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

Example 1 - A weekly paid earner with no prior attachment orders

A person with net earnings of £385 per week will have a deduction of £57.75 per week (in accordance with the deduction rates table at 15%).

Example 2 - A weekly paid earner with an existing attachment order for child maintenance

A person with net earnings of £250 per week with an existing attachment order of £60 per week for child maintenance will have a deduction of £9.50 (in accordance with the deduction table at 5%).

Calculation

Existing attachment = £60 per week

Residual earnings after the existing deduction = £190

DEA in accordance with deduction table = £9.50 (5% of £190)

Example 3 - A monthly paid earner with existing priority attachment orders

A person with net earnings of £1,620 per month has an existing deduction of £599.40.

The residual earnings after the existing deduction are £1020.60 per month. Therefore, the person should have a DEA deduction of £71.44 (in accordance with the deduction table at 7%). However, this deduction in addition to the existing deductions of £599.40, will breach the protected earnings limit of 60%. The maximum deduction we can make in this instance would be £48.60.

Calculation

40% of net earnings = £648 (maximum amount for total deductions) Existing priority attachment orders in place = £599.40

£648 - £599.40 = £48.60 (maximum amount available for the DEA deduction)

DEA in accordance with deduction table should be £71.44 but the maximum amount that can be deducted is £48.60

DEA = £48.60