An Employer's Guide to Direct Earnings Attachments (DEA) for the Collection of Housing Benefit Overpayments

On receipt of a notice to operate a DEA, you must:

• make regular payments to us until we tell you to stop or the maximum amount to be recovered has been taken from your employees earnings
• pay the amount you have taken from your employee's wages over to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council as soon as possible, but no later than the 19th day of the month following the month in which you have taken it

For example, if you take the money on 30 September, you must send it to us before 19 October. If you take the money on 1 October, you must send it to us before 19 November.

13.1 Paying by BACS (Automated Credit Transfer)

This is our preferred method of payment because of its security and quick clearance times. When setting up a payment by this method, you will need the following information:

• Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council bank sort code: 55.61.00
• Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council bank account number: 07436998
• account name: Stockton-on-Tees General Account
• employees LA reference number, this will be shown on the DEA notice you will be sent

Direct Earnings Attachment schedule must be completed when making a single consolidated BACS payment in respect of one or multiple employees (see section 13.3 for instructions about this).

13.2 Paying by cheque

If you need to pay by cheque, please make it payable to 'Stockton on Tees Borough Council' and write the employee's LA reference number (this will be shown on the DEA notice you will be sent) on the back of the cheque.

Please send the cheque to:

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
PO Box 500
Stockton-on-Tees
TS18 1WA

If you are paying by cheque, when making a payment in respect of more than one employee, you will need to attach a Direct Earnings Attachment payment schedule to the cheque so we know who the payment refers to (see section 13.3 for instructions about this).

13.3 Direct Earnings Attachment payments schedule

The payments schedule must be completed:

• when making a single consolidated BACS payment in respect of one or multiple employees and returned to Xentrall Shared Services, PO Box 877, Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 1JA
• when making any cheque payment in respect of multiple employees and returned to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, PO Box 500, Stockton-on-Tees, TS18 1WA (please ensure that the schedule is attached to the cheque)

A blank schedule for you to use and copy as many times as you need has been included on our Overpayments webpage.

The Direct Earnings Attachment payments schedule must include the following details for each person for whom you have been asked to make deductions from earnings:

• their full names (forenames and surname)
• their LA Reference Number as shown on the DEA notice you were sent
• the amount of the deduction (in pounds sterling) that has been deducted or
•  the reason why a deduction cannot be made when appropriate

The amount of the automated credit transfer or cheque must be the same as the total amount of deductions shown on the Direct Earnings Attachment payments schedule.

Please do not send cash through the post.

13.4 Email us the Direct Earnings Attachment payments schedule

If paying by BACS, you can if you prefer, email an electronic copy of the schedule to us at banking.income@xentrall.org.uk and the payment can follow.

Please include 'DEA notice' in the subject of your email.