Attachment of Earnings Order

The form must be sent 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.

If the creditor knows your employer's address the court can go directly to the employer and ask them to provide details of you earnings if you do not return the N56 form to the court.

What Happens when I Send Back the Form?

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 creditors have 14 days to tell the court that the you disagree with the terms of the order. You should write to the court and keep a copy of the letter. If you have asked for the order to be suspended you may need to give the court more details about why your employment may be affected.

A hearing will be arranged in your local county court with a district judge in the courts private rooms. It is important you go to the hearing and take you 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 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 is sent to the court. The court then divides the money up and sends the payments to all of your creditors.

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.

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.

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 Wants 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.

FEES

You will usually have 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.

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.