Attachment of Earnings and an IVA

Attachment of Earnings and an IVA

An Attachment of Earnings allows money to be taken from your wages to pay a debt. This can be overturned using an IVA.

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What is an Attachment of Earnings?

If you do not pay your debt after a CCJ (County Court Judgment) has been issued further enforcement action can be taken. One option available to the creditor is to apply for an Attachment of Earnings.

Once such an Attachment is granted the Court will order your employer to deduct an agreed amount from your wages. This is then paid directly towards the debt. You receive what is left in your wage packet.

Having money taken from your wages like this can cause significant problems. You are no longer in control of this debt payment. As a result you may be left without enough to cover your other financial obligations.

It may be possible to reduce the amount deducted from your wages by applying to the Court for a Variation Order.

Will an IVA stop an Attachment of Earnings?

The Attachment is stopped if you start an IVA. Once the Arrangement is agreed all the creditors that are included are legally bound to its terms.

They are no longer allowed to recover the money you owe them in any other way. Given this any deductions directly from your wages for the payment of their debts must be cancelled.

If money is currently being deducted from your wages this must be taken into account when calculating your IVA payments. Your income figure should be considered without the deduction as this will be the reality once the Arrangement is in place.

If you already have an Attachment of Earnings in place you may think you cannot afford to start an IVA. However the fact that this deduction will stop may mean the Arrangement is affordable.

Does an IVA protect against future Court Action?

Once you start an IVA you receive legal protection from your creditors. They are no longer allowed to start Court action against you. Further applications for an Attachment of Earnings cannot be made.

In addition if an application is already being considered by the Court it must be withdrawn. All actions currently being undertaken by creditors included in the Arrangement must be dropped.

Having said that you are only protected from the creditors you have included. Secured debts and debts incured after the start date do not fall into this category. If you fail to pay these legal action can still be taken against you.

You should not borrow more during your IVA. If you do you are not protected from the new creditors. They are free to apply for a CCJ and Attachment of Earnings against you in the event of non payment.

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10 thoughts on “Attachment of Earnings and an IVA

    Chris K says:

    Hello. Can an attachment of earnings be overturned if the creditor has not agreed to the iva?

      Hi Chris

      If the IVA has been approved by a majority of the other creditors, and the creditor with the attachment was included, they are legally bound by the agreement even if they rejected it. They must then cancel the attachment of earnings and notify your employer to stop deducting money from your wages.

      It does however take time for this process to happen. Very often the attachment continues for 2-3 months before it is stopped.

    DMarie says:

    hi i have an attachment of earnings and i am in an IVA, they have now stopped the AOE but as i am in an IVA can i get the money back from the AOE?

      Hi DMarie

      As far as I am aware, you will not be able to claim back any money paid to the creditor via the attachment of earnings since your IVA started. It might be worth you informing your IVA company about the payments so they can amend the creditor balance in their records.

    Kristyr says:

    I have an IVA and have recently had money taken from my wages as a DEA. Is this correct? Can this happen when I have an IVA?

      Hi Kristyr

      A Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) is used by DWP to recover benefits overpayments. Benefits overpayments owed to DWP can be included in an IVA. Given you included the debt in your IVA, once it started, any DEA should be suspended. Any collections made via a DEA after the start date should be refunded.

      You should contact your IVA company to confirm you have lost money from your wages due to the DEA. First, confirm with them that the debt owed to DWP was actually included in the Arrangement. Given it was, my advice is you then contact DWP yourself and make sure they are aware of the IVA.

      If the debt was not included, you will need to discuss with your IVA company whether it can now be added.

      If you are struggling financially, you should also talk to your IVA company about taking payment break from the IVA until this is sorted out.

    Amanda M says:

    Can I get an iva with an attachment of earnings

      Hi Amanda

      The answer is yes. Once the IVA is agreed, the attachment of earnings will be overturned (given the associated debt is included in the IVA). The money will no longer be taken out of your wages. You will just have to maintain the monthly IVA payment.

    MichaelS says:

    In an IVA if i get an attachment of earnings during it, and then get refunded, can the IVA take that refund?

      Hi MichaelS,

      If an attachment of earnings is issued while you are in an IVA, but then is cancelled, any money taken from you that is subsequently refunded does not have to be paid into your IVA.

      The reason for this is that the refund is not a windfall. It is simply part of the normal money you would have received in your monthly wages. It is not an extra payment and so it does not have to be declared to your IVA company.

      If you do earn extra money during your IVA (such as overtime or a bonus) this would have to be declared to your IVA company and you are likely to have to hand over around 50% of it. You can read more about this here: What happens if you earn overtime or bonus in an IVA?

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