More Scots face a lifetime of debt

By Jeff Salway
Published on 02/02/2013 19:30

THOUSANDS of Scots face a lifetime of debts if proposed new bankruptcy laws get the green light, it has been claimed.

Planned changes to the time in which debtors have to make repayments and increases in the returns given to creditors could backfire, according to PKF accountants and business.

Debt arrangement schemes (Das) have an average repayment period of six years and eight months, compared with the three years for protected trust deeds (PTDs). But Scottish Government proposals to raise the PTD dividend to at least 50p in the £1, up from 16.2 now, could force more people down the Das route, said Bryan Jackson at PKF.

“For most people it remains a difficult proposition to repay part of their debts over three years,” he said. “If they have to pay a substantially increased amount over two to three times that period they will lose hope and give up.”