Debt Arrangement Schemes Pass £100 Million Repayments Landmark

November 12, 2015

Entrants into Debt Arrangement Schemes (DAS) across Scotland have paid more than £100 million back to their creditors since 2011, according to official figures on the subject.

The details of how DAS solutions function were changed in 2011 and they have apparently been working well ever since as a means of seeing creditors paid back while giving debtors a chance to get to grips with their financial situation.

DAS were first introduced in Scotland in 2004 as the government aimed to improve the ways in which indebted individuals could reach agreements with their creditors and manage their finances more effectively.

“The Debt Arrangement Scheme has been a real success story for Scotland,” the Scottish government’s business minister Fergus Ewing told an audience at the Insolvency and Restructuring Conference recently.

“Over £100 million has now been returned to creditors through DAS since the new regulations were enacted four years ago, opening the scheme up to more people who need help – a vast sum of money and a remarkable achievement,” he said.

According to the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), which administers Debt Arrangement Schemes, the amounts of money being paid back to creditors via DAS has been increasing year-on-year since 2011.

There was as much as £9.6 million repaid through DAS in the three months to the end of September 2015 alone and the overall total repaid through the schemes since 2011 now stands at just over £112 million, the AiB has said.

Speaking on November 11^th, Mr Ewing pointed out that the Financial Inclusion Commission, an independent policy research body, has called for DAS to be used as a means of helping indebted people throughout the UK.

“Earlier this year, the Financial Inclusion Commission highlighted that existing UK debt solutions are not fit for purpose and recommended DAS, which freezes interest and charges on debts and gives debtors much-needed breathing space, is adapted and rolled out across the whole of the UK,” Ewing explained.

“It is tremendously gratifying to see a respected body like the Financial Inclusion Commission recognise that Scotland is leading the way when it comes to issues of personal debt management and debt relief,” he said.

If you live in Scotland and you are struggling to reach agreement with your creditors then a Debt Arrangement Scheme might be able to help you. Call Scotland Debt Solutions to find out how.

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