Attachment of earnings orders
An attachment of earnings order is a deduction taken from your wages and paid to your creditor on your behalf.
If you have a county court judgement set against you in court in favour of your creditor which you are unable to pay then they can try to enforce the judgement against you.
One of the ways that this can be done is the creditor can apply to the county court for an Attachment of Earnings Order to be made. This type of order will then tell your employer/s to take a deduction straight from your wages in order to pay the debt.
Your employer would then send the payment to the courts to administer to your creditor. With an attachment of earnings order your employer can also administer a fee of £1-00 for the cost of administration.
Generally if a creditor makes an application for an attachment of earnings order you will be sent a form called an N56 this will ask you to fill in some details including a section that asks you to make an offer of payment. It is important that you fill this bit in with something that you can afford.
If you do not send the forms into the court within 8 days it is an offence and you will find that county court bailiffs will serve you with an order to fill it in.
You can apply to the court on a form “N244” to change the order if you find that you cannot afford the deduction rate on the Attachment of Earnings Order because your circumstances have changed.
We hope that this article is informative and gives you a brief overview of what an attachment of earnings order is. If you are in a position that is awkward at the moment then it is absolutely best for you to seek professional advice. Trying our free debt calculator will set your mind at some ease and mean that you have a professional onside to help you solve your problems.
