Scotland: templates and forms

For a director of a private limited company in the UK who is stepping down. The letter resigns with effect from a stated date, asks the company to notify Companies House within 14 days on form TM01 and update its records, and states that resigning as a director does not by itself end any job or shareholding. Under the model articles a resignation takes effect as it states once the company receives it. A company must keep at least one director who is an individual, so a sole director arranges a replacement first.

For anyone in England, Wales or Scotland with a workplace or personal pension who wants to know what it is worth, or has lost touch with the scheme after moving house or changing job. A letter to the scheme administrator or provider asking for a statement of your benefits under the pension disclosure regulations of 2013 — the value built up, any transfer value and the date you can take it — and updating your address. Posted first class. Find a lost scheme's contact details free with the Pension Tracing Service on GOV.UK.

For a borrower or customer who cannot keep up with a loan, credit card, overdraft or bill after a change such as job loss, illness or a cut in income. The letter explains what has changed, offers a monthly payment you can afford and asks the creditor to accept it, freeze interest and charges, and confirm in writing. FCA rules require lenders to treat customers in financial difficulty with forbearance. Free debt advice is also available from MoneyHelper, StepChange and Citizens Advice anywhere in the UK, from National Debtline in Great Britain, and from Advice Direct Scotland and Advice NI. Send it by email and by first class post.

For the driver or keeper of a vehicle given a council penalty charge notice (PCN) for parking in Scotland — on a street, in a council car park, or for pavement or double parking — who thinks it is wrong and has not yet received a Notice to Owner (for pavement or double parking, an enforcement notice). The letter gives the notice's details, the reasons it should be cancelled and the evidence. The council's free online challenge form does the same job; this letter suits post or email. A bus lane or Low Emission Zone penalty sent by post is answered with formal representations instead. Not for private car park charges.

For a private landlord or letting agent in Scotland whose tenant has fallen behind with the rent. Before applying to the tribunal on the rent arrears ground, a landlord must meet the pre-action requirements: this letter gives the tenant clear information on the tenancy terms, the arrears period by period, the tenant’s rights in eviction proceedings and where to find free advice on money and debt, and invites them to agree a reasonable repayment plan by a set date. It never threatens to change the locks: only a tribunal order can end the tenancy. Send it by recorded delivery and keep a copy.

For a private tenant in Scotland whose home needs repairs — damp and mould, a broken boiler, leaks, faulty electrics. The tribunal’s Housing and Property Chamber publishes a free sample notification letter; this letter does the same job in full. It notifies your landlord in writing of each problem, with dated photos, reminds them that the home must meet the repairing standard throughout the tenancy, asks to arrange an inspection within 14 days and confirms you will keep paying the rent. Notifying the landlord is the step required before a free application to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. Send it by recorded delivery and keep a copy.

For a consumer in Scotland whose builder, decorator, garage, repairer or other service provider did the work badly or not as agreed. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which applies across the UK, a trader must perform a service with reasonable care and skill; the letter asks for the work to be put right at the trader's cost or, where that is not possible, for a price reduction (sections 49, 55 and 56), and is a letter before action with 14 days to reply, then a claim in the sheriff court (simple procedure up to £5,000). Send it by email and by first class post, with photos.

For someone in Scotland who needs another person to act for them in one matter only — selling a car, signing a contract, dealing with a bank account or a property sale while they are abroad. The power names the matter, what the attorney may sign and when it ends, and is signed before one witness so that it is self-proving. Like every power that is not a registered continuing power, it has no effect while you are incapable (Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000, s 18). If a letter of authority or the organisation’s own free form will do, use that first.

For a consumer who bought goods or a service online, by phone or away from the trader's premises and has changed their mind. The notice cancels the contract within the 14-day cancellation period of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, with no reason needed, and asks for a refund within 14 days. The model cancellation form the trader must give you, or its own online form, does the same job free. Send it by email and by first class post with a free certificate of posting, and keep a copy.

For an employer in England, Wales or Scotland taking on an employee on a permanent contract: a contract that is also the written statement of employment particulars under section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which every employee and worker must have on or before their first day. It sets out the job, place of work, pay, hours, at least 5.6 weeks' holiday, sick pay, pension enrolment, notice and where the disciplinary and grievance rules are. Acas publishes free written-statement templates. Signed by both; each keeps a copy.

For an employer and an employee in England, Wales or Scotland: an agreement that the employee keeps the employer's confidential information secret during and after the employment, keeps it secure and returns it on leaving. It states plainly what it cannot stop — whistleblowing, reporting a crime, the disclosures a victim of crime may make, speaking about harassment, discrimination or pay — and contains no non-compete or other restriction after the job ends. Signed by both.

For an employer and an employee in England, Wales or Scotland who agree that the employee will work partly or wholly from home: a signed variation of the contract setting out the pattern of days, the start date, equipment, any contribution to costs, workstation safety, data security, an optional trial period and how the arrangement can be reviewed or ended. Everything else in the contract stays the same. Signed by both; each keeps a copy.

For an employer in England, Wales or Scotland taking someone on for a set period — maternity cover, a season, a project: a contract with an end date that is also the written statement of particulars the law requires on or before the first day. It includes the protection of the Fixed-term Employees Regulations 2002, the four-year rule for successive contracts and early termination by notice. Each party should take advice before signing. Signed by both; each keeps a copy.

For anyone in the UK who wants a copy of the personal data an organisation holds about them: an employer or former employer, a bank, a council, a landlord, a phone company or a parking operator. A request under Article 15 of the UK GDPR: it asks for all your data, or the parts you name, and the information about how it is used, and reminds the organisation that it has one month and may not charge. Sent by email to the data protection officer. The ICO publishes a free template too.

For a business client and a self-employed consultant or freelancer in Scotland, working on their own account or through their own limited company. The agreement covers the services, fees and invoices, expenses, the right to send a substitute, who owns the work, confidentiality, liability, ending the contract and the off-payroll working rules (IR35) for medium and large clients, under Scots law and the Scottish courts. Its wording does not decide employment or tax status, which follows how the work is actually done, so each party should take advice if the status is unclear.

For anyone in Scotland aged 16 or over who is changing their first name, surname or both — after marriage, divorce or by choice — and needs proof for their bank, employer, HM Passport Office or DVLA. In Scotland no deed poll is needed: a statutory declaration, declared before a notary public or a justice of the peace, records the change, and HM Passport Office accepts one. If you were born or adopted in Scotland, National Records of Scotland can also record the change against your birth record, by post, for a fee; its form is the official route for the register.

For anyone in Scotland asked by a bank, employer, council, DVLA or another organisation to confirm facts by statutory declaration — a lost document, living together, a name used, an address or a family link. You write the facts in numbered paragraphs; the document adds the closing words of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. In Scotland you declare it in person before a notary public or a justice of the peace — a solicitor only if they are also a notary — and no fee is set by law, so ask the charge first.

For a claimant in England, Wales or Scotland who disagrees with a DWP decision on Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker's Allowance, another DWP benefit or, in England and Wales, Personal Independence Payment. A written request to look again at the decision, within one month (or up to 13 months with reasons): it says why the decision is wrong, lists new evidence and asks for DWP's evidence and a mandatory reconsideration notice. The journal and DWP's own form are free. Posted first class. Not for Social Security Scotland's benefits, such as Adult Disability Payment: they have a redetermination. Sold blank, as it may hold health data.

For the directors of a solvent private limited company in the UK that has stopped trading and is to be closed. The written resolution records that the company meets the conditions of the Companies Act 2006 for voluntary strike-off, authorises the application on form DS01 (£13 online) and the copies that must go within seven days to its members, employees, creditors, any director who did not sign and pension trustees. A company that cannot pay its debts is closed through an insolvency practitioner instead.

For an employee in England, Wales or Scotland who is leaving their job: a letter that resigns, states the notice your contract requires (at least one week once you have worked a month, section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996) and the last day of employment, and asks for written confirmation, final pay including holiday earned and not taken, and your P45. Hand it to your manager and send it by email the same day, keeping a copy.

For an employee in England, Wales or Scotland who looks after a family member or someone who relies on them with a long-term care need: a notice taking carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act 2023 — up to one week in any 12 months, from your first day in the job, in half days, days or a whole week. It gives the dates and who the care is for, by relationship only. The employer may postpone, but not refuse, the leave, and cannot require evidence. The law does not insist on writing, but a written notice is your proof. Hand it in and email it, keeping a copy.

For an employee in England, Wales or Scotland who needs time off beyond their holiday — a long trip, a family matter, study — and wants their employer's agreement: a letter asking for unpaid leave between two dates, with the return date, and asking the employer to confirm in writing your return to the same job and what happens to holiday, pension and benefits. There is no general right to unpaid leave; carer's leave, parental leave and time off for dependants are separate statutory rights. Hand it in and email it.

For an employee in England, Wales or Scotland with parental responsibility (in Scotland, parental responsibilities) for a child under 18: a notice taking unpaid parental leave, giving the child, the dates and the number of weeks. The default rules allow 18 weeks for each child, up to four weeks a year, in whole weeks, with at least 21 days' notice; since 6 April 2026 the right starts on your first day. The employer can postpone the leave for up to six months, but not refuse it. Hand it in and email it.

For an employee in England, Wales or Scotland who is the child's father, or the mother's spouse, civil partner or partner: a notice of paternity leave — one week, two weeks together or two separate weeks, within a year of the birth — giving the expected week of childbirth, the dates and the declaration that you will share responsibility for the child's upbringing. Since 6 April 2026 the leave is a right from your first day; the pay still needs 26 weeks' service. Hand it in and email it.