In January 2020, the Scottish Government Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee conducted a short, focused inquiry into Protected Trust Deeds (PTDs). Following submissions from stakeholders, the report confirming the Committee recommendations was published on 21 May 2020. The Scottish Government published its response to the Committee report on 15 October 2020.
The then Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn, pledged to undertake and develop a wider review of Scotland’s debt solutions, chairing working groups with stakeholders. Further information regarding this is available on the AiB website here.
It was agreed, that AIB, in agreement with trustees and creditors, could introduce operational changes in the short-term to improve existing processes and fill any gaps identified in the report.
In December 2020 the AiB PTD case operations team discussed this with the Protected Trust Deed Standing Committee and set up a working group to review the points raised by the Parliamentary Committee. The committee agreed key areas which could be addressed operationally and fed into further discussions on the other areas identified which may require legislative change.
The PTD protocol was developed, which sets out non-statutory changes to operational processes. The intention is to promote good practice, improve transparency and provide further clarity in support of the revised AiB PTD Notes for Guidance, better enabling trustees to manage debtor and creditor expectations in a PTD.
There is no legislative or regulatory requirement for trustees to follow this protocol and its provisions are based on consent, however, AiB hopes that trustees will find the changes helpful and actively agree to implement them.
Changes introduced by the protocol:
- Wherever practicable, an interim dividend should be paid to creditors after month 12 from the date the trust deed is granted and quarterly thereafter.
- Should a trustee decide to withhold the debtor’s discharge from their liabilities included in the PTD, they must first submit a completed ‘Application to Refuse Debtor Discharge’ form to AiB for consideration and to seek agreement.
- Trustees must only accept referrals from FCA approved lead generator firms.
The PTD Protocol will commence on 1 October 2021 and further information, including details of how trustees may agree to follow the protocol, is given below:
- PTD Protocol
- Revised Notes for Guidance
- Agreement form
- Dear Trustee letter
- Refusal of debtor discharge in PTD form
A list of Insolvency Practitioners who agree to follow the PTD protocol will be listed below.
- Samantha Warburton, Carrington Dean
- Ian Wright, Quantuma
- Kevin Mapstone, AMI Financial Solutions Ltd
- Thomas Fox, Harper McDermott Ltd
- Blair Nimmo, Interpath Advisory
- Lynne Flower, Interpath Advisory
- Nicholas Payne, Payplan Scotland
- Jamie Carmichael, J3 Debt Solutions Limited