Attachment Order

[Chid]

A friend has just received a "Notice of Intention To Serve a Charge and Attachment" - it concerns a debt which he can't afford to pay. As this is for a credit card debt do Sheriff Officers have right of entry to his home or can he refuse to let them in? I've read that they can break in to serve the attachment - is this correct? Grateful for any help and advice.

 

C

[IdaInFife]

he can apply for a time to pay order which has to be done within 14 days of the charge for payment....

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/dealing-debt-scotland/185249-have-you-received-charge.html

 

if your friend fails to do this then will then most likely apply for a wages or bank arrestment.... there will only be a forced entry at a very last resort.

 

Ida x

[Chid]

Thanks for your reply. This is from a debt (one of many!) which he was already paying up at a very low rate having received some sort of court order. He lives in rented accommodation on Invailidity Benefit and DLA. The bank account into which he receives his benefit is in permanent agreed overdraft and he has no assets. I'm wondering, as it isn't a debt to a government department, whether there is anything they can do. I'm trying to get him to apply for sequestration under the low income low asset scheme as I think it is his only way out.

[Coactum]

The old saying about blood out of stones comes to mind. If your friend has no assets then you may well be correct in thinking that sequestration is a logical choice, but I think that a creditor needs to commence proceedings rather than an individual simply applying on their own. Sequestration currently lasts for 3 years, although a recent consultation paper published by the Scottish Executive proposed changes to a one year bankruptcy to bring Scotland into line with this period in England & Wales which was introduced on 1 April 2004.

 

Returning to who does what, if action is taken by a creditor you must owe at least £1,500 and have failed to meet their demand for repayment. Failure to pay at this stage means that you are deemed insolvent, or I think to be more accurate the term in "apparently insolvent"

 

The Creditor then needs to get a decree from the court. If you have then failed to pay any creditor any debt due by you under a decree of court you will be served "a charge for payment" and this is the stage your friend is at.

 

As you have identified you have 14 days to pay and only after this has lapsed can the creditor instigate bankruptcy proceedings.

[Coactum]

I have just checked and you can indeed declare yourself insolvent by applying for a sequestration petition at your sheriff court. This will of course stop creditors from taking further debt recovery action against you.

 

As you might expect there are requirements which must be met before you can apply to court for your own sequestration. The first thing goes back to my earlier post. You must be apparently insolvent, then there is the usual place of residence so that the court has jurisdiction etc and you must not have been previously bankrupt in the past 5 years.

 

To prove the apparently insolvent situation if a creditor has not already obtained decree you must prove you owe at least £1,500.

[Coactum]

Just had another thought. Perhaps a trust deed is more appropriate. Look at this site for more info Trust Deed: Debt Solution in Scotland

[IdaInFife]

here si some more info.....if the current charge for payment is more than £1500 then you can go BK

 

National Debtline Scotland | Debt Advice | Factsheet 01 Bankruptcy

[Chid]

I went through it myself in September 2009. Paid my £100 to the accountant in bankcruptcy - never dealt with courts at all. It was all quite painless and I was discharged after 1 year. Obviously I can't get credit but I did manage to get a basic bank account and because I can't get credit I can't get into any more debt. Trying to persuade my friend that this is the best option and that the peace of mind makes it well worth it. He seems to think if he just ignores it all it will go away after 5 years. I had never received anything called an attachment and just wondered what is likely to happen next if he does just ignore it. I thought Sheriff Officers only had a right to enter your property if the debt was due to a governement department eg Council Tax .

Edited March 24, 2010 by Chid