Decrees against businesses drop to record low

Malcolm Hurlston

The total of 561 was the lowest of any quarter on record.

The total value of decrees against businesses in the first quarter fell three per cent to £3.1 million.

The average value of a business decree rose 30 percent to £5,599 while the median, at £1,900, was up by 23 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.

The total number of decrees against companies dropped by 30 per cent from the previous year’s figures, to 398, though the average value of a decree in Q1 2019 jumped 98 percent to £6,663 - a record high for the first quarter.

The median increased by 38 per cent to £2,067 and the total value of decrees against Scottish companies rose by 39 per cent to £2.7 million.

The total number of decrees against generally smaller unincorporated businesses fell 11 per cent on Q1 2018’s figures, to 163 - also a record first quarter low. The total value also dropped to a record first quarter low of £489,041, down 63 per cent compared to the same period of 2018. The average value decreased by 58 per cent to £3,000, while the median value fell 15 per cent to £1,632.

During the first quarter of 2019, 5,253 debt decrees were registered against consumers, 28 per cent lower than Q1 2018. There was a 29 percent decrease in the combined value of consumer decrees to £11.9 million. The average value of all consumer decrees fell to £2,267, two per cent lower than in the same period of 2018, and the median consumer decree increased by nine per cent to £1,289.

The number of small claims against consumers fell by 28 per cent in Q1 2019 to 4,857, with the total value down 24 percent on Q1 2018’s figures to £7.4 million. The average value increased by five per cent to £1,520, and the median value rose by 11 percent to £1,201.

Ordinary cause decrees against consumers in the first quarter of 2019 dropped by 23 per cent to 396, compared to the same period the previous year, while the total and average values fell to all time first quarter lows of £4.5 million and £11,437 respectively. The median value at £8,655 rose four per cent from Q1 2018 figures.

Registry Trust is the non-profit organisation which collects decree and judgment information from jurisdictions throughout the British Isles and Ireland. In Scotland it collects information on small claims, summary, ordinary cause and simple procedure sheriff’s court decrees. A decree is incontrovertible proof that debt has not been managed.

Only 4.39 per cent of decrees were marked as satisfied during the first quarter of 2019, less than half the 10.52 percent of satisfied debt judgments in England and Wales, where satisfaction rates are generally higher owing to legal differences. This suggests advice agencies in Scotland should encourage clients to report when they have satisfied a debt.

Trust chairman Malcolm Hurlston CBE said: “These figures show a Scottish economy in robust health despite headwinds. The absence of judgments makes it easier to borrow responsibly - an important element to a strong economy.”

In the first quarter of 2019 Registry Trust received 9996 requests to search the register for Scotland online at www.trustonline.org.uk. TrustOnline allows anyone to search for judgments and similar information registered against consumers and businesses in any jurisdiction throughout the British Isles and Ireland.