Hi,

I came by an interesting article on the Scottish Government website regarding a drop in the number of debt cases being raised at court in Scotland.

There has been 35,900 debt cases raised for the period 2012-13 which is almost half of the total number of civil law cases brought to a court according to the article.

Often clients are very worried about formal legal action being taken against them but in my experience for normal consumer credit i.e. credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc it is unusual for a lender to consider formal legal action via the court as this doesn't guarantee recover of the debt. The statistics show that there has been an 11% reduction in the number of cases from 2011-12 to 2012-13.

The interesting thing is that 9 in 10 debt cases were not defended in court and more than half of the debt cases were found in favour of the pursuer. It makes me wonder what someone does when formal legal paperwork drops through their letter box and where they go for debt advice or do they just ignore the issue in the hope that it will go away.

I've copied it below for anyone who may be interested.

"Debt disputes have fallen by 45 per cent in the four years following the start of the financial crisis in 2008.

The latest civil law statistics, published by Scotland's Chief Statistician today, show an 11 per cent drop in debt cases raised in Scotland in the financial year 2012-13, compared to 2011-12. In total there were 35,900 debt cases raised - almost half the total number of civil law cases brought to court.

Debt cases have been decreasing steadily since 2008-09. Changes in types of borrowing, settlements out of court and perceived lower chances of recovering money are among the possible causes for the drop in cases brought to court.

Similarly, the number of all civil disputes in courts has fallen by 41 per cent in four years to 77,500 in 2012-13. Cases dropped nine per cent since 2011-12.

Scotland's Chief Statistician, Roger Halliday, said: ÔÇ£There has been a continuous decline in the number of civil law court cases, a trend driven by the drop in debt cases. Despite the decline in debt cases, they still make up nearly half civil law cases in courts, followed by family disputes, eviction cases and personal injury claims.ÔÇØ

Repossession and eviction cases have dropped by 47 per cent in four years to 5,400 and 10,500 respectively, in the financial year 2012-13. Repossessions have dropped 20 per cent and evictions 25 per cent since 2011-12.

There were 9,700 divorces granted in 2012-13, 14 per cent fewer than four years earlier and two per cent fewer than in 2011-12. Civil partnership dissolutions have quadrupled in four years to 67 in 2012-13, a reflection of the rising number of people entering civil partnerships since their inception in 2005.

Personal injury cases have fluctuated during recent years. There were 8,700 cases in 2012-13, a rise of 11 per cent since 2011-12. Road traffic accident and accident at work cases make up the bulk of personal injury cases.

Nine in ten debt cases were not defended in court and more than half of debt cases were found in favour of the pursuer. Three in four debt cases were brought to court for claims up to £3,000.

Seven in 1,000 people went to court over a debt dispute in 2012-13. The incidence was highest in the Glasgow and Strathkelvin Sheriffdom at 11 disputes per 1,000 population.

The statistics released today were produced by independent statisticians free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics."