A Scottish Solution?

A

Action

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Has anyone given this some serious thought to "the Scottish Solution" as opposed to the "UK - England Wales and NI" as is often described and referred to.

As things stand the UK extends further than England Wales and NI!

As I mentioned on another thread I have taken a number of Irish people through this and it is easier and more user freindly than the "UK" system. We dont have any court appearance for starters (a big incentive) and the costs therefore are far cheaper. £200!

Im not suggesting the process is easy but its certainly less onerous than our neighbours!

The establishment of a COMI is the same as are the 12 months bankruptcy and then automatic discharge.

Access to Ireland is great from Scotland and heading back after as little as six months seems pretty attractive. Worth a thought to those thinking about coming to the UK?
 
Perhaps you would be good enough here to set out exactly what is required. I don't that that has yet been done for the "Scottish Solution". Many would find the information useful to help make a decision.

Steve Thatcher
[broken link removed]
 
Hi Steve, I met with you a few times last year in Ballymount with some potential clients and I have now taken a number of people through the process here.

I think one of the huge advantages are that we dont operate a court system here to be made bankrupt. Clients like the idea of not standing in a court. You apply by post directly to a govt body and they will grant you a bankruptcy award usually within 5 days of the postal application. That of course is assuming you meet the criteria of having established your comi in the correct fashion and you can cleary demonstrate that you are a Scottish resident. The usual NI number and bank account with 3 monthly statements will be submitted. We will confidently make an application after 3 months of residency.

From there the case is sub contracted to an administrator on behalf of our Accountant in Bankruptcy. This will nearly always involve a 40 minute phone interview to confirm any points that need clarified from your original application. As you know the view taken here is to help the debtor back on to the straight and narrow. Its not to try and find reason to reject any award. I find that a lot of clients think that in some way they are being interogatted to try and find reason for the award to fail. this is simply not the case. A review of the I&E will take place after 6 months. At this stage I am more than happy to advise the client to return to Ireland if that is the preferance.

It should also be noted that if finance allows, say from a 3rd party, then a debtor here can actually appoint his own Trustee who will take the case in its entirity from start to finish. Again no court appearance and only one person to meet and deal with throughout the year who I emphasise is appointed by the debtor. I have used this facility a couple of times and the clients have been delighted with the familiarity and confidence they feel in dealing with their own self appointed Trustee.

The automatic discharge will take place after 12 months and that is it. I'm not for a moment suggesting its easy but its a system that is easy to follow,is user friendly and if you get the right advice re Income and Expenditure and of course the avoidance of any payment attachment order then it works very smoothly. Its really down to getting that proper advice as is suggested on this forum often.

Finally and of course a point that is raised often is there is no restriction on movement. A debtor is free to visit Ireland on a regular basis and as most people will know access to Ireland from Scotland is absolutely superb. All in all if UK bankruptcy is an option then the Scottish Solution is very much worth looking at.
 
Hi Action,

From what you say it sounds like a straight forward process.

Do you take people through the process for free?
 
Hi Pat,

No we dont do it for free. We charge a fee for an initial consultation after which time we would be able to quote a fee for the work that would be involved depending on the level of input we would have.
 
The Scottish system as well sounds like a cracker and a great option along side England and Wales

Steve Thatcher
 
Hi Pat,

I dont represent any organisation. I'm self employed and have been doing this work for a number of years. PM me or contact me on the above email if you need anything further.
 
Action said:
Hi Pat,

I dont represent any organisation. I'm self employed and have been doing this work for a number of years. PM me or contact me on the above email if you need anything further.
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Hi Action,

I think you should be forthright about your credentials and what you offer rather than asking people to PM or email you. As you have talked about yourself, getting the right advice is essential. You seem to know what you're talking about, however, if you intend to charge people for a service maybe you should be more public than a pseudonym and a gmail address.
 
Morning Pat,

I was asked for an email address which I provided. Dont really know what your problem is. I'm perfectly comfortable charging my client a fee for my services and to date have taken dozens of Irish residents through our system, all successfully. Indeed I had €1.8m written of for a client on Friday. He appeared to be delighted with the service and fee I charged him. You need anything more Pat just get in touch.
 
Action said:
Morning Pat,

I was asked for an email address which I provided. Dont really know what your problem is. I'm perfectly comfortable charging my client a fee for my services and to date have taken dozens of Irish residents through our system, all successfully. Indeed I had €1.8m written of for a client on Friday. He appeared to be delighted with the service and fee I charged him. You need anything more Pat just get in touch.
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Hi Action,

I outlined what my problem is very clearly. I'll explain in more detail. You are promoting a service on a website where people, often vulnerable, seek answers. You appear to be using a name that's not your own, giving out a gmail address without links to a website etc and have not yet told us your credentials.
There is a very definite line between engaging with this website and offering opinions, experiences etc rather than offering your services to potential customers.
Take the man above for example, Steve Thatcher. I don't always agree with his opinions but he has offered a huge amount of information on this website to people as they weigh up their options regardless of whether they are potential clients or not. Steve has undoubtedly been an invaluable resource. He appears to be honest about who he is and what he does; I'm sure the publicity has done him no harm either.
If you, like Steve, have a way to help some people escape the misery that debt can create then brilliant but people need to know who they are putting their trust in.
 
Morning Pat,

I'm a financial adviser in Glasgow specialising in debt solutions. I've been in financial services for over 30 yrs. Over the last couple of years I've been approached by numerous Irish residents to help them out of their problems. I've been able to facilitate that. I have helped them to get back to a normal life and start again debt free. I'm fortunate I have the facility to do this by the softer bankruptcy laws available here. I'm in Dublin every other week and I've already met some people from here as without doubt a face to face is far preferable to an Internet forum. I'm also happy to advise on the Scottish system as opposed to England and Wales as there are some differences as I've pointed out on this thread. I'm more than happy to give some general advice on this forum and I'll continue to do that.

John Walker
 
Action said:
Morning Pat,

I'm a financial adviser in Glasgow specialising in debt solutions. I've been in financial services for over 30 yrs. Over the last couple of years I've been approached by numerous Irish residents to help them out of their problems. I've been able to facilitate that. I have helped them to get back to a normal life and start again debt free. I'm fortunate I have the facility to do this by the softer bankruptcy laws available here. I'm in Dublin every other week and I've already met some people from here as without doubt a face to face is far preferable to an Internet forum. I'm also happy to advise on the Scottish system as opposed to England and Wales as there are some differences as I've pointed out on this thread. I'm more than happy to give some general advice on this forum and I'll continue to do that.

John Walker
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Hi John,

Thank you for clarifying, I'm sure you can see the benefit. If you can help people, then excellent. They now have a bit more information to help them decide.
 
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