What is an attachment of earnings order and what does it do


An attachment of earnings order does exactly what its name implies. It is an order to a named employer requiring him to deduct specified sums from the defendant's earnings and pay them to the Centralised Attachment of Earnings Payments System (CAPS), which in turn will send payments to the claimant.

Application is made by means of a form 'Request for Attachment of Earnings Order'. This form should be sent to the court that covers the address where the defendant lives. If judgment was obtained in a different court and if the case has not already been transferred, it will be necessary to transfer the case to this court. An attachment of earnings order is an instruction to a named employer.

If the defendant changes his employer, it will be necessary to apply for a new order and a new court fee will be payable. An order can only apply to an individual in employment. It cannot apply to the self-employed, partners and the unemployed. There are separate arrangements for members of the armed forces and for merchant seamen. Private pensions from a former employer may be attached, but not the state pension or social security benefits.

Following an application for an attachment of earnings order the defendant will be required by the court to fill in a form giving details of his earnings and financial commitments. A court officer will examine the form and decide how much the defendant needs for his living expenses and how much he can afford to pay. He will decide a 'protected amount', which is what the defendant needs for food, rent, child support, living expenses, etc.

If and only if, the defendant earns more than the protected amount will an order be made. The claimant does not have to accept the court officer's decision concerning the protected amount and the amount of the order. He can write to the court giving reasons for objecting and ask a district judge to review the decision. The protected amount is what the defendant receives after deductions for tax and national insurance contributions.

An attachment of earnings order does not run for a prescribed period of time. It runs until it is terminated by the court. It is not uncommon for a defendant to be the subject of several attachment of earnings orders, which can result in unwieldy administration. Anyone involved, including an employer and the defendant, can request that all the orders be amalgamated into a consolidated order.

If one of these is issued, the employer will make a single deduction and pay it to CAPS. From time to time CAPS will send a dividend to each of the claimants.

Attachment of earnings orders can work well and they are widely used by such bodies as the Child Support Agency, utility companies and by councils to collect outstanding council tax. They can be avoided by a defendant frequently changing jobs, taking money from the black economy or by deliberately earning less than the protected amount.

They are most effective when the defendant is a responsible person in settled employment, though of course this is exactly the sort of person least likely to get into difficulties in the first place.

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This article was sent to us by: Vince Jean at 05162010

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