Scotland's civil system has its own machinery: simple procedure for claims up to £5,000 (from £23 to start), sheriff courts handling everything to £100,000, and — the rule that changes everything for debtors — prescription: after five years without payment or acknowledgment, most debts aren't just unenforceable, they cease to exist. Wages below £750 a month can't be arrested, the first £1,000 in your bank is protected, and a six-month moratorium can freeze enforcement while you choose among Scotland's own debt solutions. Our free line is live 24/7 with an AI legal assistant trained on Scots civil law. Legal information, not legal advice; no solicitor-client relationship. A £145 fixed-fee solicitor consultation is bookable on the call.
Free legal information. Not legal advice. Available 24/7 across Scotland.
Served with a simple procedure claim form? Respond by the response date on it — silence lets the claimant apply for a decision within two weeks, and a decree in absence follows you like an English CCJ. Being chased for an old debt? Count five years since your last payment or written acknowledgment: if they've passed without a court claim, the obligation has prescribed — extinguished, gone, nothing to pay — and no payment "as a gesture" should ever be made before checking, because inside the five years a payment restarts the clock. Facing wage or bank arrestment? Arithmetic protects you: earnings up to £750 a month can't be touched, and the first £1,000 in your account is beyond arrestment. Overwhelmed rather than in dispute? A money adviser can enter you in the six-month moratorium — all diligence frozen — while the right solution (DAS, MAP, sequestration) is chosen calmly.
England's statute-barred debts are zombies: unenforceable but legally alive, waiting for a careless payment to reanimate them. Scotland went further — after five years without a claim or acknowledgment, prescription extinguishes the obligation itself. The debt does not exist. A collector demanding payment on a prescribed debt is demanding payment of nothing, and the reply is a dated letter saying so. The entire game therefore turns on the calendar: the date of your last payment, the date of any written admission, the date any court claim was served. Collectors buying old ledgers know most people can't reconstruct those dates — so before answering any letter about an old account, reconstruct them: bank statements, credit file, correspondence. Five clean years means freedom, in the fullest legal sense. Four years and eleven months means one unguarded payment costs you five more. Our free line walks you through the dates; a money adviser or a £145 fixed-fee consultation settles the close calls.
Scotland runs its own advice infrastructure — a national consumer service, the Accountant in Bankruptcy's solutions, and strong local money advice. Independent services all; our line matches your situation to the right one.
How do I sue someone in Scotland, and what does it cost?
Money claims to £5,000 use simple procedure in the sheriff court: standard forms, £23 for claims under £300 and £127 above, a sheriff steering the case toward settlement or a short informal hearing, and expenses tightly capped at the low end so risk stays proportionate. Larger claims (to £100,000) run as ordinary causes with fuller procedure — and normally a solicitor. Sue within five years of the debt arising or being acknowledged: Scots prescription doesn't wait politely while you send reminders.
I've been served with a simple procedure claim. What now?
The claim form states your response date — answer by it: admit (proposing time to pay if needed), dispute, or partly admit, on the response form. Miss it and the claimant can apply for a decision within two weeks: a decree in absence with full enforcement behind it and your credit file marked. Recall of a decree is possible but prompt action is everything. Dispute honestly, attend anything the sheriff fixes, and settle where settlement beats the caps — the procedure is built for exactly that.
When is an old debt really dead in Scotland?
After five continuous years without a relevant claim against you or a relevant acknowledgment by you — meaning no court proceedings, no part payment, no written admission — the obligation is extinguished under section 6 of the 1973 Act. Not suspended: gone. Nothing to pay, ever. Reconstruct the dates from statements and your credit file before responding to any collector; if five clean years have run, a short letter stating the debt has prescribed ends the matter. Inside five years, everything you say and pay matters — so say and pay nothing until advised.
Can they really take my wages or empty my bank account?
Only above the floors, and only after decree plus a 14-day charge for payment. Earnings arrestment deducts from pay above a protected £750 a month (£172.61 weekly) on statutory tables — low earners are untouchable. Bank arrestment freezes only what exceeds £1,000 of balance on the day. Social-security benefits are protected. Goods attachment can't take essentials. And the moment a money adviser enters you in the moratorium, all diligence stops for six months. The system takes — but by rule, not by raid.
What's the difference between DAS, MAP, sequestration and a trust deed?
Four exits for four balance sheets. DAS: you can repay in full over time — interest and fees frozen, diligence blocked, written off on completion; no debt limit. MAP: free bankruptcy for low-income, low-asset debtors owing £1,500–£25,000 — discharge in six months. Full sequestration: broader bankruptcy, £150 to apply (free on benefits), creditors can force it at £5,000 owed, discharge typically a year. Protected trust deed: the marketed option — four years of payments via an insolvency practitioner; sometimes right, often outsold. A free money adviser runs the comparison without commission.
What is the moratorium and how fast does it work?
Scotland's statutory freeze: six months during which no diligence can proceed and no sequestration can be forced — entered through a money adviser onto the public register, usable once in any twelve months. It exists to buy calm: time to gather papers, test prescription dates, and choose among DAS, MAP and the rest without a wage arrestment forcing the choice. England's Breathing Space doesn't operate here; the moratorium is the Scottish answer, and at six months it's three times longer.
Someone owes me money and keeps stalling. What should I actually do?
Write once, clearly, with a deadline — then raise the claim while prescription is comfortably alive: only proceedings (or a written standstill agreement) stop the five-year clock, and "he kept promising" is how creditors lose extinguished debts. Simple procedure at £23–£127 is cheap enough to use early; decree unlocks earnings and bank arrestment above the floors. Against businesses, a formal charge or the credible threat of sequestration (£5,000 minimum) concentrates minds. Speed is strategy here.
Do UK consumer rights apply in Scotland?
Fully. The Consumer Rights Act's 30-day rejection right, repair-or-replace ladder and six-month burden reversal; 14-day online cancellation; section 75 making card issuers jointly liable from £100 to £30,000; chargeback on debit cards; the Financial Ombudsman up to £455,000. What differs is the enforcement doorway: Scotland's own consumeradvice.scot (0808 164 6000) feeds Trading Standards Scotland, and the backstop court is simple procedure at the sheriff court rather than English small claims.
Will a decree ruin my credit like an English CCJ?
Decrees are reported to the same credit reference world and carry comparable weight — expect six years of visibility and the same chilling effect on mainstream borrowing. Payment doesn't erase them, though satisfaction can be recorded; recall (where grounds exist) removes wrongly-obtained ones. The upstream cure beats the downstream: respond to claims on time, negotiate before decree, and where a decree is inevitable, time-to-pay directions can at least civilise the aftermath.
Is court my only route for a small dispute?
Rarely the best first one. Sector ombudsmen (financial, energy, communications) are free and binding on firms; consumeradvice.scot resolves plenty by pressure and process; mediation services run in several sheriffdoms. But Scotland's cheap simple procedure changes the calculus versus England — at £23–£127 with capped expenses, raising a claim early is often the negotiation. The credible, dated claim form settles more disputes than the hearing ever sees.
Is this a law firm? Is the call really free?
No, and yes. Legal Hotline is not a law firm; the line provides clear legal information about Scots civil law, debt and consumer rights — not legal advice on your case — and no solicitor-client relationship arises. Free, 24/7, unlimited questions. When you want a Scottish solicitor's judgment — a defended claim, a prescription close-call, diligence against your home — a one-hour consultation is a fixed £145, bookable on the call.
Simple procedure defences, prescription disputes, diligence and insolvency work — our 24/7 line pre-triages Scots who need exactly one hour of expert judgment. If that's your practice, we'd like to hear from you.
General legal information, not legal advice. We research every page from primary sources — legislation, the courts, and government legal-aid bodies — and check it for accuracy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at admin@platfirm.ai.
Prescription that extinguishes, floors that shield wages and savings, a moratorium that freezes the field — Scots civil law hands ordinary people real levers, and they only work when pulled deliberately. Our free line is live now, 24/7, with an AI legal assistant trained on this jurisdiction's law. We are not a law firm; it's legal information, not legal advice, and no solicitor-client relationship arises. When you want a Scottish solicitor's judgment on your facts, a one-hour consultation is a fixed £145 — bookable right on the call.
Free legal information. Not legal advice.