Attachment Order Types

Child Maintenance Deduction from Earnings Orders

The Child Support Agency and the Child Maintenance Service can issue Deduction from Earnings Orders of two types:

• Orders for a fixed deduction from wages, subject to a fixed protected earnings rate, below which the net pay must not fall
• Orders for a fixed deduction, subject to a protected earnings level of 60% of net wages

In both cases, any shortfall in one payment is carried forwards and deducted on the next pay day.

Council Tax / Community Charge Attachment of Earnings Order

A local authority in England or Wales can issue an Attachment of Earnings order to recover unpaid council tax or community charges. Along with the order, they will supply a table for you to use when working out how much to deduct. When operating one of these orders, no student loan deduction will be made.

Other Attachment of Earnings Orders

Courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can issue Attachment of Earnings Orders is respect of maintenance, fines and civil debts. They can be of three types:

• Magistrates' court fines in England or Wales come under the Courts Act 2003. Deductions are based on a fixed table, laid out in the Fines Collection Regulations 2006, and they take priority over student loan repayments.
• In Northern Ireland, a court or a collection officer can issue an Attachment of Earnings Order under the Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. These are based on a table of deductions.
• Other priority orders are made in respect of maintenance and fines and are based on a fixed deduction. They take priority over student loan repayments and any shortfall from one payment is carried forward to the next pay day.
• Non-priority orders are made in respect of civil debts. They are deducted after student loan repayments and any shortfall is not carried forwards.

Current Maintenance Arrestment

Courts in Scotland can issue Current Maintenance Arrestments. These deductions are based on a daily rate, with a daily protected earnings rate. When operating one of these orders, no student loan deduction will be made.

Earnings Arrestment

Courts in Scotland can issue Earnings Arrestments. Along with the order, they will supply a table for you to use when working out how much to deduct. When operating one of these orders, no student loan deduction will be made.

Conjoined Arrestment Order

Courts in Scotland can issue Conjoined Arrestment Orders, which operate in the same way as a combination of Current Maintenance Arrestments and/or Earnings Arrestments. When operating one of these orders, no student loan deduction will be made.

Direct Earnings Attachment

The Department for Work and Pensions and Local Authorities can issue Direct Earnings Attachments to recover debts. Most of them use a standard table of deductions, but some specify a higher rate table or a fixed rate.

Administration Fee made by Employer

When operating the above orders, it is legal (but not compulsory) for you to make an administration charge to your employee. The maximum legal amount for this charge is £1 per order.