Sheriff Officers and Diligence
If a sheriff officer has contacted your company, creditor pressure has moved into a more serious stage.
You may have received a charge for payment, been told that money in the company bank account could be arrested, or been warned that company assets may be attached.
These are not ordinary debt-collection letters. A creditor has usually reached the point where formal Scottish enforcement powers are available.
That does not necessarily mean the company must close. But doing nothing can quickly reduce your options.
The first thing we need to know is simple: what has the sheriff officer actually sent you, and when?
What is a sheriff officer?
Sheriff officers are officers of court who serve legal documents and enforce debts in Scotland.
Directors sometimes search online for “bailiffs”, but Scotland has its own enforcement system. Sheriff officers carry out many of the functions that directors may associate with enforcement agents or bailiffs elsewhere in the UK.
They do not simply turn up because a creditor has asked them to chase an overdue invoice.
There will normally be a legal basis allowing the creditor to take enforcement action, such as a court decree, summary warrant or another enforceable document.
What does “diligence” mean?
Diligence is the Scottish term for formal debt enforcement.
For a limited company, the forms that are often most important are:
- Bank arrestment – freezing money held for the company by its bank
- Attachment – taking enforcement against qualifying company-owned moveable assets
- Money attachment – taking enforcement against qualifying cash and similar money held at business premises
Which method a creditor uses depends on the authority they have, the type of debt and what assets the company appears to own.
I’ve received a charge for payment. What does it mean?
A charge for payment is a formal warning that the creditor is now in a position to move towards enforcement.
For most diligence, a charge for payment is served before the creditor takes the next enforcement step.
It will generally give the company 14 days to deal with the amount due.
That makes the next two weeks important.
You need to establish whether the company can:
- Pay the debt
- Agree an acceptable payment arrangement
- Deal with a genuine dispute about the debt
- Raise finance or realise money quickly enough
- Restructure its wider debts
- Or, if it cannot realistically recover, enter an appropriate insolvency process
Do not spend the 14 days simply hoping that the creditor will not follow through.
Can a sheriff officer freeze the company bank account?
Potentially, yes.
A creditor with the necessary enforcement rights can use arrestment against money belonging to the company but held by somebody else.
The most important example for most companies is the bank account.
If funds are caught by an arrestment, the practical effect on a trading business can be immediate. Money expected to pay:
- Wages
- Suppliers
- Rent
- VAT or PAYE
- Essential operating costs
may suddenly no longer be available to use in the ordinary way.
If your bank account has already been arrested, tell us that at the beginning of the conversation. The stage reached matters.
Can sheriff officers take company equipment?
Qualifying moveable property owned by the company can potentially be subject to attachment.
For a trading business this could include assets such as equipment, machinery, stock or other moveable property, depending on the circumstances.
Attachment does not mean that everything found at the premises automatically belongs to the company.
If equipment is:
- leased;
- on hire purchase;
- owned personally by a director;
- owned by a landlord; or
- owned by another business
the ownership position may be important.
Have leases, finance agreements, invoices or other evidence available if there is likely to be a dispute about who owns an asset.
What is a money attachment?
Money attachment is another form of Scottish diligence.
It can be used against qualifying money belonging to the debtor, including cash and certain cheques or similar instruments, where the statutory requirements are met.
For a company that handles significant amounts of cash at its business premises, this can be particularly relevant.
It is different from bank arrestment: bank arrestment targets money held by the bank, while money attachment concerns qualifying money physically held elsewhere.
Can sheriff officers come into business premises?
Sheriff officers carrying out authorised diligence have statutory powers. Their position is very different from an ordinary debt collector asking voluntarily to be allowed in.
The exact powers depend on the type of diligence being carried out.
If sheriff officers attend the business:
- Do not obstruct them
- Ask what authority and diligence they are acting under
- Keep copies of the documents they provide
- Identify immediately any assets that do not belong to the company
- Produce evidence of third-party ownership where available
- Contact your adviser if you are uncertain what is happening
Trying to move or conceal assets after enforcement has begun is likely to make the position worse, not better.
HMRC has instructed sheriff officers. What happens now?
HMRC has its own Scottish enforcement route using the summary warrant procedure.
HMRC itself does not serve the charge for payment or carry out diligence. It instructs sheriff officers to do that.
After a charge for payment is served, HMRC’s current procedure normally allows 14 days to pay before further diligence can take place.
If the debt remains unpaid, HMRC can instruct enforcement such as:
- Bank arrestment
- Attachment
- Money attachment
If you are already at this stage with HMRC, another routine request for extra time may not be enough. We need to establish whether the company can genuinely afford a deal or whether the underlying business has become insolvent.
Can I still negotiate once sheriff officers are involved?
Potentially, yes.
The fact that formal enforcement has begun does not necessarily mean a creditor will refuse every proposal.
A creditor may still consider:
- Immediate payment
- Part payment
- A short instalment arrangement
- A wider settlement proposal
But the creditor now has a stronger enforcement position and is not obliged to accept an arrangement simply because the company asks for one.
The proposal therefore needs to be credible.
If the company cannot meet the proposed instalments and keep new liabilities up to date, an arrangement may only delay the problem.
Can sheriff officers take my personal assets for a company debt?
Not simply because you are a director.
A limited company is legally separate from its directors.
If the enforcement is against the company, the creditor is enforcing against company property and funds.
Your personal assets can become relevant where there is a separate basis for personal liability—for example:
- You gave a personal guarantee
- You personally owe money under another agreement or court order
- A separate director claim has established personal liability
Do not hand over personal money or property simply because somebody is enforcing a debt against your limited company without first understanding whose debt is actually being enforced.
What if the company cannot afford to pay?
This is the point where directors need to look beyond the individual enforcement action.
Ask yourself:
- Is this the only serious overdue debt, or one of many?
- Can wages still be paid?
- Can the company pay current VAT and PAYE?
- Are suppliers continuing to provide credit?
- Is the underlying business making money?
- Will the arrears reduce if the company keeps trading?
- Is there realistic finance or investment available?
If the answer is that debts are increasing and there is no credible route back to solvency, the real problem is no longer the sheriff officer.
The company itself may need an insolvency solution.
Will putting the company into liquidation stop the sheriff officers?
Formal insolvency can change a creditor’s ability to continue individual enforcement, but timing matters.
You should not assume that starting a CVL automatically reverses an arrestment, attachment or other diligence that has already taken effect.
If enforcement is already under way, tell the proposed liquidator exactly:
- What document has been served
- When it was served
- Which creditor is enforcing
- Whether the bank account has already been arrested
- Whether assets have already been attached
The order in which events happened can affect the legal position, so this is an area where early advice matters.
What should I do today?
If your company has received sheriff officer papers, take these five steps:
- Read the heading on the document. Is it a charge for payment, arrestment, attachment or something else?
- Record the date. If it is a charge for payment, the deadline may be only 14 days away.
- Check the debt. Confirm the creditor, amount and whether the company accepts that it is due.
- Check the company’s cash position. Can this debt actually be dealt with without leaving the company unable to pay everybody else?
- Get advice before the next enforcement step. Options are generally better before money is frozen or assets are attached.
You do not need perfectly prepared accounts before speaking to us. Send or bring the sheriff officer paperwork and give us a broad picture of what the company owes.
Sheriff Officer and Diligence FAQs
Are sheriff officers the same as bailiffs?
Scotland has its own enforcement system. Sheriff officers are officers of court who serve documents and carry out authorised enforcement in Scotland.
How long do I have after a charge for payment?
A charge for payment generally gives 14 days to pay before the creditor can move to the relevant diligence.
Can sheriff officers freeze a business bank account?
A creditor with the necessary enforcement rights can use arrestment against company funds held by a bank.
Can they take company equipment?
Qualifying moveable property owned by the company can potentially be attached. Ownership is important where equipment is leased, financed or belongs to somebody else.
Can they take my own belongings?
Not simply because you are a director of the debtor company. Company enforcement is against the company unless there is a separate basis for pursuing you personally.
Can I still negotiate with the creditor?
Potentially, but the creditor is not obliged to accept an arrangement. Any proposal should be affordable and should address the company’s wider financial position.
Should I consider liquidation?
If enforcement is happening because the company can no longer pay HMRC, suppliers and other liabilities as they fall due, a Scottish CVL may need to be considered. The decision should be based on the company’s overall financial position, not simply the fact that a sheriff officer has contacted you.
Sheriff officers chasing your company?
You do not need to understand Scottish diligence law before asking for help.
Tell us what you have received, who the creditor is and roughly what the company owes.
We can help you establish whether the immediate enforcement can realistically be dealt with, whether the business still has a viable way forward, or whether it is time to consider liquidation.
If there is a deadline on the sheriff officer paperwork, tell us that first.