Guidance amended to reflect energy price cap of £1,928 from 1 January 2024

The Accountant in Bankruptcy (AiB), Scotland's insolvency service, updated its Notes for Guidance on the Common Financial Tool on 31 December 2023. The update records an "[a]mendment to reflect the energy price cap set to an annual level of £1,928 as of 1 January 2024"¹. The guidance sets out the information and evidence requirements that support debt solution applications, covering bankruptcy, the Debt Arrangement Scheme and protected trust deeds¹.

The £1,928 figure is the quarterly energy price cap for a typical household for January to March 2024. Disability charity Scope states that the cap for that quarter "will be £1,928", describing it as "a 5.7% increase on the previous quarter", when the cap stood at £1,823 a year for October to December 2023². The abrdn Financial Fairness Tracker, published in December 2023, puts the change differently, saying "the energy price cap is rising by £94 per year from January 2024" and referring to "the 5% increase in the energy price cap expected from January"³.

The AiB guidance deals with the expenditure figures used when assessing what a debtor can contribute towards their debts. Its update history shows a series of changes to the amount of gas and electricity spending that can be accepted without supporting evidence¹:

The same document records later amendments to section 6.8, including a threshold of £143 per month from 10 December 2024, rising to £145 per month from 1 January to 31 March 2025, then moving to £146 from 1 October 2025 and back to £143 from 1 April 2026¹. A further change set supporting evidence at £155.00 per month from 1 July to 30 September 2026, and the most recent update, dated 2 September 2026, refers to a "move to Ofgem calculations for future changes"¹.

The guidance also lists income sources from which a contribution can be taken, including earnings, private pension, annuities, grants, trusts, rents, maintenance or child support paid to the debtor, boarders or lodgers, a non-dependant contribution, bursary and foster care professional fees, excluding the foster care allowance. It states this is not an exhaustive list, and that the terms of some agreements or awards may mean a contribution cannot be taken, which it says is relevant to annuities, grants and trusts only¹. A separate list sets out non-deductible state benefits and payments, including Universal Credit, Child Benefit, Personal Independence Payment, Scottish Child Payment, Carer's Allowance and the State Pension Credit, among others¹.

Why it matters for households

The AiB guidance affects people in Scotland who are applying for bankruptcy, a Debt Arrangement Scheme arrangement or a protected trust deed, because it determines how much of their income is treated as available for contributions and what spending they must document¹. The energy figure matters because gas and electricity are part of the essential expenditure assessed in that calculation, and the guidance ties the evidence threshold to the level of the cap¹.

The cap itself is not a limit on any individual household's bill. Scope notes that the £1,928 level is "on average for a typical household"². Its research found that disabled households "spent 8% of their budget on energy compared to 6% for non-disabled households. That is an extra £12 a week or £634 a year", and that in the poorest fifth of households disabled households set aside 12% of their budget for energy against 10% for non-disabled households².

The Financial Fairness Tracker, based on a survey of 5,594 households in October 2023, estimated that 4.8 million households, or 17%, were in serious financial difficulties, up from 2.8 million, or 10%, two years earlier³. It found that 9% of all households had used a foodbank in the past six months, rising to 24% of those receiving income-related benefits and 20% of those receiving disability-related benefits³.

What happens next

The AiB update history records further changes to the evidence thresholds after the January 2024 cap, including the £140 combined figure from 23 February 2024 and £130 from July 2024¹. The most recent entry, dated 2 September 2026, states that future changes will move to Ofgem calculations¹. The guidance does not set out what those future figures will be.