You cannot receive an attachment of earnings order if you are self-employed as a sole trader or in a partnership.

An attachment of earnings order can be made against a wage you are paid from a limited company you own.

An attachment of earnings arising from a county court judgment cannot deduct money from any benefits or state pension.

If you have a magistrates’ court fine money can be taken from your wages or from benefits.

If your problem relates to county court bailiffs, you should write to the court involved.

If the bailiff was instructed by your local authority, you could contact them to complain.

Any complaints about private bailiffs should first be addressed to their company.

Most bailiffs are members of a trade organisation, so if your complaint is not resolved you can ask them to investigate. The Enforcement Services Association and Association of Civil Enforcement Agencies both have their own complaints procedures.

Any allegation of violence should be reported to the police as this is a criminal offence.

If your house is owned in joint names and the debt is in your name only, the charging order is applied to your share of the property.

If you have a joint mortgage, all parties who have an interest in the property are informed of an interim charging order application, including your mortgage and secured loan companies and your partner.

If you believe the amount shown on a county court claim form is wrong, there is a defence form included in the claim pack which allows you to challenge the amount.

If the court receives this paperwork before the deadline, the case is likely to get moved to your local court for a hearing to decide how much you owe and how much you must pay each month.

We strongly recommend you take further advice before attempting to dispute the amount owed on a county court claim. Please call us for advice.

In some professions, your job may be at risk if you get a county court judgment. If you think this is the case, check your employment contract or speak to your trade union representative.

If a creditor has issued a county court claim and it may threaten your job, you need to act quickly. One option is a legally binding agreement called a tomlin order as an alternative to a CCJ. Some creditors will agree to this.

You should contact us as soon as possible to discuss the options you have in this situation.

Yes. The court costs and solicitors fees shown on a county court claim are added to cover the creditor’s costs in issuing the claim. They are statutory amounts and you cannot get them removed if the judgment goes ahead.

A default notice will clearly state at the top of “This is a default notice served under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act”.

There are several other important points that must be listed:

• The type of credit agreement
• The terms of the agreement which have been broken
• The action that is required to prevent the account from defaulting, this is usually to pay off all arrears by a certain date
• What action the creditor intends to take if this is not done. For instance, pass the debt to a collection agency or proceed with court action

We recommend you seek advice from us if you have trouble paying your debts, and you should not ignore a default notice. It is unlikely you will need to contact a solicitor or trading standards.

If you change jobs while you have an attachment of earnings order, you must contact the court as soon as possible with details of your new employer.

If the attachment of earnings will cause problems with your new employer, you can apply to the court to suspend the order. This is done using court form N244, which is available from HM Court Service and there is a court fee.