Debt decrees registered against Scots companies fall to record low in 2017

● Year-on-year drop of 38 per cent seen as positive news for Scottish economy

The number of debt decrees registered against Scottish businesses hit a record low last year in what is seen as paving the way for an upbeat 2018, according to Registry Trust.

The group said there were 2,192 decrees issued against firms in Scotland in 2017, a hefty 38 per cent plunge yearon-year. Malcolm Hurlston, chairman of Registry Trust, said: “The sharp fall in decrees against Scottish companies last year was good news for the Scottish economy. Successful borrowing and fewer decrees recorded set the scene for a confident 2018.”

The non-profit organisation collects legal information from jurisdictions across Britain and Ireland. It holds a public register of Scottish decrees, collecting details of undefended money decrees entered in the small claims, summary and ordinary causes sheriffs’ courts north of the Border. A decree is proof that debt has not been managed.

The fall in decrees registered, coupled with a 58 per cent fall in the mean average value of a business decree, led to the total value of business judgments plummeting 76 per cent to £12 million.

This was the the lowest on record and the fall attributed partly to two large judgments to the value of £21.5m in 2016.

Thedropinthemeanaverage value of business decrees was caused by a sharp decrease in the mean average value of judgmentsagainstcompanies.

Turning to debt decrees registered against Scottish consumers, Registry Trust reported that in 2017 these totalled 22,763 – 9 per cent more than in the previous year.

The combined value of all consumer decrees was £64m, 2 per cent higher than 2016, and the mean average value of a consumer decree fell 7 per cent.

Hurlston urged Scottish consumers and firms to “make a point of telling Registry Trust when they have paid off a decree so we can mark it as satisfied and improve their record.

“In an ideal world claimants will tell us too but it will take time to implement a voluntary system”. He added: “If you are considering any business transaction, you would be wise to check for decrees or judgments first.”

Registry Trust was set up in 1985 and supplies its licensed credit reference agencies with an update on outstanding judgment debts.

It also said it received 32,734 requests to search the register for Scotland online last year, while only 3.67 per cent of decrees were marked as satisfied, far lower than the 13.04 per cent of satisfied debt judgments in England and Wales.