Interim payments in Scotland

A claim can take months, and a serious one can take years. Meanwhile the bills do not pause. People stop work, lose income, pay for treatment and adaptations, and get into difficulty long before anyone talks about settlement.

An interim payment is money paid to you before the claim finishes, set against whatever you eventually recover. If you need it, it is one of the most useful things to ask about — and one of the least often raised by claimants, because most people do not know it exists.

Two routes to money early

Voluntary payment by the insurer

Nothing stops a defender's insurer paying something early. Where liability is not seriously in dispute, insurers sometimes do, particularly in serious injury claims where the alternative is an application to the court they expect to lose.

Your solicitor asks; the insurer agrees or refuses. It is quick when it works, costs nothing to ask, and does not require proceedings to have been raised.

An order from the court

Where proceedings have been raised, a Scottish court can order interim damages. The provisions are in the Rules of the Court of Session at rule 43.11, and in the Sheriff Court Ordinary Cause Rules at rule 36.9 for actions in the sheriff court, including the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court.

Broadly, the court needs to be satisfied that the defender has admitted liability, or that the pursuer would succeed at proof with any contributory negligence taken into account. The award is a reasonable proportion of the damages likely to be recovered — deliberately conservative, because it is an advance, not a final assessment.

This route requires an action to have been raised. That is a significant practical point: if your claim is still at the pre-action stage, there is no court to ask. It is one reason raising proceedings is sometimes the right move earlier than people expect.

When is it realistic?

Interim payments are most likely where:

• Liability is admitted or very clear. A rear-end collision with an admission is a different proposition from a disputed accident with no witnesses.
• The claim is substantial. An advance on a modest claim is rarely worth the procedural effort; the claim may settle sooner than the application concludes.
• There is a real and demonstrable need. Loss of earnings, treatment you would otherwise go without, adaptations to your home, care costs being met by family.
• Final value cannot yet be assessed. Serious injury claims often cannot settle until the medical picture stabilises, which can take years. That gap is exactly what interim payments exist to bridge.

They are unlikely where liability is genuinely contested, or where the claim is small enough that settlement is the faster route.

What it is not

It is not extra money. Anything paid early is deducted from your final award. It changes the timing, not the total.

It is not a loan. No interest, no repayment schedule. But if the claim ultimately fails, an interim payment can in principle be repayable, which is one reason courts award them conservatively and only where success looks clear.

It is not automatic. Nobody will offer one unprompted in most cases. Ask.

What to do if you are struggling now

Tell your solicitor plainly what the position is. Not "things are a bit tight" — the actual figures: what has stopped coming in, what is going out, what you have had to stop paying for.

Solicitors cannot ask for something they do not know you need, and people are often reluctant to raise money worries with a professional. It is directly relevant information, not an imposition.

Ask specifically:

• Is a voluntary interim payment worth requesting now?
• If not, what would need to change — an admission of liability, a medical report — before it is?
• Would raising proceedings open the door to applying to the court, and is that the right step here?
• Is there anything I can claim for now, such as treatment costs, that need not wait?

While you wait, keep receipts for everything you spend because of the injury. Those costs form part of your claim for patrimonial loss, and undocumented expenditure is hard to recover. Our page on evidence for a personal injury claim covers what to keep.

Interim payments and benefits

An interim payment is still compensation, so the points on our benefits and compensation page apply to it: it can count as capital for means-tested benefits. If you receive means-tested benefits, raise that before an interim payment arrives, not after, so a personal injury trust can be considered.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get an interim payment before raising court proceedings?

Only voluntarily, from the insurer. A court order for interim damages requires an action to have been raised.

How much can I get?

A reasonable proportion of what you are likely to recover. Courts are deliberately cautious, because the final figure is not yet known.

Do I pay it back if I lose?

An interim payment can in principle be repayable if the claim does not succeed. This is part of why they are only awarded where success appears clear. Ask your solicitor what your position would be.

Does asking for one weaken my claim?

No. Asking is normal, and in serious claims it is expected.

Is this the same as the English procedure?

The principle is similar but the rules are Scottish — Court of Session rule 43.11 and Ordinary Cause Rule 36.9. Guidance written for the Civil Procedure Rules does not describe Scottish procedure.

Sources

• Rules of the Court of Session (interim damages, rule 43.11)
• Sheriff Court Ordinary Cause Rules 1993 (interim payment of damages, rule 36.9)
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service

Whether an interim payment is available in your case depends on its facts and the stage it has reached. This page is general information, not advice — ask your solicitor.

Last reviewed: 4 September 2026 by the Personal Injury Claims Scotland editorial team