Walker Love at the CSA DBSG Annual Conference 2013

The Credit Services Association (CSA) is the National Association in the UK for companies active in relation to unpaid credit accounts, debt recovery agencies, tracing and allied professional services, and the Debt Buyers and Sellers Group (DBSG), held their annual conference and exhibition on September 18th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel next to Heythrop Park in Oxford.

This year’s conference themes included regulation and compliance, commercial collections and debt sale and purchase. Delegates discussed issues such as fraud prevention, funding for debt purchase, treating customers fairly and online communications.

David Walker, Managing Partner, Walker Love gave delegates an overview of the changes and developments in the Scottish courts, litigation and enforcement, as well as the facts on the ground when it comes to deciding on the best recovery approach and collecting debts in Scotland.

The conference was also be addressed by Yvonne Fovargue MP, Gillian Guy CEO CAB and Simon Jack, Business & Economics editor, BBC Radio 4.

For more information visit the CSA’s website.

Money Advice Scotland Annual Conference & Exhibition – 3rd & 4th June 2013

Walker Love was delighted to continue to support the 2013 MAS Annual Conference, the event always provides an excellent opportunity to engage with other stakeholders and like minded people.

Our long established relationship with the advice sector has developed beyond all expectation over the last year, having embarked upon engaging MAS skills and expertise to further assist and develop our in-house hardship, vulnerability and customer care training programmes.

The specialist support we received has proved invaluable; and in particular in working towards the Scottish Government current objectives to roll out the common financial tool and financial health check regulations.

This has been an exciting development for Walker Love and we are fully committed to further developing our relationship and supporting Money Advice Scotland going forward.

 

Argyll & Oban Faculty of Solicitors CPD: Civil Enforcement In Scotland

Walker Love were delighted to support the local Argyll and Oban Faculty CPD event: Civil Enforcement In Scotland, which took place on Tuesday 23rd April 2013.

Delivering a comprehensive “civil enforcement” seminar covering all aspects of Sheriff Officer enforcement in Scotland, the event offered an ideal opportunity for local practitioners to engage and discuss the operational, technical and practical challenges of civil enforcement in Scotland with Walker Love Sheriff Officers.

Council tax collection rates improving

The Scottish Government recently announced Council Tax collection rates have improved steadily from 87.2% in 1998-99 to 91.4% in 2002-03 and now 95.1% in 2012-13.

In 2012-13, the total amount of Council Tax billed (excluding Council Tax Benefit) in Scotland was just over £2billion and of this £1.9billion was collected by 31 March 2013. The provisional Scotland total in-year CT collection rate for 2012-13 was 95.1%, the same rate as the audited figure from the previous year. Collection rates statistics for individual local authorities ranged from 93.1% to 98.1% across the 32 areas.

Between 1993-94 and 2012-13, the overall total amount of Council Tax billed in Scotland was £30.273 billion, of which £29.192 billion, or 96.4%, was collected by 31 March 2013.

For further information, visit the Scottish Government’s website >click here

 

 

Scottish Paralegal Association Conference 2013

Scottish Paralegal Association – Celebrating 20 years of promoting the profession.

Due to popular demand the Scottish Paralegal Association annual conference this year was held for the first time on a week day at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow on 18th April 2013.

Celebrating 20 years of promoting the paralegal profession they were delighted to have 100 delegates attend. Education and learning from best practice was the key objective of the day, with seminars offering talks on Risk Management, Conveyancing, Conflict of Interest and skills learning for achieving a good work-life balance.

Walker Love were delighted to be primary exhibitors at the event and very proud to support another highly successful Scottish Paralegal Association conference.

For more information on the Scottish Paralegal Association click here.

 

Welfare Reform: Are the benefits universal?

Money advisers from across Scotland gathered at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow on the 3rd and 4th June to discuss the key issues arising from welfare, bankruptcy and financial services regulatory reform at the annual Money Advice Scotland conference, sponsored by Walker Love.

With key note addresses from Margaret Curran, MP and Robert Skinner from the Lending Standards Board and a series of workshop discussions on bankruptcy, from a lenders, collectors and consumers perspective, welfare reform and regulation, the conference provides an opportunity for those in credit and debt advisory industry to come together to tackle the reform challenges and share best practice.

Walker Love is delighted to continue to support the 2013 MAS Annual Conference. As one of the largest firms of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers, providing Collection and Enforcement services to a number of Local Authorities and Court users across the whole of Scotland.

In support of the Scottish Government’s objective to have a common financial tool and standard financial health check regulations across the money and consumer advice sector, Walker Love is currently working on a number of projects in this area. MAS has also been working with Walker Love to provide training and guidance sessions to our telephone and field force agents on dealing with financial hardship, vulnerable individuals and money advice services.

For more information on Money Advice Scotland >click here

 

Epilepsy Scotland: WAGS Charity Dinner 25th April

Over 40,000 people are living with epilepsy in Scotland.  The charity Epilepsy Scotland works continuously to raise awareness of the condition. Influencing attitudes helps to fight discrimination and the social stigma associated with epilepsy; and to achieve this goal they involve people with epilepsy.

The charity’s main objective is to raise awareness, inform public opinion, educate the media and influence government policies.

For the second year running Walker Love were pleased to support this worthwhile charity.  The annual WAGS dinner, this year held at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow on 25th April, is always an excellent opportunity for business professionals, colleagues and friends to get together and raise funds for this very worthwhile charity Epilepsy Scotland.

 

Allpay Mobile Payment app

Walker Love launches the Allpay mobile payment app to its customers. Find out how you can get it.

 The Allpay mobile payment app. The app which helps you to manage your debts > Download the app now

More than 14,000 people have downloaded allpay’s Payment App in the last 12 months and are using it to regularly pay bills such as rent and council tax, new figures show.

Walker Love’s customers can download it for free allowing you to pay their bills anytime, anywhere and you to receive the payment data the next working day. >Visit the Allpay website

More than 300 organisations, the majority of which are housing associations and local authorities, are now regularly receiving payments in this way. However, its uses don’t stop there. allpay Cashless customers are using it to top up their accounts, while others are using it to pay fines and manage debts.

The allpay App is a mobile application (App) available to download from the Apple App store or Google Play >more information

Allpay has also recently launched a new version of the Payment App which includes a barcode reader and the ability for residents to make one-time payments where they don’t need to store an allpay Payment Reference Number (PRN) or bank card.

For more information on the Allpay App and to download >click here

Simple Guide to the BAD Act

The Bankruptcy & Diligence Etc (Scotland) Act 2007 contains 17 Parts and Six Schedules. One of the most succinct, but relevant sections of the B.A.D. Act can be found at Part 17 Section 227 (3) which states that sections of the Act “come into force on such day as the Scottish Ministers may, by order, appoint.”

To download click here >Simple Guide to BAD Act – Walker Love

In view of the complexity and the far-reaching effect that each section of the Act has on the execution of diligence, it was essential that this paragraph was inserted.

The overarching principal of the B.A.D. Act is “universal attachability.” It envisaged:

  • the introduction of four completely new diligences: Land Attachment, Residual Attachment, Interim Attachment and Money Attachment.
  • the formation of a “Scottish Civil Enforcement Commission” (SCEC) additional “Debtor Protection” procedures including the introduction of a Debt Advice and Information Package.
  • reform of some existing diligences  and the complete abolition of others, including the abolition of personnel such as Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers who were to be re-named “Judicial Officers”.

However, both Land and Residual Attachment have been delayed somewhat and the whole concept of SCEC appears to have been abandoned, as has the Abolition of Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers.

To download click here >Simple Guide to BAD Act – Walker Love

Scotland’s civil court system to be overhauled

Following the recommendations published in Lord Gill’s report on Scottish Civil Courts where he called for courts to be more responsive to the public’s needs and to deal with cases more swiftly and efficiently, radical plans have been announced to overhaul Scotland’s ‘antiquated’ civil courts.

The court reform consultation which is due to be published soon is expected to contain:

  • A proposal to create Scotland’s first national personal injury Sheriff Court, which will help to tackle the spiralling costs associated with PI claims.
  • Improved procedures for handling less serious criminal cases.
  • Plans to increased the threshold under which only the Sheriff Court can deal with civil cases from £5000 to £150000.

Lord Gill’s two year study of the Scotland’s civil courts system recommended a major transfer of jurisdiction from the Court of Session to the Sheriff Court to allow more cases to be dealt with at a local level, instead of at the Court of Session. This will enable the CoS to focus on the most serious and complex cases – and to speed up the whole process in both Courts.