, and whether a creditor can start again.
- 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.
- Can Your MAP Bankruptcy Be Transferred To Full Administration? What a transfer changes, what triggers one, what happens to the automatic six-month discharge and to payments, and how to challenge the decision.
- Should You Choose MAP Bankruptcy Or A Debt Management Plan? Which one stops money coming off your wages, whether either writes off what you owe, what each costs you, and how long each one lasts.
- How Does Minimal Asset Process Bankruptcy Work In Scotland? Who has to apply for you, what the Accountant in Bankruptcy does with the application, and what changes on the day the award is made.
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.