FAQ’s

A summary warrant is a certificate from the Sheriff Court stating the amount owed to the Local Authority for unpaid taxes.

When you fail to make payments or default in your arrangement with a Local Authority you lose the right to pay by instalments and they will apply to the Sheriff Court for a Summary Warrant covering the full amount.
This Summary Warrant gives authority to Sheriff Officers for immediate enforcement action without any further contact therefore if you have received this notice it is imperative that you either settle the balance or call us to discuss further.

Local Authorities have strict terms for instalments, if you miss payments or make late payments you won’t continually receive communication until after a Summary Warrant has been raised.

If you are unable to settle your balance in full, we will work with you to establish if a payment arrangement is possible. For more information please visit our Customer Portal.

We are here to help and understand that circumstances change, we don’t offer payment holidays but we are willing to listen and explore any options that may be available, for more information visit our Customer Portal.

Should you miss payments or make reduced instalments without agreeing these with us first you will risk your account progressing for legal action.

If you pay by automatic regular card payments and receive notification that your instalment has failed then we require you to make this payment using a different method. Unfortunately we are unable to re-present the declined payment but you can pay online or using our 24 hour automated payment line.

The Debtors Scotland Act 1987 dictates that a Charge for Payment of Money must be served upon you after a Summary Warrant or Decree has been raised, prior to further legal action being taken. This document will be hand delivered by a Sheriff Officer and Witness and either served personally or posted through your letterbox if residency is confirmed.

A Charge for Payment of Money renders you insolvent and gives 14 days for you to make contact and either settle the balance or make a payment arrangement.

Any deductions from your salary made by Stirling Park will be as a result of an Earnings Arrestment being served with your employer, a copy of this is also issued to your home address therefore you will have been notified in advance that this was going to happen.

Earnings Arrestments are typically served as a result of failure to make contact or settle the balance as well as missed, late or reduced payments being made without prior agreement.

Deductions are calculated in accordance with The Debtor Scotland Act 1987, Schedule 2, which sets out the amount that can be deducted from wages via an earnings arrestment based on your net income after tax and NI, unfortunately we cannot amend or change these.

One of the actions available to Sheriff Officer’s under the authority of a Summary Warrant or Decree is an arrestment to attach assets held by a third party, which includes funds held by a bank. The bank are served with an arrestment and must freeze funds held by them in your name above the minimum protected balance and release this money to Stirling Park to be paid to your outstanding balance.

On all occasions a letter will have been issued advising that Stirling Park have been instructed to pursue the debt and on all Summary Warrant cases (Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates) a Charge for Payment of Money will have been served prior to this action taking place.

When a Penalty Charge Notice is issued by a  Local Authority for a Parking or Bus Lane Contravention, information is obtained from the DVLA as to who is responsible for the vehicle and correspondence is issued accordingly. This will include a Notice to Owner which allows the registered keeper to notify the Local Authority who was driving the vehicle and therefore is responsible for the fine within 14 days. However, if this is not returned the registered keeper remains liable for the outstanding fine.

When there is more than one person named on a Summary Warrant the individuals are joint & severally liable for the full amount and all parties must be pursued until the full balance is paid in full. The amount cannot be split between the named parties.