Interim attachment is a provisional diligence, similar to diligence on the dependence. Interim attachment protects the interests of creditors whilst a court action progresses. It effectively restricts the debtor's ability to deal with attached moveable assets in their possession pending the outcome of the action, but does not allow the creditor to remove or sell the attached items. The court may, upon application any time after interim attachment, make provision for the security of attached articles.

The scope of interim attachment is limited and excludes articles specified in section 11 of Debt Arrangement & Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002 as well as articles within a dwellinghouse, perishable items and certain items connected to the trade of the debtor.

As with diligence on the dependence, prior to a warrant for interim attachment being granted, a date must be set for a hearing in all cases. This gives the debtor and any other person having an interest the opportunity to be make representation. In many instances this hearing will be held prior to warrant being granted. However, where the court is satisfied that the creditor has a good case in the main action or that there is a real risk that the creditor could be prejudiced in some way prior to the action being decided, then a warrant can be granted prior to the hearing.

This interim diligence does not allow the creditor to take steps to dispose of the attached items and when a decree is granted, a further valuation and attachment must be carried out before the creditor can proceed to sell attached goods.

The legislation regarding interim attachment can be found in part 1A of the Debt Arrangement & Attachment (Scotland) Act 2002.

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.