The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

The Proposals

14. In line with the guiding principles set out by the SLC the draft Bill contains a number of elements which are intended to:

• create a general statutory entitlement to interest to run from the time when a sum of money becomes due by one person to another, whether by way of debt or damages;
• outline the circumstances when interest is not payable;
• set out when statutory interest starts to run from;
• provide for how statutory interest is calculated; and
• provide a power for the court to waive or reduce interest, depending on the circumstances of the case.

15. The following sections of the consultation paper expand on each of the main proposals, and set out a series of questions on which we would particularly welcome your views.

Creation of a statutory right to interest on debt and damages (Section 1)

16. Section 1 of the draft Bill creates a general statutory entitlement to interest on obligations to pay money. This entitlement is to apply to contractual debts, non-contractual debts, other obligations to pay money and to claims for damages. The entitlement exists independently from court proceedings, although in order to enforce the right, court proceedings may be necessary.

17. Despite the fact that there has been legislation dealing with interest on damages and on commercial debts in recent years, Scots law in this area lacks principle and consistency. Interest may or may not run on a claim for payment depending on whether it is categorised as a debt or as a claim for damages.

18. At the moment interest will not generally start on a debt until there has been either a judicial demand for payment or intimation by the creditor that if payment has not been made by a specified date, interest will begin to run. However, if the claim is categorised as a contractual claim for damages, interest may run, depending on the exercise of the court's discretion, from any time from the date when the right of action arose.

19. The entitlement will apply to all obligations to pay no matter what the sum involved is. There is to be no minimum threshold above which the entitlement will apply. This section is necessary to ensure that the entitlement to interest in the draft Bill is wide enough to cover all debts and damages.

Circumstances in which interest is not payable (Section 2)

20. The SLC proposed a number of specific exceptions to the general rule and these remain intact in the draft Bill. These exceptions are important as they narrow the application of the draft Bill.

Agreement between the creditor and the debtor

21. The intention in the draft Bill is that, where there is express or implied agreement between parties, interest is due on a basis different from the draft Bill. This will include where both parties have agreed that no interest will be due. This provision is to ensure that parties are free to make their own arrangements should they desire to do so and the draft Bill cannot overrule and ignore that choice. This is often known as 'contracting out'.

Fines, penalties and taxes due to a public authority

22. The draft Bill ensures that where a payment is due to a public authority which is related to the sphere of fines, penalties and taxes statutory interest under this draft Bill cannot apply on late payment. This means that the provisions of the draft Bill will not apply to such areas as council tax and parking fines.

Interest already covered by statutory provisions

23. If a transaction is already covered by a statutory provision, other than the draft Bill or the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, then statutory interest under this draft Bill cannot be claimed.

Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998

24. In 1998 the UK Government introduced the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 to give businesses a statutory right to claim interest from other businesses for the late payment of commercial debts. The 1998 Act gives effect to the UK's obligation to implement Directive 2000/35/EC of 29 June 2000 on combating late payment in commercial transactions. The 1998 Act was brought fully into force in 2002 and amended to render it fully compliant with the Directive.

25. Interest is not claimable under this draft Bill if it consists of a sum in respect of which a creditor claims interest under the 1998 Act.

Ministerial power to exclude certain debts from the interest regime

26. The draft Bill provides the Scottish Ministers with a power to exclude categories of debt which, for policy reasons, ought to be exempted.

27. After consulting with Citizens Advice Scotland and the Scottish Consumer Council the Scottish Government believe in principle that utility payments and rent arrears due to public sector landlords should be exempt from the provisions of the draft Bill. It is not the intention to increase the level of indebtedness in these areas as the ultimate consequences of non-payment can be the loss of an essential service or possible eviction.

Starting date for interest (Sections 3 - 8)

General approach

28. The draft Bill takes the approach of the SLC Bill and provides that statutory interest is to run from when the debt is due until payment of the principal sum.

29. The date on which payment of a financial obligation becomes due ought to be clear in the case of many payments provided for by contract. However, there are a variety of obligations to pay money for which the date on which payment is due may be more difficult to determine. The draft Bill does not go into detail in all these cases but instead relies on the application of the relevant existing law to determine when the payment became due.

Express provision required for the date on which the debt is due

30. There are some types of debts for which the SLC recommended that the appropriate date from when interest is to run should be specified. These include:

• contracts for the supply of goods and services;
• cautionary obligations;
• claims under contracts of insurance;
• contracts of loan; and
• fees and outlays in proceedings.

31. In developing the draft Bill, changes have been made to the provisions relating to claims under contracts of insurance and contracts of employment. These are discussed below.

Contracts for the supply of goods and services

32. It is anticipated that contracts for the supply (including sale) of goods and for performance of services will be the most common type of contract which will be covered by the statutory interest regime. The majority of businesses, including small and medium sized companies, have agreed terms and conditions under contract to deal with late payment. However, a recently published survey indicates that there are a significant number of small and medium sized businesses who do not have standard terms and conditions for late payment. For these businesses the draft Bill could provide a useful means of compensating for late payment.

33. The draft Bill sets out the straightforward rules that will apply:

• if the contract states when a payment becomes due then that date is when statutory interest starts to run from.
• if no contractual provision is made then statutory interest starts to run 30 days after the goods have been delivered or the service performed and the creditor has informed the debtor of the amount of money owed. If these two events do not occur at the same time then statutory interest will start to run 30 days from when the later event took place.

34. This is the proposal put forward by the SLC and follows the model in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

35. There may be some circumstances in which the buyer is dissatisfied with the goods or services provided and wishes to exercise a right of rejection in the case of goods or to demand rectification in the case of substandard services. Like the 1998 Act, no provision for dealing with disputes is contained in the draft Bill and this is expected to be dealt with by agreement between the parties, through a contractual mechanism where it exists or through existing legislation such as the Supply of Goods Act 1979 or the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

Cautionary obligations: cautioner's right of relief

36. While there have been some drafting changes in the development of the draft Bill provisions relating to cautionary obligations, the effect remains the same as the SLC Bill. Statutory interest will run on a sum paid by a cautioner in satisfaction of a debt due by the principal debtor from the date when payment by the cautioner was made unless provision, such as under a contract, has been made in which case the date specified would apply.

Insurance and other claims for indemnity

37. The SLC Bill included express provision in relation to insurance contracts. The intention was to cover all types of insurance contract which require payment of a sum of money (such as life assurance, motor insurance, home insurance where payment of money such as stolen cash is claimed and marine insurance) and which are silent as to interest. The SLC commented that in practice most insurance contracts make provision for interest.

38. In considering when payment can be described as being "due" under a contract of insurance, the SLC noted that there are three conditions which must be satisfied before payment is due:

• the event insured against has occurred;
• in the context of indemnity insurance, the policyholder has sustained a loss as a consequence of the occurrence; and
• the claim has been intimated to the insurer in the manner provided for by the contract, including the insured providing appropriate vouching of the occurrence of the event insured against and the amount of loss.

39. The SLC intention was that statutory interest should run from the day, whichever is the later of:

(a) the date 30 days after the date when a claim in respect of the occurrence of the event insured against is intimated to the insurer and vouched in accordance with the conditions of the contract; and

(b) where the insured has sustained a loss as a consequence of the occurrence of the event insured against, the date when the loss was sustained.

40. In developing the draft Bill an issue arose concerning legislative competence relating to insurance and therefore the specific provisions relating to insurance have been removed from the draft Bill.

41. However, this does not remove insurance contracts from the application of the draft Bill. Insurance contracts would now be covered by the general rule on contracts in section 3(2). This would mean that, where the contract did not state when payment was due, statutory interest would start to run from the date when the event insured against has occurred. The other conditions set out in paragraph 39 would no longer apply. Depending on the circumstances of the case, this could mean that a greater sum of money is to be paid as statutory interest.

42. The practical consequences of a change to the draft Bill is limited by the fact that most insurance contracts already make provision for interest. Further, a representative of the insurance industry indicated that the change would have limited effect but it could impact on areas such as business interruption insurance which are often paid some time after the event insured against occurred.

Contracts of Employment

43. The draft Bill implements the SLC proposals on contracts of employment with some modifications. The SLC recommended that for payments relating to remuneration for services, interest should begin to run 30 days after the end of the period in respect of which the service under the contract is remunerated, unless the contract contains a contrary provision. For example, if the employee is paid monthly, then interest runs from 30 days after the end of the month; if the employee is paid weekly, then interest runs from 30 days after the end of the week. ⁴

44. There are a variety of payments which may be made to employees such as wages, fees, bonuses, allowances, expenses, redundancy payments and payment in lieu of notice. If these payments are contractual payments for services, they would be covered by the rule outlined in paragraph 43 as the SLC proposed. Otherwise, they would be covered by the general rule creating an entitlement to interest (section 1(4) of the SLC Bill) and statutory interest would run from the time the payment is due with no 30 days credit period. For example, a right to a commission payment is a non-contractual right. As such it would be subject to the general rule that interest starts to run on the date on which the commission payment is due. Therefore, the SLC proposals may not produce an entirely consistent result.

45. This Bill is drafted so that interest on all payments of money payable to employees by employers, arising from their employment or apprenticeship, should run from the date the payment is due. This removes the need to have a specific provision in relation to employment contracts and that sections 3(2) or 4(1) would apply.

46. This change from the SLC proposals could have some practical consequences for businesses. There can be occasions where, for a variety of reasons and not always the fault of the employer, wages or salaries are paid a day or two late. Under the draft Bill all employees would be entitled to claim for statutory interest in these circumstances. This could place an additional administrative burden upon employers to process claims made for minor sums owed. The SLC Bill would rule out these claims, but we consider that rather than take that approach, further consideration should be given to the issue and the views of consultees sought.

47. There are also some potentially significant financial implications that could occur as a result of the SLC proposals on contracts of employment. These are discussed in more detail in paragraphs 82 to 92 below.

Loans

48. The draft Bill preserves the common law presumption that interest is chargeable on loans of money from the date on which the loan was made, unless contrary agreement can be shown. There is no change from the SLC Bill.

Damages

49. The draft Bill does not differ from the SLC proposal. It deals with the difficulties outlined by the SLC with the existing law ⁵:

• the provisions in the Interest on Damages (Scotland) Act 1958, as amended by the Interest on Damages (Scotland) Act 1971, are reliant on judicial discretion and provide no express guidance to the court as to how they are to be applied;
• there are uncertainties such as the date from which interest should run on:-
  • out-of-pocket expenses which are capable of quantification at a date earlier than the date on which they are incurred, and
  • damages for the destruction of property which is not replaced;
• the test of "wrongful withholding" which the courts have continued to apply to actions for damages should be abolished; and
• it is thought that the 1958 Act is unclear in its terms.

50. The intention is that reform of the law will provide better consistency in the application of interest to claims for damages. It will also ensure consistency with the proposals dealing with interest on contractual and other obligations to pay.

Fees and outlays in proceedings

51. Judicial expenses include legal fees and fees paid to expert witnesses. This is discussed by the SLC at paragraphs 6.6 and 6.7 of their Report. There is no general entitlement to interest on these expenses incurred before the date of decree and the court can award interest but only in special circumstances.

52. The SLC considered this to be too restrictive and recommended that specific provision be made so that where a party to litigation is found entitled to recover fees and outlays in judicial expenses from another party, statutory interest should be payable on such expenses from the dates when they were respectively paid. The draft Bill does not differ from the SLC proposal.

Calculation of interest (Sections 9 - 10)

53. The draft Bill implements the SLC proposals in the calculation of interest. The rate of statutory interest ("the statutory rate" as it is defined in section 17(1) of the draft Bill) is to be linked to the bank rate (called the "official dealing rate" in the draft Bill and also defined in section 17(1)) which is announced by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England ⁶. The linking of the statutory rate to the bank rate ensures that it moves automatically in line with commercial interest rates.

54. The SLC propose that the statutory rate is to be set 1.5% above the official dealing rate. Their Report suggested that 1% or 1.5% above base would have been a fair rate of interest to be set in the proposed legislation. ⁷ This has been taken forward in the draft Bill.

55. As the statutory rate is linked to a floating rate, this can mean that the rate of accrual of interest can fluctuate during the period when the principal sum owed is outstanding. An interest rate calculator has been provided on the Scottish Government website at www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/01/interestondebt for illustrative purposes and to help calculate interest owed.

56. In line with the SLC proposal the draft Bill provides that the interest should be simple interest. The SLC originally proposed the use of compound interest in their discussion paper but changed the proposal based on feedback from those consulted. However, a recent House of Lords judgement ⁸ states that when interest is calculated it should be done at a compound rate as this is the norm in commerce.

Obligations to pay in a foreign currency

57. Obligations to pay may be in a foreign currency. For example, under contract or by virtue of a court order, Scottish courts may competently award decree in a currency other than sterling. The draft Bill implements the SLC proposals and provides that where payment of a sum of money is to be in a foreign currency, statutory interest would run at a rate appropriate to the currency concerned based on the equivalent official dealing rate of the country in question. Where no such equivalent exists, a rate which best meets the interests of justice is to be applied.

Power of court to waive or reduce interest (Section 11)

58. The SLC looked in some depth at the issue of whether they should include judicial discretion to withdraw entitlement to interest ⁹, if it is in the interests of justice to do so. They noted that there are persuasive arguments both for and against the inclusion of judicial discretion to waive or reduce statutory interest. The reasons for limiting judicial discretion looked at by the SLC included:

• a wide ranging judicial discretion would be inconsistent with the creation of a general statutory entitlement to interest. The SLC feared it could lead to the courts being left free to apply common law principles and revive rules - such as 'wrongful withholding' - which the SLC wanted to replace.
• the rate of interest in the proposals is designed to be compensatory. It will not penalise the debtor (and the level of interest moves automatically with market rates), so there is therefore no need for wide judicial discretion.
• wide ranging judicial discretion might lead to uncertainty as to the parties' rights in the absence of court action and potentially discourage the resolution of claims for interest on debts paid late without recourse to the court.

59. The SLC did concede that there could be circumstances where statutory interest could apply that are not fair to the debtor, particularly where this is due to the way in which the creditor has acted. As a consequence the SLC recommended that:

'There should be a judicial discretion to remit interest in whole or in part in respect of a period for which it would otherwise run where the interests of justice so require, but only by reason of any conduct of the creditor.' ¹⁰

60. In making their recommendation the SLC stated that 'it addresses most of the circumstances which have occurred to us in which it might be thought unjust to award statutory interest' ¹¹.

61. During the development of policy following the SLC Report we began to examine if this proposal was too restrictive. We thought that there could be other reasons the court should look at when considering varying the amount of interest payable.

62. We noted that in their responses to the SLC discussion paper, the Faculty of Advocates and Citizens Advice Scotland considered that complete judicial discretion would be preferred.

63. Wider judicial discretion could prevent instances of injustice where the debtor would be unfairly or harshly penalised in the circumstances of the individual case. This could cover cases where the cause of statutory interest being payable is due entirely to external factors rather than the actings of either party. For example, where an obligation to pay could not be fulfilled as a result of an 'act of god' (such as a flood or other natural event) or the debtor unexpectedly being admitted to hospital.

64. The draft Bill covers a wide range of circumstances and cuts through a large amount of common law. It is likely that unpredictable circumstances will arise and limiting judicial discretion could potentially lead to instances of injustice against debtors. This is particularly true in cases of unjustified enrichment (where an individual who receives an unmerited or unjustified benefit from another person's loss should recompense that person for the loss) where the debtor may not be aware they owe money and interest. The body of law on unjustified enrichment is built on considerations of equity and it could be anomalous if decisions made in a case before the court was based on what was equitable in the circumstances but the application of statutory interest was not.

65. Section 11 of the draft Bill provides for judicial discretion to decide, if it is in the interests of justice, either that statutory interest is not payable or that the amount of interest to be paid is to be less than it would be under the other provisions of this draft Bill. The court is directed to have particular regard to the conduct of the person to whom statutory interest would be payable. This is an alternative to the SLC proposal.

Tenders (Section 12)

66. A tender is a judicial offer by a party to pay a part of the sum asked for by the party's adversary after a court action is raised. They are usually made by a defender to a pursuer, but where there is a counterclaim, it may be the other way round. Tenders affect liability for the expenses of an action. Where a pursuer gets an award of an amount greater than a tender, the pursuer is entitled to an award of the whole expenses of process. Where the amount awarded is less than a tender, the award of expenses from the date of the tender will normally be made in favour of the defender.

67. The draft Bill implements the SLC proposals and provides that a tender is presumed to be in full satisfaction of any claim for interest. Also, in considering whether the tender has equalled or exceeded the award, the court will not include interest between the date of the tender and the date the award is made.

Transitional provisions (Section 14)

68. Any transition to a new statutory interest regime will require to balance competing concerns. Agreements which have been entered into under the existing system should not be readily disturbed. Also it would not be appropriate to have two regimes of entitlement to interest operating in tandem.

69. The SLC proposed that the new legislation should apply to all claims for interest, except those in respect of which an action has been raised before the commencement date.

70. In looking at these issues we are concerned about the retrospective nature of the SLC Bill as it will create additional financial obligations and risks that could have been dealt with at the time of the original agreement, if they had been known.

71. The draft Bill contains a standard set of transitional provisions that allow for the commencement of the Bill by order.

Financial Impacts

72. It is not within the remit of the SLC to look in any detail at the financial effects of their proposals. During the development of the draft Bill a number of financial impacts have come to light, some more significant than others.

Individuals

73. The draft Bill will allow individuals to claim statutory interest. The decision to do so will, to a large extent, depend on the amount to be claimed. The direct financial impact on individuals is difficult to assess as the circumstances of each case will produce different outcomes dependent on the value of the claim and the how long the money has been owed.

74. To assist with the calculation of statutory interest an interest calculator has been placed on the Scottish Government's website. The calculator can be accessed on the consultation document website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/01/15144204/interestratecalculator

This allows for the calculation of simple interest over a given time period for a given amount.

75. A recent report by Citizens Advice Scotland ¹² shows that the most enquiries they receive on debt issues relate to:

• consumer debt (bank loans etc)
• housing
• taxes (including council tax)
• utilities

76. The majority of these debts would be exempt from the provisions of the draft Bill as they would fall under the exemptions in section 2: consumer debts above would likely have contract terms and conditions on interest, council tax would be exempt as it is a tax due to a public authority and we are proposing to exempt utility debts from the draft Bill provisions by order.

77. Therefore the draft Bill itself will not have a great impact on the majority of debts of importance to individuals. However, it will apply to late payment of wages and other categories of non-contractual debt such as unjustified enrichment and aliment. These were highlighted by the SLC as areas where the Bill would have some impact.

Businesses

78. Late payments are an ongoing problem for companies in Scotland, in particular for small and medium sized companies. Late payment legislation is already in force in Scotland for commercial debts through the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. This allows the creditor to claim interest at the Bank of England rate plus 8%. This is intended to penalise those who pay late. Each business will have to look at its relationship with the debtor and decide if it is appropriate to use legislation. Guidance is available on the Better Payment Practice Group's website www.payontime.co.uk.

79. For businesses, the draft Bill will not affect those who do not offer credit terms and already have standard terms in contracts. As the existing late payment legislation already applies to commercial debt and applies an interest significantly higher than the draft Bill, it is likely that businesses would use the 1998 Act when claiming interest. However, as many businesses have an ongoing commercial relationship with those who pay late they may choose to claim interest under the draft Bill or not claim interest at all.

80. We may expect a benefit for small and medium size companies who do not use standard terms for late payments in contracts. In a 2005 survey for the Scottish Government ¹³ 39% of small and medium sized businesses surveyed did not have written terms and conditions with their customers covering what they will pay them and 64% said that late payments had given rise to cash flow problems.

81. The survey does not indicate how many businesses to which the existing late payment legislation would apply but it states that 15% of businesses surveyed took customers to court over late payment. No indication was given in the survey of the values of the late payments. This would suggest that the draft Bill could have a beneficial impact for small and medium sized businesses.

Contracts of Employment

82. A significant impact has been identified during the development of the draft Bill which relates to contracts of employment and late payment of wages. This was not raised during the consultation undertaken by the SLC.

83. The main reasons why pay, which is usually due on a certain date, could be paid late are:

• it has been wrongfully withheld in whole or in part;
• an employee has been mistakenly underpaid; or
• pay is "late" due to a protracted pay negotiation, and agreement is not made until some time after the expected settlement date.

84. For the first two reasons the draft Bill is clear that, unless separate agreement has been reached, an employee should be able to claim interest on any late payment. The outcome from the third reason is less clear.

85. For example, on 1 July, a pay settlement, agreed with any relevant union, is reached. The settlement states that an individual employee is to earn an extra £100 per month and this is to be backdated to 1 January. The settlement gives the individual an entitlement to payment of £600, being the increase in salary for the period 1 January to 30 June. It is this entitlement that the draft Bill may affect. See further details in paragraph 92.

86. There are different possible outcomes of whether the employee in this example would be entitled to claim statutory interest on backdated pay under the draft Bill. In particular, the terms and conditions of the individual's contract of employment may already rule out the entitlement to interest and the terms of the pay settlement itself may rule out an entitlement to interest as it could be an agreement to pay at a future date a sum representing an increase in salary in the past.

87. This scenario when a pay award made by an organisation is backdated to an earlier time is a common outcome across the public sector. Across the wide range of organisations there are different employee contracts and different pay settlements which make quantification of costs difficult. It is more helpful to look at a range of financial exposure or risk. Initial investigations indicate that:

• the total amount of pay increases across those bodies whose pay requires the approval of the Scottish Government and who entered into a new settlement during 2006-07 was approximately £21 million per annum. If this was backdated 12 months at the current rate of 7%, the amount of interest due under the draft Bill would be approximately £750,000. However, it is unlikely that every pay settlement would be backdated 12 months and it may be that some organisations would not have to pay interest due to their employment contracts or the terms of the settlement. The range of financial risk is therefore between £0 and approximately £750,000.
• NHS employers go through a lengthy process to determine the annual pay awards for NHS Scotland staff. This means that often the implementation of the pay award is delayed beyond its effective date of 1 April. Taking 2006-07 as an example, the pay award was implemented four months after its effective date. A pay award of 2% would be worth approximately £70m, which could lead to potential interest payable in the region of £1.7 - £2m for that four month period.

88. The examples above are indicative of the financial exposure that could result from the draft Bill. The Government is concerned that this unanticipated expenditure could have a significant impact on the ability of Government bodies and Health Boards to deliver services, particularly as we move into a period of restricted government spending.

89. The Government is also concerned that an indirect and unintended consequence of the draft Bill is that it could impact on pay negotiations and industrial relations in ways which are not easy to predict.

90. In considering the position on backdated pay the Government is aware that the draft Bill may also extend to claims made under equal pay legislation. This would have a financial impact which would depend on the number and value of claims for statutory interest.

91. There is a further financial risk associated with the draft Bill arising from the fact that it is based on an individual claiming interest on debts. If an organisation could owe interest on backdated pay then if they dealt with claims on an individual basis there could be short-term administration costs in validating and processing the claims.

92. The calculation is not a straightforward application of a percentage of a total sum payable. The interest on that entitlement needs to be apportioned to each month due. For example if pay is back dated for six months and at a rate of £100 per month, the employee could be entitled to interest on each month. To clarify: pay is back dated to 1 January. At the end of that month the employee is due the first additional £100 for the salary increase. The next payment is due 1 February so the employee is due an additional £100 again. Interest on each month that the salary increase is late must be calculated separately. It is only the first £100 that would attract interest over a six month period. The interest rate may also have changed in that period.

Other costs identified

93. Development of the proposals has also led to some other costs for the Scottish Government being identified.

Scottish Courts Service

94. Scottish Courts Service estimate the cost of reprinting an annual supply of advice booklets and forms for all summary cause and small claims action to be £20,500 for a reprint of amended forms and £13,000 for amended guidance booklets.

Scottish Legal Aid Board

95. The Scottish Legal Aid Board estimate that the amount of interest that would be payable from the legal aid fund per year would be in the region of £850,000 as shown in the table below for each category of claim.

96. There are also potential administrative consequences of the draft Bill. The Scottish Legal Aid Board estimate that the interest payments could consist of almost 51,000 separate claims. The handling of these claims could significantly affect the Board's ability to meet their commitment to the legal profession of dealing with accounts within 30 days of receipt. The administrative resources required have been estimated at up to £150,000.

Registers of Scotland

97. The Keeper has a statutory obligation to pay indemnity in terms of section 12 of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979 for those who have suffered a loss. The 1979 Act makes no provision for the payment of interest, although it is sometimes paid in practice depending on the circumstances of the case. Registers of Scotland estimate that the time between the date of entitlement to claim indemnity and the date when a claim is intimated is on average six to twelve months and the additional financial cost is estimated to be £20,000 - £30,000 per annum. The amount would be payable from the Registers of Scotland trading fund of £75 million.

« Previous | Contents | Next »