Taking benefit overpayments from your pay

A Direct Earnings Attachment is when we ask an employer to deduct money from your pay.

If you haven't paid back your overpayment or set up a payment plan, we might set a Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) up.

You and your employer will get a letter from us if we plan to do this.

The tables below show how much we'll take based on your weekly or monthly pay, after deductions like tax and National Insurance.

Weekly DEA percentages of pay
Weekly take home pay Percentage we'll take
£100 to £160 3%
£160 to £220 5%
£220 to £270 7%
£270 to £375 11%
£375 to £520 15%
More than £520 20%
Monthly DEA percentages of pay
Monthly take home pay Percentage we'll take
£430 to £690 3%
£690 to £950 5%
£950 to £1,160 7%
£1,160 to £1,615 11%
£1,615 to £2,240 15%
More than £2,240 20%

If you earn less than £100 a week or £430 a month, the minimum deduction we take is £10 per week.

How the pay will be taken

Your employer will work out how much you need to pay based on the percentages and send the payments to us.

They'll also need to complete a DEA payments schedule, which is available to download, complete and return to us by email: