Notes for Guidance - Bankruptcy (Scotland) Act 2016 (as amended)

The following standards have been produced and provided by Police Scotland and must be considered prior to submission of a suspected offence report to the Accountant.

• police involvement should be seen as the very last option as practitioners should be encouraging the debtor to comply
• only if serious offences are discovered (disposal of assets, absconded, fraud etc.) should a formal enquiry be sent to the police giving details of all enquiries carried out to date (a diary as such)
• use any civil course of action that could assist
• ensure that the debtors are aware of their obligations to contact the trustee and they acknowledge their understanding and the consequences of failure to comply
• record full contact details including that of Next of Kin or a relative to ensure proper communication channels are maintained
• personal service of documents on the debtor as mandatory
• if no contact available - enquiry with neighbours/relatives/employment etc. to be recorded as part of a log (to show what attempts and enquiry has been made). All action should be considered with regard to compliance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 (RIPSA)
• consider standard database checks to be carried out to trace/identify the debtor (Experian, Equifax, voters roll, local authority etc)