Debts covered by the 20-year prescription period
The types of debts covered by the 20-year rule include:
•debts constituted by court orders (note: this could include types of debt normally covered by the five-year rule);
•summary warrants;
•by an order of a tribunal or an authority authorised by legislation to order that a debt is due (which includes benefit overpayments owed to HMRC or the DWP).
Note that when the Prescription Scotland Act 2018 comes fully into force in 2025, the long negative prescription period will not extend beyond 20 years, regardless of any further relevant claims made by the creditor.
Some types of debt are also not extinguishable, and this means they can never be written off – eg, VAT and Income tax.