Simple Procedure Rules: Decision & Enforcement
1 December 2016

If a claim is successful the court will issue the decision and it can then be enforced. Enforcement of a decision cannot be made until 4 weeks following the decision being sent by the Sheriff Clerk. Under the old Rules an extract was issued after 2 weeks and this accordingly brings a delay to the enforcement process.

The enforcement must commence with a ‘charge to pay’ being formally served. The purpose of formally serving the ‘charge to pay’ is to give one last chance for payment of the sum of money. It was originally intended that the charge could be served by a solicitor or Sheriff Officer. The charge for payment has always been an integral part of the diligence process executed by a sheriff officer. A change was made to the Rules and the ‘charge to pay’ can only be served by a sheriff officer.

Following the expiry of a ‘charge to pay’, which remains at fourteen days under the Simple Procedure Rules, further enforcement can proceed in the usual way. Further details can be found on our Methods of Enforcement Page

One significant change to note is that a Charge is now required before service of a bank arrestment or any other arrestment in the hands of a third party.

If you are needing assistance in enforcing the Sheriff Court’s decision, please speak to our team of experienced Sheriff Officers to see how we can help.