Scotland ‘leading the way’ on debt solutions - Experian

In its latest report, Experian said that the overall number of UK consumers who entered insolvency in the first quarter of this year was 13 per cent lower than was the case in the same period of 2015.

It said that 15 of the 20 most improved areas of Britain from the perspective of personal insolvency rates were to be found in various parts of Scotland last year.

Scottish towns were also cited as being locations in which rates of personal insolvency dropped particularly sharply between the first quarter of 2015 and the end of March this year.

According to Experian, the positive trends in Scotland are partly down to the law changes which came into effect in April 2015 and which are designed to help Scots find solutions to their debt problems that don’t involve a declaration of insolvency.

One particular solution credited with having helped a good number of Scots in financial trouble to avoid insolvency are Debt Arrangement Schemes, which allow entrants to freeze interest and charges on their debts while they make repayments to creditors.

The town of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire was singled out by Experian as being the area of the UK in which personal insolvency levels fell most sharply between the first three months of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016.

“It’s encouraging to see the impact of the recent changes in Scotland,” said Jonathan Westley from Experian. “However, despite the many positive signs, there are still pockets of the country which are feeling the strain.”