While obtaining a judgment from the court means that the debtor legally owes you the debt, the judgment itself doesn’t secure the funds. Once a judgment has been made, one way which you can retain the money is by obtaining an order for attachment of earnings (AOE).
Sara Beaumont, a director based at WHN’s Bury office and specialist in debt recovery, explores how to enforce court judgments through attachment of earnings orders.
An order for attachment of earnings provides the creditor with the ability to collect the funds in cases where the debtor is employed. It is important to note that these orders do not apply to people that are self-employed.
The order means that you are able to directly deduct funds from the debtor’s wages before the money reaches their bank account. This can be done each time the employee is paid until the full balance of the judgment debt is settled.
These type of orders instruct employers to forward money to the court before the employee receives it, meaning the debtor is unable to siphon funds to prevent paying the money owed.
To ensure the debtor has enough money to cover living expenses, the court will consider the income and expenditure of the debtor to determine the instalment amounts to be paid.
Orders can be made against PAYE income such as wages, salary, overtime, bonuses, commission, statutory sick pay and occupational pensions, while other income such as state pensions, benefits, tax credits and Armed Forces pay cannot be claimed against.
To qualify to apply for an AOE order, the debt must be £50 or above and you must also know who the debtor is employed by.
To ensure that the debtor is able to make a payment, before processing the application it is also worthwhile searching the index of AOE orders to see whether there are already any orders in place against the person.
Once the application has been received by the court, the debtor will receive a copy before being given the opportunity to either pay in full or complete a form in reply.
If the debtor doesn’t supply sufficient information in their reply, then you may be required to attend a court hearing. Once an AOE order has been made, both parties have 14 days to apply to the court to review the decision.
Orders for attachment of earnings can be an effective method of enforcement as most people will not want their employer to know that they are in financial difficulty, so it can help prompt voluntary payments.
How legal professional support can help with debt recovery
Debt collection is a complex area of law, so it’s important that you seek specialist advice before you embark on recovering debt to ensure that you secure the money that is rightly owed to you and that you follow the correct legal procedures. Find out more in our helpful guide: How a legal professional can help with debt recovery: A guide for businesses – WHN Solicitors
For further information on dealing with debt recovery see our additional articles:
- How to obtain outstanding debt through insolvency proceedings
- How to recover debt through bailiffs and enforcement officers
- How to use a charging order to recover outstanding debt
- How to use third party debt orders to recover funds
For more information on recovering outstanding debt through an order for attachment of earnings, please call Sara Beaumont on 0161 761 4611 or email sara.beaumont@whnsolicitors.co.uk
