Attachment of Earnings advice....

footballmanagerwidow

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone had any insight of how attachment of earning orders work for members of the Armed Forces? My friend has had an AOE on his salary for 2 years but a substantial change in circumstances means that the family are now finding it very difficult to keep their heads above water whilst this amount of money is being taken from the only salary in the household. It seems that an AOE for a member of the armed forces is not as straight forward as a normal AOE and they are unsure how to go about getting it reduced. They have been to welfare and they have suggested they go to the CAB for further advice. Just thought i'd ask here and see if anyone had any information on these matters....

Many thanks.

CIS

Who has issued the AOE ?

If its for council tax then then the %'s to take are set in law and cannot be varied by the council or the employer.

footballmanagerwidow

No, it's not for council tax - armed forces don't pay it.

CIS

No, it's not for council tax - armed forces don't pay it.

You may not pay it when living in military accomodation but many service personnel do have council tax liabilities.

ldonald101

What is the AOE for, would help with answer?

footballmanagerwidow

It's for a HP agreement on a car.

Apollonia

I have to say that I don't see why AOEs would be different for members of the Armed Forces. It's still a debt payment being deducted at source from the salary.

However, you should be able to apply for a change in the rate the same as anyone else.

From http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_factsheets/attachment_of_earnings_order.php

What if I want to change the terms of the Attachment of Earnings Order in the future?

You can apply to the court on an N244 to "vary" or change the order if you find that you cannot afford the deduction rate on the Attachment of Earnings Order because your circumstances have changed. You will have to give full details of your personal budget and why you cannot afford the deductions set by the court. You can also use this form if your circumstances at work change and you want the court to look at suspending the Attachment of Earnings Order. There will be a fee to pay to make this application

Edit:

OK, I googled some more and discovered that the original order has to be applied for to the Defence Council, not the usual court procedures for civvies. I suggest then that you need to speak to the unit admin people who deal with pay.
I googled 'attachment of earnings for armed forces' and the top result takes you to

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/MANUALS/dmbmanual/DMBM667670.htm

Your friend needs to look at Section 151A Army/Air Force Act 1955 or Section 128E Naval Discipline Act 1957.

HTH