Creditor bankruptcy if you live in Scotland
A creditor can make you bankrupt in Scotland if you owe them more than £10,000 (this has changed from £3,000 under new laws brought in to deal with the pandemic).
Two or more creditors can club together if the amounts you owe are under these limits, but this is rare. For example, if you have two debts of £2,000, the creditors could apply for your bankruptcy together so the total debt passes the £3,000 minimum.
If you live in Scotland, a creditor can only petition for your bankruptcy if they can prove your ‘apparent insolvency’. To do this they will send you one of the following documents:
- A charge for payment giving you 14 days to pay the debt, or
- A statutory demand giving you 21 days to pay the debt
You can also be made bankrupt if you set up a protected trust deed to repay your debts, but it failed because you didn’t make the payments.
If you don’t pay the debt in this time you’ll receive a ‘warrant to cite’ which gives you a date for a court hearing.