The DAS Register
If you apply for the Debt Arrangement Scheme, your details go on a public register. Here is exactly what it shows, what it leaves out, and who looks at it.
The DAS Register is the free, public online register of people who are applying for, or are in, a debt payment programme under Scotland’s Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS). It shows your name, address, date of birth, the key dates and your money adviser. It does not show any details of your debts. The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), the Scottish Government agency that deals with insolvency, keeps it because the law requires it.
If you are still deciding whether DAS is right for you, start with how the Debt Arrangement Scheme works.
What is the DAS Register?
The Debt Arrangement Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011 say there must be a register of debt payment programmes, and that AiB, acting as the DAS Administrator, must keep it. It is an online register on AiB’s website that anyone can search at no cost.
It includes both individuals and businesses using the scheme. It also records moratoriums on diligence, a six-month pause on most enforcement action, which appear on the DAS Register and on the Register of Insolvencies.
Your details are added when your application is recorded and sent to your creditors, not only once it is approved. That is also the point when interest, fees and charges are frozen and your creditors are asked to agree.
What does the DAS Register show?
AiB’s guidance lists what goes on the register. For you personally:
- your full name, including any former names
- your date of birth
- your home address, and a previous address if relevant
- a business name and address, if you have one
- the business address of your money adviser, and your payments distributor if it is a different organisation
It also records the stages of your programme, with dates, such as:
- that a moratorium has been granted
- that an application has been made, sent to creditors, withdrawn, approved or rejected
- any application to change (vary) your programme, and any change made
- any request for a review, an appeal to the sheriff, and the outcome
What does it not show?
mygov.scot says the register does not include any details about your debts. So it does not show who you owe, how much you owe or what you pay each month.
Who can search the DAS Register, and why?
Anyone can search it free. To search, you enter a postcode together with a surname or a business name.
AiB says the registers it keeps are mainly used by:
- creditors, who are expected to check them before lending as part of their credit checks, and to know when they should stop pursuing a debt and record their interest in a programme instead
- money advisers, who check them when someone asks for help, to see whether that person is, or has been, in a statutory debt solution
Key fact. Anyone can look at the register, but they need your surname and postcode to find you. It is not a list of debts, and it is not your credit file.
How long does an entry stay on the DAS Register?
This depends on what happens to your application or programme. AiB’s guidance for money advisers says:
- A moratorium stays on the register for six months, or until an application for a debt payment programme is entered, if that comes first.
- A revoked (cancelled) programme is removed from the register 14 days after the revocation is approved.
- A rejected application keeps its protection from creditors for 14 days from the date the rejection notice goes on the register.
AiB’s published guidance does not state how long an entry stays after a programme is completed. If you need to know, ask your money adviser or contact AiB on 0300 200 2600.
The register and your credit file are separate. Coming off the DAS Register does not remove DAS from your credit file. DAS stays on your credit file for at least 6 years, which can make new credit harder to get.
Want to talk your options through? Tell us a little about your situation and a licensed insolvency practitioner firm will call you to go through every option, including ones that are not a trust deed.
May not be suitable in all circumstances. Fees apply. Your credit rating may be affected. Free, impartial advice is available from MoneyHelper and other services.
Can your address be kept off the register?
Sometimes. The law allows AiB to leave information off the DAS Register where including it would be likely to put someone at risk of violence, or otherwise put their safety or welfare at risk.
AiB’s view is that your name should always appear, but your address can be withheld in cases such as:
- you have moved to get away from someone who has abused you, and are afraid they could find your new address
- you have witnessed a crime and could face reprisals
The risk does not have to be to you personally. It can be to someone in your family who lives with you.
If you want your address withheld, tell your money adviser before the application goes in. The DAS application has a section for this, and your adviser needs to add a note and upload evidence, such as a police report. If AiB agrees, your address is shown as care of your money adviser, or care of AiB’s office in Kilwinning. AiB’s decision cannot be reviewed.
How is it different from the Register of Insolvencies?
Scotland has two public registers for personal debt solutions, both run by AiB and both free to search.
| DAS Register | Register of Insolvencies | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Debt payment programmes under DAS, and moratoriums | Sequestration (bankruptcy), protected trust deeds, bankruptcy restrictions orders, moratoriums and company insolvencies |
| Shows your debts? | No | No |
| How long entries stay | Depends on the outcome. A revoked programme is removed 14 days after revocation | A trust deed entry is normally removed 12 months after the trust deed ends |
A protected trust deed goes on the Register of Insolvencies, not the DAS Register. If it completes successfully, the remaining debts included in it are written off, but it has fees, homeowners may need to release equity, your credit rating is affected for 6 years, and if it fails, creditors can pursue you again. Read more about the Register of Insolvencies, and see how to apply for DAS if you want to know what happens at each stage.
Free, impartial advice on DAS and every other option is available from free debt advice services in Scotland.
Official sources
Common questions
Can anyone see that I am in DAS?
The DAS Register is public and free to search, so anyone who searches with your surname and postcode could find your entry. It shows your name, address, date of birth, key dates and your money adviser, but nothing about your debts. In practice, AiB says the main users are creditors checking before they lend and money advisers checking a new client's history.
Will my employer find out about my DAS?
Your employer will be contacted if your payments are taken straight from your wages, or if an earnings arrestment has to be recalled when your programme is approved. Separately, the register is public, so anyone who searches it with your surname and postcode could see your entry. If you are worried about your job, ask your money adviser how DAS might affect it before you apply.
Is the DAS Register the same as my credit file?
No. The DAS Register is a public register run by the Accountant in Bankruptcy. Your credit file is kept by credit reference agencies, using information from lenders. DAS appears on both, but separately, and the rules on how long it stays are different. DAS stays on your credit file for at least 6 years, whatever happens to the register entry.
Can I have my details taken off the DAS Register?
Not simply because you would prefer it. Keeping the register is a legal duty for AiB. If publishing your address would put you or someone you live with at risk of violence or harm, you can ask for the address to be withheld when you apply, with evidence. Your name will still appear. AiB decides, and that decision cannot be reviewed.
Related guides
- The Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) Repay your debts in full through one payment, with interest and charges frozen.
- The Register of Insolvencies What the public trust deed register shows, who can search it and when your entry is removed.
- How to apply for the Debt Arrangement Scheme Finding a DAS approved money adviser and each step of a DAS application, start to finish.
- The Scottish moratorium on diligence Six months of legal protection from most debt enforcement while you get advice.