Decree figures show consumers holding steady

There was a small increase in the numbers of decrees for debt against Scottish consumers during the first half of 2017, according to figures released today by Registry Trust.

In the first six months of 2017, 10,967 debt decrees were registered against consumers in Scotland, a four percent increase on the same period last year.

The Registry Trust, the non-profit organisation which collects decree and judgement information from jurisdictions across the UK, including small claims, summary, ordinary cause and simple procedure sheriff’s court decrees in Scotland, said the average value of a consumer decree fell 10 percent to £3,000, bringing the combined value of all consumer decrees down by six percent to £32.9m.

There were marked differences in the trends for small claims and summary causes and ordinary cause decrees. While the number and value of small claims and summary causes increased, these numbers fell for ordinary cause decrees.

The average small claims and summary causes decree was worth £1,724, the highest on record; the average ordinary cause decree was worth £16,014.

Only four percent of decrees were marked as satisfied in the first two quarters of 2017, far lower than the 12 percent of satisfied debt judgments in England and Wales, where satisfaction rates are generally higher owing to legal differences.

Under a new initiative from Registry Trust, lenders are being encouraged to notify the Trust directly when a decree has been settled to their satisfaction. At the moment, the onus lies with the consumer to take the action, which is logical but does not work well enough in practice. Lender notification would make an immediate difference in Scotland, helping transform access to credit for thousands of consumers.

“It is time consumers were helped to register payments and improve their histories,” said Registry Trust chairman Malcolm Hurlston. “It cannot be fair that such a low proportion of satisfactions are marked in Scotland. We are taking the initiative to work fast with responsible lenders, including the Credit Services Association which launched a new code of conduct last month.”

In the first half of 2017 Registry Trust said it received 15,679 requests to search the register for Scotland online at www.trustonline.org.uk.

TrustOnline allows anyone to search for decrees and similar information registered against businesses and consumers in any jurisdiction across the British Isles and Ireland.

“It is a unique benefit for consumers to be able to check the debt record of any person or business with which they may be transacting,” said Mr Hurlston. “Negative information would certainly make me think twice.”