A Direct Earnings Attachment, or DEA, lets the Department for Work and Pensions recover money straight from wages without going to court. Enter the net pay for the pay day and the rate on DWP's notice to see the deduction, the 60% protection and the take-home pay.
England, Scotland and Wales
When someone owes money to the Department for Work and Pensions, such as an overpaid benefit, and is no longer receiving a benefit it can be taken from, DWP Debt Management can write to their employer and ask for deductions from pay. Unlike an attachment of earnings order, a DEA doesn't need a court. The employer gets a formal notice and has to act on it.
The rules are in Part 6 of the Social Security (Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations 2013 and apply in England, Scotland and Wales, but not in Northern Ireland. Councils can also use a DEA to recover Housing Benefit overpayments, although DWP's guidance only covers its own.
The deduction is a percentage of net earnings, set by the band the pay falls in. The legislation gives weekly and monthly bands, and DWP's employer guide adds daily ones for other pay intervals. There are two scales. DWP tells the employer which to use, and can switch between them during the life of the DEA. The higher rate applies where the overpayment led to a conviction for an offence.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Net pay a week | Net pay a month | Net pay a day | Standard | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £100 | Up to £430 | Up to £15 | Nil | 5% |
| £100.01 to £160 | £430.01 to £690 | £15.01 to £23 | 3% | 6% |
| £160.01 to £220 | £690.01 to £950 | £23.01 to £32 | 5% | 10% |
| £220.01 to £270 | £950.01 to £1,160 | £32.01 to £39 | 7% | 14% |
| £270.01 to £375 | £1,160.01 to £1,615 | £39.01 to £54 | 11% | 22% |
| £375.01 to £520 | £1,615.01 to £2,240 | £54.01 to £75 | 15% | 30% |
| Over £520 | Over £2,240 | Over £75 | 20% | 40% |
So the most a DEA can take is 20% of net earnings at the standard rate or 40% at the higher rate. Unlike the standard scale, the higher scale takes 5% even from the lowest pay.
Start with the employee's earnings for the pay day and take off Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension contributions. Find the band for that net figure and apply its percentage. Any fraction of a penny is rounded to the nearest penny, but an exact half penny is rounded down, so 3% of £149.50, which is £4.485, becomes £4.48.
DWP's own example is a monthly-paid employee on £1,200 gross, with £240 of tax, National Insurance and pension deductions. Net pay of £960 sits in the £950.01 to £1,160 band, so the deduction is 7%, £67.20, or 14%, £134.40, at the higher rate. With the employer's £1, the employee receives £891.80 on the standard rate.
For pay every 2 or 4 weeks, divide the net pay by the number of weeks, work out one week's deduction from the weekly bands and multiply it back up. DWP's example is £845.83 for 4 weeks: £211.46 a week at 5% is £10.57, so the employer sends £42.28. For pay at an interval that isn't whole weeks or months, divide by the number of days and use the daily bands: £560 for 8 days is £70 a day, 15% of which is £10.50, so £84 in total.
Holiday pay paid in advance is treated the same way. A weekly wage plus 2 weeks' holiday pay, £997.75 net in total, is divided by 3 to give £332.58 a week. That's 11%, £36.58 a week, so £109.74 for the 3 weeks. In the calculator, set the number of pay periods the payment covers to 3.
A DEA is a non-priority order. It gives way to deduction orders the employer already has, and after those orders and the DEA the employee must keep at least 60% of their net earnings. If the full DEA would break that limit, the employer takes only what fits. For example, on net pay of £1,000 with £350 already going to an earlier order, just £50 of the £70 DEA can be taken. If earlier orders already take 40% or more, nothing is deducted for the DEA that pay day. The £1 fee can take pay below the 60% level.
DWP's guidance says an employer that fails to comply can be fined up to £1,000 on conviction.
Wages, salary, fees, bonuses, commission, overtime, statutory sick pay and payment in lieu of notice all count. Statutory maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental pay don't, and nor do benefits, statutory redundancy payments or reimbursed expenses. A bonus paid with the normal wage is added to it before the band is found.
Get the net pay figure from the take-home pay calculator or the gross to net calculator. Employers can check payroll costs with the employer cost calculator, and the debt repayment calculator shows how long other debts take to clear.
A percentage of net pay set by the band the pay falls in: from nil to 20% at the standard rate and from 5% to 40% at the higher rate. On monthly net pay of £960 that is £67.20 at the standard rate.
The higher rate roughly doubles each percentage and applies where the overpayment led to a conviction for an offence. DWP tells the employer which rate to use.
From net pay: earnings after Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension contributions.
After the DEA and any other orders, the employee must keep at least 60% of their net earnings. If the full DEA would take more, the employer deducts only up to that limit.
No. The regulations are in force in England, Scotland and Wales only, so they exclude Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
