Debt Arrangement Schemes ‘helping hundreds of Scots become debt free’

The AiB recently reported that there were as many as 1,233 people across Scotland who became debt free in 2015 having completed their debt payment programmes.

The government-backed insolvency organisation welcomed its own findings and noted that last year was the first 12-month period in which more than a thousand Scots had become debt free through DAS solutions.

With more than £118 million returned to creditors through DAS since 2011 and hundreds of people becoming debt free in the process, there have been calls for the DAS system to be extended to cover the rest of the UK.

Entering a DAS and establishing a Debt Payment Plan gives struggling debtors in Scotland protection from creditors once they’ve agreed a deal outlining how they will make repayments over a given period of time.

The debt solutions have been open to individuals in Scotland since 2004 but are not currently available to anyone living in England or Wales.

However, a recent parliamentary committee in Westminster recommended to the government that Debt Arrangement Schemes be rolled out across the UK.

“I have written to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury indicating we are happy to help in any way we can to extend DAS to the most economically vulnerable people across the whole of the UK,” said Scottish business minister Fergus Ewing.

“Scotland’s Debt Arrangement Scheme has helped thousands of people with problem debt get the time and protection from creditors they need to repay what they owe in a dignified manner,” he said.

The idea of seeing DAS solutions made available across the UK has been publicly backed by the debt charity StepChange, whose director external affairs Francis McGee has said that the system “works brilliantly well in Scotland” and should be used elsewhere.

If you would like to learn more about how a Debt Arrangement Scheme could help you become debt free call Scotland Debt Solutions to speak to one of our experts directly.