Legislative changes

During the COVID-19 Pandemic there was a series of emergency legislation introduced that may impact our statistics:

• The Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act

• The Bankruptcy (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

and more recently:

• The Bankruptcy and Debt Arrangement Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2023

Debtor applications

Debtor applications for bankruptcy increased by 31.6% from 437 in 2024-25 Q2 to 575 in 2025-26 Q2. There are two types of debtor applications for bankruptcy: Minimal Asset Process (MAP) and Full Administration. Full Administration bankruptcies increased by 21.7% from 143 in 2024-25 Q2 to 174 in 2025-26 Q2. MAP bankruptcies increased by 36.4% from 294 to 401. The majority of bankruptcies awarded through debtor applications continue to be MAP cases.

Not all debtor applications for bankruptcy result in an award being made. Applications can be:

• rejected (criteria for bankruptcy not met)
  
• returned (application errors)
  
• withdrawn

In 2025-26 Q2, AiB received 575 debtor applications for bankruptcy, compared with 437 received in 2024-25 Q2.

Almost 70% of debtor applications awarded in 2025-26 were MAP
Chart 2: Awards of debtor applications by type of bankruptcy: Apr-Jun 2009 to Jul-Sep 2025

Case Administration

In Scotland, a trustee is appointed to administer each bankruptcy. The Accountant in Bankruptcy (the Accountant) acts as trustee unless an insolvency practitioner is nominated to do so. In all cases awarded under the Minimal Asset Process (MAP), the Accountant must act as trustee.

In the second quarter of 2025-26, The Accountant was appointed trustee in 641 cases. This represents 88.5% of bankruptcies awarded during the quarter. This high proportion reflects that 69.7% of bankruptcies awarded through debtor applications in this period were MAP cases.

Application fee structure

The current bankruptcy application fee structure provides lower-cost access to both the Full Administration and Minimal Asset Process (MAP) routes to bankruptcy. It includes the complete removal of fees for those assessed as having no surplus income and for applicants in receipt of certain prescribed benefits.

Debtor application costs for Full Administration have reduced from £200 to £150, while MAP application fees have been removed entirely.

For further information, see:

• The Bankruptcy and Debt Arrangement Scheme (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023
  
• The Bankruptcy (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2021

In the second quarter of 2025-26, a total of 575 bankruptcy awards were made following applications submitted to AiB under the revised fee structure. Of this total, 534 (92.9%) applicants were not required to pay any fee. 76.4% of Full Administration bankruptcies paid no fee in 2025-26 Q2.

Bankruptcies Discharged

A debtor in a Full Administration bankruptcy will normally remain bankrupt for one year, after which they may be discharged.
A debtor in a Minimal Asset Process (MAP) bankruptcy will normally be discharged after six months, provided they continue to meet the MAP criteria.

Although the debtor may be discharged, the administration of the bankruptcy continues until the trustee has dealt with all assets in the estate and accounted for their work, allowing them to seek their own discharge. A debtor must continue to cooperate with the trustee until the trustee’s discharge.

In 2025-26 Q2, there were 461 debtors discharged and 524 trustees discharged, a decrease of 18.1% and 14.5% respectively when compared with 2024-25 Q2.

Figures for trustee discharges include some bankruptcy cases where the trustee has been discharged more than once following formal reappointment to conclude the administration.

The figures also include trustees who formerly acted in bankruptcies where recall has been granted. In 2024-25 and 2025-26, there were 61 and 34 bankruptcy recalls, respectively.

PTDs registered

There were 1,056 PTDs registered in 2025-26 Q2, a decrease of 20.4% when compared with 2024-25 Q2.

Despite a drop in volumes in COVID-19, there are still more PTDs than bankruptcies
Chart 3: Personal insolvencies by type of debt solution Apr-Jun 2015 to Jul-Sep 2025

PTDs discharged

A debtor in a Protected Trust Deed (PTD) is normally discharged after 48 months. If the debtor makes the agreed payments and cooperates with the trustee, the trustee will then apply to AiB for the debtor’s discharge.

After the debtor has been discharged, the trustee may remain in office for as long as necessary to conclude the administration of the trust deed.

In the second quarter of 2025-26, there were 1,381 debtors discharged, a 3.4% increase when compared with 2024-25 Q2. There were 1,261 trustees discharged in 2025-26 Q2, a 15.6% decrease when compared with the same quarter in 2024-25.

Approved DAS applications

In the second quarter of 2025-26, there were 1,312 applications for a DAS Debt Payment Programme (DPP) received by AiB. During the same quarter, 20 applications were rejected.

In 2025-26 Q2, there were 1,344 approved DPPs under the DAS, compared with 1,367 approved in 2024-25 Q2, a decrease of 1.7%.

Chart 4 shows that there has been an upward trend in the number of approved DPPs since 2019-20 Q1.

Approvals have shown sustained growth since 2019 despite a small decrease in Q2 2025-26
Chart 4: Approved DPPs under DAS Apr-Jun 2015 to Jul-Sep 2025

Completed and Revoked DAS cases

A DPP is completed when the debt included in the programme has been paid in full, excluding fees to the DAS Administrator and payments distributor.

There were 522 DPPs completed under the DAS in 2025-26 Q2, a decrease of 4.7% when compared with 2024-25 Q2.

The volume of DAS completions reflects activity levels from several years earlier, as the average duration of a DPP is around six years. Completions are therefore expected to remain steady and align with current approval levels.

A DPP is automatically revoked if the debtor is made bankrupt, enters a Protected Trust Deed which becomes protected, or on other grounds.
There were 406 DPPs revoked under the DAS in 2025-26 Q2, which is 20 (4.7%) fewer than the figure of 426 in the same quarter of 2024-25.

Amount repaid under the DAS

In 2025-26 Q2, around £15.9 million was repaid by debtors under the DAS, compared with £14.9 million repaid in 2024-25 Q2.

Since the DAS (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2019 came into force on 4 November 2019, creditors have received a minimum of 78% of the debt owed to them through DAS, after the DAS Administrator and payments distributor fees are deducted. Prior to this, the minimum return to creditors was 90%.

After these fees were applied, around £12.7 million was paid to creditors in 2025-26 Q2.

Applications to vary and revoke a DPP

If a debtor’s circumstances change and they can no longer afford the agreed payments, or if they wish to increase their payments, they can apply for a variation to their DAS Debt Payment Programme (DPP). Variations may also involve changing the duration of the DPP or adding a new condition.

The following types of variation are included in this publication:

• contribution change
  
• debt change
  
• discretionary condition
  
• essential credit
  
• frequency change
  
• partial settlement
  
• payment break

In the second quarter of 2025-26, a total of 2,893 applications were submitted to vary a DPP. Of these, 1,203 applications for a crisis payment break were approved, accounting for around 41.6% of all variation requests. Additionally, 1,652 standard variation applications were approved, representing 57.1% of all variation requests. Only 1.3% of applications to vary a DPP were rejected. Approved variations accounted for 14.0% of all live DAS cases.

Applications to revoke a DPP

A DPP is automatically revoked if the debtor is made bankrupt or enters a trust deed which becomes protected. There are also several grounds on which a debtor, a money adviser acting on their behalf, or a creditor in the DPP can apply for revocation. Examples include:

• failure to satisfy a standard or discretionary condition
  
• making a false statement in the application
  
• failure to make the agreed instalments under the DPP, with arrears equal to two instalments
  
• where the conditions for a joint DPP, as specified in regulation 22(1) or 22(2), no longer apply

If a DPP is revoked, the debtor may become liable for all interest, fees, penalties and other charges that would have been payable had the DPP not been approved.

Of a total of 801 applications to revoke a DPP, 406 were approved in 2025-26 Q2, 20 (4.7%) fewer than the figure approved in 2024-25 Q2, and 395 were rejected.
Overall, 406 or 2.0% of live DAS cases were revoked during 2025-26 Q2.

Official Statistics label

These official statistics provide key information on personal and corporate insolvencies in Scotland. Official statistics are produced by professional independent statistical staff.

Section 6.1 of the 2007 Statistics and Registration Service Act defines official statistics as those produced by:

• the UK Statistics Authority
• government departments (including executive agencies)
• the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• any other person acting on behalf of the Crown or
• any other organisation named on an Official Statistics Order

Under the Act, official statistics should:

• follow the Code of Practice for Statistics and
• fall within the scope of the Office for Statistics Regulation

The Office for Statistics Regulation assesses their compliance against the Code of Practice

Further information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland is available here - About our statistics - gov.scot.

Data Sources

The statistics for Scottish statutory debt solutions (bankruptcies, PTDs, and the DAS) use administrative data processed within AiB. These are stored on the systems BASYS, ASTRA and eDEN (formerly DASH) respectively. Note DASH was decommissioned on 30 June 2019 and its replacement system, eDEN, went live on 1 July 2019.

The exception to this is creditor and trustee petition bankruptcies. This is sourced from the courts that grant them and then stored on the BASYS system.

The statistics for statutory moratorium on diligence also use administrative data processed within AiB. This is stored on the Register of Insolvencies.

Corporate insolvencies calculated using administrative data records provided by the courts and insolvency professionals (liquidators and receivers). Corporate insolvency statistics published by AiB may differ from equivalent statistics published by The Insolvency Service. This is because the Insolvency Service use their own administrative data of records and Companies House to produce their statistics. There may be a time lag between the award/registration date and the date on which AiB receives notice of the insolvency.

Methodology

Figures are produced from tabulation of raw data from relevant administrative systems for the number of:

• bankruptcies
• PTDs
• DPPs under the DAS
• statutory moratorium on diligence and
• corporate insolvencies

The numbers of personal insolvencies reported are based on:

• the date of the court order
• agreement of the insolvency procedure or
• approval date

For creditor petitions, the published figures will be influenced by the late reporting of court orders. This may lead to underestimating the number of creditor petitions awarded. Creditor petitions statistics are subsequently adjusted after the final quarterly release of the financial year. The revised figures are reflected in the first quarterly report of the next financial year.

The number of DPPs under the DAS reported are based on the approval date of the DPP. The number of statutory moratorium on diligence reported are based on the submission date of the granted moratorium.

AiB must be notified of all company liquidations and receiverships in Scotland. AiB publishes quarterly official statistics based on its own administrative records.

Revisions

Revisions are usually made when data are received by AiB and entered onto the administrative systems after the cut-off date for extraction. These revisions are typically small in the context of overall totals.

From 2025-26 Q2, scheduled revisions will occur each financial quarter, providing users with data in a more timely manner and improving the accuracy of provisional estimates as more information becomes available.

At the first release of each quarterly publication, all new data are given provisional status and labelled with [p]. These statistics remain provisional until they are finalised, meaning no further revisions are planned. Any revisions that do occur will be clearly marked with [r], accompanied by an explanatory footnote in the relevant table.

As per existing policy, any other revisions made for non-scheduled reasons will be highlighted separately. Finalised figures will be published in the first quarter of the following financial year. Further details on the revisions schedule are provided in the table below.

Quality

The statistics produced by AiB provide the most complete record of statutory debt solutions and statutory moratoriums on diligence in Scotland, and also include corporate insolvencies.

Non-statutory debt solutions, such as informal arrangements with creditors or debt management plans, are not included.

These statistics are published on the fourth Wednesday of the month following the end of each quarter. Publication dates are pre-announced in the 12-month release calendar on gov.scot .

Statutory debt solution statistics can be compared across solution types and used to identify trends over time. However, legislative or policy changes may affect comparability by creating breaks in time series; where relevant, these are noted in the commentary and background notes.

The Scottish Statutory Debt Solutions Statistics are the definitive source for statutory debt solution data in Scotland. The Insolvency Service includes figures from this publication in its UK statistics on individual insolvencies. Figures for the financial year 2025-26 will be finalised in Q1 2026-27.

Users should note that operational, policy and legislative differences across the UK limit the comparability of figures between nations.

Correspondence and enquiries

For enquiries about this publication please contact:

AiB Statistics, Accountant in Bankruptcy
Email: aib_statistics@gov.scot

For general enquiries about Scottish Government statistics please contact:

Office of the Chief Statistician
Telephone: 0131 244 0442
Email: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this statistical bulletin are available on the AiB Statistics webpages at https://www.aib.gov.uk/about-aib/statistics-data/quarterly-statistics.

Details of bankruptcies, PTDs, liquidations and receiverships can be found on the Register of Insolvencies, which is maintained by Accountant in Bankruptcy and can be accessed at: https://roi.aib.gov.uk/roi/.

The DAS register is an online public register which holds information about those who have a DPP under DAS, available at: https://eden.aib.gov.uk/dasregister.

Complaints and suggestions

If you are not satisfied with our service or have any comments or suggestions, please write to:
The Chief Statistician, 2W, St Andrews House, Edinburgh, EH1 3DG
Telephone: (0131) 244 0302
Email: statistics.enquiries@gov.scot

If you would like to be consulted about statistical collections or receive notification of publications, please register your interest at: https://blogs.gov.scot/statistics/

Details of forthcoming publications can be found at: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot