Attachment of Earnings Order
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- What is an Attachment of Earnings Order?
- Filling in the court forms
- What happens if you don't send the form back?
- What happens after sending back the form?
- If you disagree with the order made by the court
- Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Orders
- What if you want to change the order in the future?
- Fees
- What happens if you leave your job?
- County Court Fees
What is an Attachment of Earnings Order?
If a creditor has a judgment against you in the county court which you do not pay then they can try to enforce the judgment against you. One of the ways this can be done is the creditor applies to the county court for an Attachment of Earnings Order to be made. This order tells your employer to make deductions straight from your earnings in order to pay the debt. Your employer then sends the money to the court. Your employer can also deduct £1.00 every time they take money out of your wages towards the cost of administering the Attachment of Earnings Order.
The court can order deductions to be made directly from your earnings if:
- You are behind with payments on your county court judgment (CCJ).
- You are an employee (not self-employed or on benefits).
- You owe more than £50 on the judgment.
Filling in the Court Forms
If the creditor makes an application for an Attachment of Earnings Order, the court will send you a form to fill in called an N56. This asks you to fill in these details:
- name, address and number of dependants;
- your employer's details;
- your income and outgoings;
- any other credit debts and court orders that you have.
There is a section asking you to make an offer of payment that you can afford. You should fill this in and make sure you have included details of all your other debts and how much you are paying to other creditors. You can also ask the court to agree to make a Suspended Attachment of Earnings Order by ticking the box and filling in the reasons why you want a suspended order. This could be that you may lose your job or promotion prospects if your employer finds out you are in debt.
What happens if I don't send the forms back?
You must send the form back to the court within 8 days. It is an offence not to send back the form or to give false information. If you don't send back the N56 form the county court bailiffs will serve you with an order to fill it in. If you still don't contact the court then you will be sent a notice to go to a court hearing to explain why you have not given the court the information requested. You must go to this hearing. If you don't attend then the court can issue a warrant for you to be arrested and brought to court or even send you straight to prison.
You can be sent to prison for up to 14 days or fined simply for not following the court's instructions to fill in the form and go to the hearing.
Warning: if the creditor knows your employer's address the court can go directly to the employer and ask them to provide details of your earnings if you do not return the N56 form to the court.
I have sent back the form - what happens now?
A court officer will use the information on the N56 form to make an Attachment of Earnings Order.
The court cannot make an Attachment of Earnings Order if your take home pay is below a certain level. This is called the "protected rate". Although the county court generally looks at your ability to repay the debt they use a much stricter system for calculating Attachment of Earnings repayments. They do this because it is a method of enforcement. The "protected rate" is calculated by the court staff and uses set figures for essential expenditure such as housekeeping.
The court will then send you the order in writing. If you have asked for the Attachment of Earnings Order to be suspended the court staff will decide if they agree with you and include this in the order.
What if I disagree with the Order made by the Court?
You or your creditor have 14 days to tell the court you disagree with the terms of the order. You should write to the court and keep a copy of your letter. You may have asked for the order to be suspended and need to give the court more details about why your employment may be affected. You may find the court have set the instalments too high. A hearing will be arranged in your local county court with a district judge in their private rooms. Make sure you go to the hearing and take with you your personal budget and details of your other debts. At the hearing you should explain to the district judge why the level of the Attachment of Earnings Order will cause problems or how the order will affect your job if it is not suspended.
Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Orders
If you have an Attachment of Earnings Order and have other county court judgments then you can apply to the court to have a Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Order made. This makes it easier for you if you have to make your own payments to several different creditors. A Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Order means one monthly payment is deducted by your employer to cover all your county court judgments and sent to the court. The court then divides the money up and sends the payments to all your creditors for you.
Warning: this is only a good idea if you do not mind having the Attachment of Earnings Order being deducted from your wages. It will only cover other debts if those creditors have a county court judgment against you. If you have other credit debts that have not been to court, they cannot be included in the consolidated order. You will need to build in payments to those creditors in your personal budget.
To apply for a Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Order you must make an application to the court on a form called an N244 giving details of all the Attachment of Earnings Orders and county court judgments that you want the court to consolidate. You do not have to pay a fee upfront to make this application. Instead, 10 pence is deducted by the court for every £1.00 paid in whilst the consolidated order is in force.
Make sure you include a personal budget and make it clear how much you can afford to pay in total on the new order. If you can afford no more than the current Attachment of Earnings Order payments and want this to be divided up between all the creditors then you should say so.
There is no hearing. The creditors have 14 days to object to the order being made. It is unusual for the court to refuse to make a Consolidated Attachment of Earnings Order and you will be sent details of the new order by the court.
What if I want to change the terms of the Attachment of Earnings Order in the future?
You can apply to the court on an N244 to "vary" or change the order if you find that you cannot afford the deduction rate on the Attachment of Earnings Order because your circumstances have changed. You will have to give full details of your personal budget and why you cannot afford the deductions set by the court. You can also use this form if your circumstances at work change and you want the court to look at suspending the Attachment of Earnings Order. There will be a fee to pay to make this application (see the section on fees below).
Fees
There will usually be a fee of £65 to pay with your application. If you are on a low income or certain benefits you may not have to pay the fee. See the section on fees at the end of this factsheet.
What happens if I leave my job?
If you leave your job the Attachment of Earnings Order stops but is not cancelled by the court. If you get another job the Attachment of Earnings Order can be used again by the creditor. You must give the court details of your new employer or the court can decide you have committed an offence and you can be fined by the court or sent to prison. If your creditor stops getting payments and thinks you have a new job they can ask the court to order you to file a statement of means at the court or explain why you have not done so at a court hearing. Phone us for advice .
Sample Attached
Form 1 N55 sample application
Form 2 N56 sample reply form
County Court Fees
DO I HAVE TO PAY A FEE FOR AN APPLICATION IN THE COUNTY
COURT?
There will usually be a fee to pay with your application. You can ask the court
not to pay the fee in some circumstances. The form you will need to fill in is
called an EX160 'Application for a fee exemption or
remission.' This form needs to go to the court with your main application.
If the court agrees your application you will not have to pay the fee. If you
pay a fee when you should have been exempt or would have qualified for a remission,
then you have six months to apply to the court for a refund.
EXEMPTIONS
If you are on income support or income-based jobseeker's allowance (JSA) you can ask the court for exemption from the fee. You need to give the court proof that you are getting the benefit. You will be exempt if you or your partner are on the guarantee credit element of pension credit.
If you are on working tax credit you will be exempt from the court fee in these circumstances:
if you are also on child tax credit,
or
you receive the disability or severe disability element in your working tax credit,
and in either case
your gross annual income taken into account for working tax credit is £15,460 or less (from 6 April 2006).
You will need to show the court your tax credit award notice to qualify.
If you do not qualify under these rules for an exemption then you can ask for the fee to be remitted or waived by the court. See below.
REMISSIONS
Ask the court for the fee to be remitted (or waived) if it will cause you what the court calls " undue financial hardship". You can use the same EX160 application form. You may be on a low income or a benefit that does not automatically exempt you from paying the fee. Give as much information about your circumstances as you can. Explain your financial situation on the application form and any exceptional circumstances that apply in your case. The court can remit all or part of the fee depending on what they decide you can afford.
Remember: You can always phone us on 0800 074 6918 for advice about any difficulty you are having in dealing with your debts
0800 074 6918
© Copyright National Debtline 2002 (updated May 2006
