Stopping or Changing an Attachment of Earnings Order

An attachment of earnings order lets money be taken from your wages to pay a debt. Your employer sends the money to the court, which pays the creditors¹. In Scotland the same kind of order is called an arrestment of earnings, and it orders your employer to take off a percentage of your wages to pay the debt². A direct earnings attachment is a related order that can only be used to take money from wages, and only when you are not getting any benefits that can be used to pay the debt³.

The free route to stopping or changing one starts with advice, not with a fee. National Debtline is a registered charity that provides free, impartial debt advice to more than 100,000 people each year, and you can call, webchat or use My Money Steps to get free advice⁴. Its freephone number is 0808 808 4000⁵. The same number reaches Business Debtline, the free service for self-employed people and small businesses⁶.

What an adviser can do is look at whether the deduction is correct, whether a different solution would replace it, and what to say to the court and the people you owe. What they cannot do is make the order vanish on the spot, and they do not stand in for you in court. The sections below set out the options, the rules in England, Wales and Scotland, and the scams that target people in exactly this position.

Free help to stop or change an attachment of earnings order: National Debtline on 0808 808 4000

The starting point is a free call. National Debtline advises on free debt management plans and on negotiating reduced payments yourself, and its freephone number is 0808 808 4000¹⁰. The same number is the free debt advice line for people in emergency situations⁵, and it is the number to use if a debt management plan has been suggested as a good option for you¹¹.

Business Debtline, which covers self-employed people and small businesses, uses the same freephone number, 0808 808 4000⁶. That matters because the rules treat self-employment differently, particularly in Scotland.

Advice is not only about the deduction itself. National Debtline gives advice on important debts such as rent or mortgage arrears and support if creditors take court action¹². If the attachment sits alongside arrears on priority bills, the adviser will want to look at the whole picture rather than the single order.

There is a wider network too. Free advice is available from an approved money adviser at a registered charity¹³, and free, confidential and independent advice from a debt adviser is available to people who owe money to HMRC¹⁴. A council can also point residents towards support: one Welsh council says it would always recommend speaking to someone for advice on how to manage your money¹⁵.

What National Debtline can and cannot do for you

An adviser can explain how the deduction is calculated and what the order requires. In Scotland, an earnings arrestment requires the employer to deduct a sum calculated in accordance with section 49 from the debtor's net earnings on every pay-day and pay it to the creditor, and it remains in effect until the debt is paid or otherwise extinguished, the debtor leaves the employment, or the arrestment is recalled or abandoned¹⁶. Knowing which of those endings applies to you is the practical question an adviser can help answer.

An adviser can also help you put your case to creditors. Creditors should always consider stopping or reducing interest, but they do not legally have to do this, and a debt management plan cannot make them¹⁷. That is a limit worth understanding before you assume a phone call will freeze the balance.

What an adviser cannot do is act as your legal representative in court or force a creditor to accept an offer. The service is advice and support, including support if creditors take court action¹². Where a debt is disputed, the route is to explain to the advisor on the phone or in writing that the debt does not belong to you, after which the company will update the records on their database and stop contacting you¹⁸.

Debt solutions that can replace a court-ordered deduction

Several formal solutions can take the place of a deduction from wages, and each has different consequences.

In Scotland, a debt payment programme under the Debt Arrangement Scheme will cancel most forms of diligence, such as arrestment of your bank account or an earnings arrestment¹⁹. The scheme can stop creditors taking further action against you, even if you have a decree²⁰. Scottish debt solutions include bankruptcy, DAS and trust deed²¹.

A debt relief order may be a cheaper alternative to full bankruptcy for some people²². If a debt is included in a DRO, you send a copy of your DRO to the creditor and they should stop the attachment of earnings order¹.

For council tax, local authorities have enforcement powers including setting up an attachment of earnings, where money is taken directly from your wages or benefits²³. Government debts more broadly can be enforced by bailiffs visiting you, deductions from your earnings, or prison in rare cases²⁴. Where a direct earnings attachment is being used for a benefit debt, you may be able to avoid the DEA by agreeing payment instalments instead²⁵.

Which of these fits depends on your income, your debts and where you live, so it is a conversation to have with an adviser rather than a decision to make from a list. The pages on debt solutions across the UK and what debt solutions cost set out the options and their fees.

Getting advice by phone, webchat or My Money Steps

There are three ways in, and they suit different people. You can call, webchat or use My Money Steps to get free advice⁴. The phone line is open 9am to 8pm, Monday to Friday, and 9:30am to 1pm on Saturday⁷. Webchat opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm and Saturday 9:30am to 1pm⁸.

My Money Steps is the online route, and it is designed so you do not repeat yourself. If you call for advice, advisers will be able to see all the information you have given, so you will not have to start again²⁶. That makes it worth filling in before you ring, particularly if you have several debts and a wage slip to hand.

Budget planning is part of the work. A simple guide to managing your money is available from the same charity²⁷, and the figures you gather there are what an adviser uses to test whether a repayment offer is realistic.

England and Wales rules differ from Scotland

The name and the mechanics change at the border. In Scotland, an attachment of earnings order is called an arrestment of earnings²⁸. A direct earnings attachment applies to England and Wales only³. Some of the regulations that govern deductions from benefits apply in England and Wales only, in particular regulation 2 insofar as it applies to a benefit devolved under Part 3 of the Scotland Act 2016, and regulation 4²⁹.

Self-employment is treated differently too. An earnings arrestment cannot be used to take money from self-employment if you are a sole trader⁹, and an earnings arrestment cannot be used by someone you owe money if you are self-employed³⁰. That does not remove the debt, but it changes what a creditor can do about it.

Scotland also has its own protections. A debt payment programme will cancel most forms of diligence such as arrestment of your bank account, or an earnings arrestment¹⁹. The Scottish Government publishes debt and money guidance for people in Scotland²¹.

Beware of firms pretending to be National Debtline

Some companies cold call people pretending to be National Debtline, Business Debtline or the Money Advice Trust³². A genuine advice charity does not cold call you, and the Money and Pensions Service has never, and will never, turn up to your home or contact you out of the blue via phone, WhatsApp, email or text³³.

The commercial end of this market carries its own warnings. Credit repair companies who claim to clear debt records are one to avoid³⁴. Claims by firms that they can write off credit card debt are misleading and could cost you more money, especially firms asking for upfront fees³⁵, and it is worth being particularly wary if they ask for upfront fees to do the job³⁶.

There is a related risk from people contacting you pretending to be a bank or utility company³⁷. If someone asks for payment or personal details after an unexpected call, treat it as a scam until you have checked it independently. The scams and fraud guide explains the common patterns, and the guide to telling whether a debt adviser is legitimate covers how to check a firm before you pay it anything.

Where to get help in person or for someone else

Face-to-face advice may suit people who find it hard to talk on the phone, cannot use online tools, find it hard to read and write and need some help, or have other needs such as housing, employment, benefits or immigration³⁸. StepChange Debt Charity offers free and confidential debt advice online and over the phone, and can refer you to a fellow debt advice charity if face-to-face advice is best³⁸. StepChange does not charge any set-up or advice fees for the minimal asset process bankruptcy route³⁹.

If you are helping someone else, the practical step is to get them to an adviser. Everyone can get help from a court duty adviser, whatever they earn and whatever their home is worth⁴⁰, and free advice is available from an approved money adviser at a registered charity¹³. Where someone is vulnerable, it helps to tell the people they owe about their vulnerability if they can⁴¹.

If a creditor is pursuing a debt that is not yours, the process is to explain to the advisor on the phone or in writing that the debt does not belong to you, and the company will update the records on their database and stop contacting you¹⁸. Debt collectors cannot take anything from your home²⁷.