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💷 Old Debts Guide

Has My Debt Prescribed in Scotland?

The 5-year prescription, what stops it, extinguished debts and debt collectors.

✅ Last verified: 24 September 2026 📚 Sources: listed at the end, each checked on the date shown 🇬🇧 Scotland

💬 Check your own situation

Describe what has happened. The checker answers only from this guide, plus what you tell it, and says so if something is not covered.

Check an Old Debt →

Who this guide is for

People in Scotland who are being chased for an old debt under a contract, such as a credit card, store card, catalogue, overdraft, personal loan or payday loan, and want to know whether it has prescribed (been wiped out by the passage of time).

What this guide does not cover

⚖ At a glance

  • In Scotland, a contract debt prescribes if 5 years pass without a relevant claim and without the debt being relevantly acknowledged (Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973).
  • A prescribed debt is extinguished: it no longer exists and cannot be recovered.
  • This is different from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, where an old debt still exists but cannot be enforced through the courts.
  • A debt collector regulated by the FCA must not mislead you about your rights.

The questions that decide the answer

  1. Where do you live? Scotland: this guide. England, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own guides.
  2. What kind of debt is it? A credit card, loan, overdraft, catalogue or similar: this guide. Council tax, tax, benefits, fines, child maintenance, student loans or a mortgage shortfall: different rules.
  3. In the last 5 years, have you paid anything, admitted the debt, or been taken to court for it? Yes: it has not prescribed. No: it may have prescribed.
  4. Has the creditor already got a court decree? Yes: this guide does not cover it.

The 5-year prescription

If a contract debt has existed for a continuous period of 5 years without any relevant claim being made (for example, court action) and without the debt being relevantly acknowledged (for example, by a payment), the debt is extinguished at the end of that period. It no longer exists by law.

A relevant claim or a relevant acknowledgment within the 5 years stops the debt prescribing. Debt advice charities say the 5 years then counts again from the last time you paid, acknowledged the debt or court action was started.

If a debt collector is chasing you

The FCA's rules say that in Scotland a debt ceases to exist and is no longer recoverable if no relevant claim was made and the debt was not acknowledged during the prescriptive period. A regulated firm must not mislead you about your rights, and it is misleading for it to suggest you may be taken to court when it knows, or ought to know, the time limit has passed. Do not pay or sign anything that admits the debt until you have checked the dates with a free debt adviser.

Deadlines

Money figures

This guide gives no money figures.

Where to go for help

StepChange Debt Charity: 0800 138 1111.

Citizens Advice Scotland: 0800 028 1456

Traps

📜 Sources (checked 24 September 2026)

  • Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, section 6(1) (obligation extinguished after 5 years without a relevant claim or relevant acknowledgment), as quoted by the Court of Session (BAILII); legislation.gov.uk section 10 (up to date to 6 February 2026, text not read).
  • FCA Handbook CONC 7.15.1G, 7.15.3G, 7.15.6R and 7.15.7G (5 years in Scotland; debt ceases to exist; not misleading; no threat of court action).
  • StepChange: statute-barred debt page (5 years from the last acknowledgment, payment or court action - attributed; RECHECK section 10 of the 1973 Act).
  • GOV.UK: Get free debt advice (StepChange 0800 138 1111, Citizens Advice Scotland 0800 028 1456).
⚠ Important disclaimer: This guide covers prescribed debts in Scotland as at 24 September 2026. General legal information only, not legal advice. ukworkrights.co.uk — Not a law firm.

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