What can sheriff officers do in Scotland?
Sheriff officers are officers of the court, employed by private firms, who enforce debts in Scotland. Once a creditor has a court decree or a summary warrant, they can serve a charge for payment and then arrest your wages or bank account, and in limited cases take control of goods.
Scotland has its own words for debt enforcement. The whole process is called diligence, a court judgment is a decree, taking money from wages or a bank account is arrestment, and taking goods is attachment. Rules you may read about bailiffs in England and Wales, including their notice periods and fees, do not apply here. For the English system, see bailiffs: what they can and cannot do.
Who are sheriff officers?
Sheriff officers carry out work on behalf of the court, but they are employed by private companies. In law they are “officers of court”. Each is commissioned by a sheriff principal to work in a particular sheriffdom. Messengers-at-arms do the same job for the Court of Session, and must already be sheriff officers.
The Court of Session regulates them through rules called Acts of Sederunt, which also set their fees. A new fees Act of Sederunt comes into force on 25 September 2026, replacing the old fee tables for work done from that date. All officers must be members of the Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, but the Society has no disciplinary powers over them.
Walker Love, Scott & Co and other firms
People often search the name on the letter. Walker Love describes itself as a firm of messengers-at-arms and sheriff officers. It is a partnership, formed in 2006 from a merger of two older firms, so it does not appear on the Companies House register. Scott & Co is Scott & Co (Scotland) LLP, registered in Glasgow, and is controlled by Marston (Holdings) Limited, part of the Marston group. Another firm, Stirling Park, has its own guide: see Stirling Park.
The rules on this page apply whichever firm is acting. Use the contact details on your own paperwork, or on the creditor’s official website, rather than a number found through a search engine.
What gives sheriff officers the power to act?
They need a legal document behind the debt: usually a court decree, or a summary warrant for council tax and some other taxes. A summary warrant is granted without a court hearing, and for council tax it adds a surcharge of 10% of the amount owed.
A debt collection agency has none of these powers. If a letter mentions sheriff officers, check whether it comes from a firm of sheriff officers acting on a decree or summary warrant, or from a collector warning about what might happen later.
What is a charge for payment?
A charge for payment is a formal demand served by a sheriff officer. It gives you 14 days to pay if you are in the UK, or 28 days if you are outside the UK or your whereabouts are unknown. It stays in force for 2 years. A charge has to be served before a creditor can arrest your wages or attach your goods.
The charge is the point to act. Within those 14 days you can pay, agree an arrangement with the creditor, apply for time to pay, or get a money adviser to apply for a moratorium (see below).
What are earnings and bank arrestments?
Arrestment takes money that someone else holds for you, such as wages from your employer or savings in your bank.
Earnings arrestment
An earnings arrestment tells your employer to take money from your wages each payday. It is Scotland’s equivalent of an attachment of earnings order. The amount is set by statutory tables, not by your budget. Nothing is taken if your net pay is £750 a month or less (£172.61 a week), and in the top band 50% of net pay above £3,750 a month is taken. Your employer can take an extra £1 each time towards its costs.
The arrestment lasts until the debt is paid, you leave that job, or the creditor ends it. The creditor must have given you a debt advice and information package within the 12 weeks before it takes effect. If a second creditor wants to arrest the same wages, the sheriff can make a conjoined arrestment order, which replaces the separate arrestments with one.
Bank arrestment
A bank arrestment freezes money in your bank or building society account. The first £1,000 is protected: only the balance above that can be arrested. Citizens Advice Scotland says the £1,000 applies to each bank, and only once across accounts with banks in the same banking group.
The frozen money is released to the creditor automatically 14 weeks after the arrestment is served, unless something stops it. You can apply to the sheriff, on a set form, to have arrested funds released. Get advice quickly, because the 14 weeks run whether or not you act, and an adviser can tell you whether an application is likely to succeed.
Can sheriff officers take your belongings or enter your home?
Sheriff officers can attach certain items kept outside your home, such as a car, or things in a garage or shed. Some things cannot be attached, including tools of your trade up to £1,000 in total, a vehicle you reasonably need worth up to £1,000, a mobile home that is your main home, and money. Attachment cannot happen on a Sunday or a local public holiday, or before 8am or after 8pm, without the sheriff’s authority.
Goods inside your home can only be attached under an exceptional attachment order, which the sheriff grants only in exceptional circumstances. Essentials such as beds, clothing, cookers and fridges are protected even then. mygov.scot says you must get at least 4 days’ written notice before sheriff officers visit to take things under an exceptional attachment order.
Entry rules are different from England. mygov.scot says that where sheriff officers hold a document granting “warrant for all lawful execution”, they can use necessary reasonable force to get in, such as opening locked doors. Do not assume the English rule that bailiffs can only come in peacefully applies in Scotland.
How can you stop or pause sheriff officers?
Time to pay
If you owe less than £25,000, you can usually ask the court to let you pay by instalments. A time to pay direction is made when the creditor gets the decree; a time to pay order can be applied for afterwards, including for council tax after a summary warrant and charge. Some debts are excluded, including HMRC and other tax debts, and an order cannot be made once some enforcement has gone far enough.
Moratorium on diligence
A money adviser can apply for a 6-month moratorium, which stops creditors serving a charge or starting new diligence while it lasts. You cannot have one if you had one in the last 12 months. An earnings arrestment that started before the moratorium carries on.
Debt Arrangement Scheme
Applying for a Debt Payment Programme under the Debt Arrangement Scheme protects you from the point your application is sent to creditors. Once the programme is approved, creditors cannot use diligence for the debts in it, and existing arrestments are recalled.
Trust deeds and bankruptcy
A Protected Trust Deed or sequestration also deals with most enforcement for the debts included. Each option has costs and long-term effects, and debt solutions in Scotland compares them.
Not sure which option fits? Answer a few questions and we can point you in the right direction. It takes about 3 minutes, and it is free and confidential.
How do you complain about a sheriff officer?
mygov.scot lists three routes: complain to the firm that employs the officer, to the Society of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, or to the sheriff principal through your local sheriff court. The sheriff principal has the legal power to investigate a sheriff officer’s conduct. For messengers-at-arms, the investigation is by a Court of Session judge nominated by the Lord President. You can also complain to the creditor, such as the council, which instructed the firm.
What to do next
- Read the paperwork and find out what stage you are at: a charge for payment, an arrestment or an attachment. Note the dates.
- If you have a charge, act within the 14 days: pay, agree an arrangement, or ask about time to pay.
- Get free money advice. MoneyHelper, StepChange, Citizens Advice Scotland and National Debtline all help people in Scotland, and an adviser can apply for a moratorium. See where to get free debt advice.
- For your rights with debt collectors more generally, see dealing with debt collectors.
Common questions
Are sheriff officers the same as bailiffs?
They do a similar job, but under Scottish law, with different powers and different names for each step. The English bailiff rules on notice periods, fees and entry do not apply in Scotland.
How much money can a bank arrestment leave me with?
The law protects the first £1,000 in the account. Only money above that can be arrested, and you can apply to the sheriff for the release of arrested funds.
Can sheriff officers take my car?
They can attach a car kept outside your home, but a vehicle you reasonably need is protected if it is worth no more than £1,000. Get advice quickly if your car has been attached.
Is a letter from a debt collection agency in Scotland the same as a sheriff officer?
No. A debt collection agency has no power to arrest wages, freeze bank accounts or take goods. Only sheriff officers or messengers-at-arms acting on a decree or summary warrant can do that.
Can sheriff officers visit at night or on a Sunday?
Attachment of goods cannot happen on a Sunday or a local public holiday, or before 8am or after 8pm, unless the sheriff has authorised it.
Related guides
- Debt solutions in Scotland Trust deeds, DAS, sequestration, the Minimal Asset Process and the 6-month moratorium explained.
- The Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) in Scotland How a Debt Payment Programme works, who can apply, the debts it covers, payment breaks and credit.
- Stirling Park: what a letter means and what to do Who Stirling Park are, summary warrants, charges for payment, arrestments in Scotland and how to complain.
- What is an attachment of earnings order? County court, council tax and DWP deductions from wages, how much can be taken and how to change them.