How To File For Sequestration in Scotland

Even though it may be obvious that you cannot pay your debts any more, some creditors will be hesitant to sequester you. If you do not have much in the way of assets, they may believe it will cost more money to sequester you than they are likely to get back, so instead they will spend months hassling you and making you miserable to try and get some money from you. To avoid this stress and unpleasantness, you can take matters into your own hands and file for your own sequestration instead.

Are you eligible for sequestration?

You have to fulfil very specific criteria to be eligible to apply for your own sequestration.

• You must owe at least £1,500

• You do not have to be a Scottish citizen, but you do have to live or have lived in Scotland for the last 12 months

• You should not have been sequestrated during the last five years

• You must be able to pay the application fee of £100

However, to ensure that people who can pay back their debts do not attempt to sequester themselves to escape from their debts, you should also fulfil one of the following criteria:

• An independent money adviser or Insolvency Practitioner has sat down, looked at all your paperwork and declared you Apparently Insolvent. Or they could give you a Certificate of Sequestration

• Someone has issued a Statutory Demand or a Charge for Payment

• You applied for a Trust Deed, but your creditors have refused to allow it to become Protected

• You have a low income or low assets according to specific rules laid down by the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), which is a Scottish Government Official that processes personal bankruptcies in Scotland

Do you have the forms?

You have to apply formally to be sequestrated using specific forms issued by the AiB, which can be obtained either from money advisers or the AiB website;

http://www.aib.gov.uk/guidance/publications/forms/debtorsapplforms.

The forms are very straightforward, and before you fill in each section there is a page of notes explaining what you have to do and why. It will require a lot of detailed financial information so make sure you have everything to hand before you start.

Have you got all the evidence you need?

Everything you write in your application must be backed up with evidence and the forms contain a checklist for you to ensure you have everything required. If you do not include this information, your form cannot be processed and your sequestration not granted until you do.