Diligence is the term for various processes of debt enforcement in Scottish law.

A person or organisation (the creditor) can use diligence if someone who owes them money (the debtor) has failed to pay a sum due. The creditor must have a decree (court order) enforceable in Scotland, or a document of debt such as a Summary Warrant before they can carry out diligence.

The court order gives the creditor authority to recover money due to them using whichever method of legal debt enforcement they choose. In most cases, the creditor must also serve a Charge for Payment and issue a Debt Advice and Information Package (DAIP) before using diligence.

There are several processes available to a creditor to try to recover money owed to them, including;

• Diligence against Earnings
• Arrestment
• Inhibition
• Attachment
• Interim Attachment
• Exceptional Attachment
• Money Attachment
• Landlords Hypothec
• Adjudication for Debt
• Maills and Duties
• Admiralty Actions
• Diligence on Dependence
• Land Attachment 
• Residual Attachment 
• Actions for removing heritable property

Further advice on diligence

The law of diligence can be complex. Creditors considering debt enforcement through diligence are advised to seek the advice of a solicitor who may charge for their services.

People who are struggling to deal with their debt or whose creditors are taking action against them can contact a money adviser. Money Advice Scotland or Citizens Advice Scotland can give information on where to find an adviser in their local area.

What is the Accountant in Bankruptcy's Role in diligence?

The Accountant in Bankruptcy has responsibility for policy relating to diligence in Scotland. This includes the commencement of several parts of The Bankruptcy and Diligence ect (Scotland) Act 2007, which modernised much of the law relating to diligence and introduced changes to other processes including bankruptcy, trust deeds and the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

Further Responsibilities

The Accountant in Bankruptcy has responsibility for commencement of Part 16 of the 2007 Act. This part, while not strictly dealing with diligence, is related to the enforcement of debt.

Part 16 introduces orders for the disclosure of information (information disclosure orders). No information is included in this website on information disclosure orders as there is currently no planned date for their introduction.

Information on the commencement of all the Parts of the Bankruptcy and Diligence etc. (Scotland) Act 2007 for which the Accountant in Bankruptcy has responsibility, can be found in the table of commencement, along with information on the statutory instruments that support the legislation.

This section of the website is intended to give a broad overview of diligence. It is not a full statement of the law nor does it provide a full description of each of the processes.

Diligence Statistics