Earnings arrestments
How a wage arrestment works, what can be taken from your pay, and your rights.
- Wage Arrestment Calculator: How Much Can They Take? Discover how much can legally be deducted from your wages in Scotland with our Wage Arrestment tables and calculator. Updated 12 Sept 2026 Read
- Are Sheriff Officer Fees Added To Your Wage Arrestment Balance? Yes. Section 93(1) of the 1987 Act makes the expenses of the charge and of serving the schedule recoverable by the arrestment itself, out of your wages. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can A Wage Arrestment Affect Your Job In Financial Services? A wage arrestment is a payroll instruction rather than a court judgment, and the credit reference agencies do not record it. See who at work actually finds out. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can A Wage Arrestment Be Taken From Sick Pay? Yes. Statutory sick pay is named as earnings at section 73(2)(d) of the 1987 Act and is not taken back out. See how the deduction works while you are off. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can A Wage Arrestment Be Taken From Statutory Maternity Pay? The 1987 Act names statutory sick pay as earnings and does not mention maternity pay in either list. What that silence means for your pay while you are on leave. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can A Wage Arrestment Be Taken From Your Pension? Yes, where an occupational pension is already in payment. Section 73(2)(c) makes it earnings, reached by an ordinary arrestment on whoever pays it. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can A Wage Arrestment Take More Than Half Your Wages? No. The 50% rate reaches only the part of your net pay above £3,750.00 a month, and every pound below is charged less, so the total stays under half. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can An Employer Refuse To Action A Wage Arrestment? No. Section 47(1) requires a deduction every pay day, and section 57(1) makes an employer that does not comply liable to the creditor for the sums it should have taken. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can Both Your Bank And Your Wages Be Arrested At Once? Yes. They are separate diligences attaching different things, so the one-at-a-time rule on earnings does not stop one creditor using both for the same debt. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can The DWP Take Money From Your Wages Without A Court Order? Yes. A direct earnings attachment lets the DWP instruct your employer with no court order and no charge for payment. See the rates and where it sits on payroll. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Get A Mortgage With A Wage Arrestment? There is no legal bar, and an arrestment is on no credit file anywhere. Where it counts against you is affordability, because the money goes before you see it. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Get A Refund If Your Employer Over-Deducted? Yes, where the money was wrongly taken. Section 57(5) makes the excess recoverable from the creditor with interest, and a sheriff can order up to twice that amount. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Get A Wage Arrestment Without Going To Court? Yes. Council tax arrears are enforced under a summary warrant, granted on the council's application with no hearing, so you never attend and never contest it. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can You Have More Than One Wage Arrestment At The Same Time? Only one diligence against earnings can run against the same job in Scotland. See what a second creditor has to do instead, and what two jobs mean. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can Your Employer Charge A Fee For Processing A Wage Arrestment? Yes, up to £1.00 each time a deduction is paid over. Section 71 of the 1987 Act allows it and the figure has been £1.00 since 5 April 2006. It does not reduce your debt. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Can Your Employer Sack You For Having A Wage Arrestment? No Scottish law allows dismissal for having a wage arrestment. See the protection you actually have, what payroll must do, and where regulated jobs differ. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Do The Wage Arrestment Tables Change Every April? No. The tables in force came in on 6 April 2025 and no April 2026 uprating was made, so those figures still apply. See why a deduction can rise anyway. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Do You Get A Warning Before A Wage Arrestment Starts? One warning is required by law: a debt advice and information package given no earlier than 12 weeks before the schedule reaches your employer. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Bonus Affect How Much A Wage Arrestment Takes? Yes. A bonus is part of your net earnings for that period, so the deduction is worked out on the higher figure and can jump a band. The next payslip is normal again. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A New Employer Have To Continue A Wage Arrestment? No. An earnings arrestment binds only the employer it was served on, so a new employer deducts nothing until a fresh schedule arrives. What follows you and what does not. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Wage Arrestment Affect Self-Employed People? A schedule is served on an employer, and someone genuinely self-employed has none. That does not put you out of reach, and here is what a creditor uses instead. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Wage Arrestment Affect Your Ability To Get A Bank Account? No. Nine of the largest banks must offer a basic bank account to any UK resident without one, and a poor credit record or an arrestment is not a ground to refuse. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Wage Arrestment Affect Your Credit Score? No. An earnings arrestment is not reported to Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. See which entry behind it a lender does see, and how long each one lasts. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does A Wage Arrestment Expire If The Debt Is Not Paid Off? No. Under section 47(2) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 an earnings arrestment runs until the debt is paid or extinguished, the job ends, or it is recalled. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read