Need some non judgmental ears please - not baby related

[captainshortie]

Hey ladies,

Not baby related but dont know where else to post :/

So i mucked up with my council tax big time and long story short, have ended up with an attachment of earnings order on my wages...

On a positive note im "glad" its getting sorted HOWEVER what happens when I go on maternity with the payments? Because ill obviously be on ALOT less than I am now....

Im just trying to not get too stressed about it (i know its a stressful situation but being 6 months pregnant cant imagine stress is good) i spent all last night proper sobbing about it.
So trying to focus on what little positives there is...
Ive rang the council yesterday when work got the letter and she said theres nothing they can do its up to my payroll department now and will need to wait for them to send me a letter etc.

Ive never dealt with an attachment of earnings before has anyone else? Just obviously not ideal situation with baby due in feb

No direct experiences but sounds like your local CAB might be worth going to for advice? There might be some way round this by pausing the repayments, not sure if you'd have to go back to the judge for that.

If you still have the order itself, have a close read in case it says something about circumstances where you no longer have an income. You technically do on mat leave but it's not the same as a salary.

Please try not to worry so much, you still have a bit of time to sort it.

Hi lovely, I have been in the same position with council tax, arsehole of an ex to blame but that's an entirely different story!! What they actually take is a % of your wage so once you receive maternity pay the payments taken will go down drastically, you should of received the order with a table on the back explaining what they can take from your wage?it's worth digging the paper work out and having a look. I'm glad it's getting sorted it's such a weight off your shoulders

Just one of those cases where you bury your head in the sand :/

Ill have to look for the letter, dont think ive got a copy? Can they send me a new one?
To make matters worse ive moved out of that property last month and now I need to sort out council tax on new property :/ do you think I could still pay the new prop by DD and keep the wage thing seperate? Oh lord literally gunna be brassick all the time

Im so embarresed because my manager knows and he isnt the best person at explaining things and basically told me theyd take the whole wack in one go,
So when I rang the council she said he was wrong to say that and shouldve explained properly.

Do i not get a income and expanditure form to fill in?

I think if you are on SMP only they aren’t allowed to deduct anything from it. If your company pay you over and above SMP then I think they can deduct from it.
Do you know if your company just pay statutory maternity pay ie 90% for 6 weeks followed by £145.18 a week or do they have their own maternity scheme in place?

If you google www.gov.uk/debt-deductions-from-employee-pay/what-counts-as-earnings you will see that they can only deduct a priority or non priority earnings order from contractual maternity pay. If you will only receive statutory maternity pay then you should receive the whole amount. (I work in payroll) by the way :)

I get full pay for 2 months, then after that i get smp, so good to know they wont take out of that, ill have to give council a call and ask them, even tho when I called yday they said its down to my payroll :/