Administration Order

Administration Order - The Facts

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An Administration Order is a legal order made through the court, which covers certain types of debt and allows you to pay these creditors through a single monthly payment to the court. The court then passes the money to your creditors on a pro-rata basis. Creditors covered by the Order will no longer be able to chase you for their debts.

Administration Order - How Much It Costs

There are no up front fees for Administration Orders, but the court will charge you 10p in every pound that you pay to them over the period of your Order. This will be included in the amount you have to pay and is deducted by the court before payments are made to your creditors. For example, if you pay a total of £4,000 to the court over the course of the Order, the court will be keeping 10% of that, which is £400. This is money that does not go to your creditors, so you should always consider whether you can set up an agreement with creditors without an Administration Order first. See the Debt Management Guide for further information.

Administration Order - What Are The Advantages?

The court deals with your creditors for you and they are not allowed to chase you for debts covered by the Order.

You only have one payment to concern yourself with, rather than a lot of different debts, so keeping track on your payments is much simpler.

Any interest charges or penalty payments on your debts should be stopped.

You do not need to pay any up front fees for the Order.

Administration Order - Who Can Apply For One?

To apply for an Administration Order, you must:

Have at least one County Court or High Court judgement against you
you must have at least two debts
your debts must be less than £5,000 in total

Administration Order - How Do You Apply For An Administration Order

To apply for an Administration Order you need to obtain from N92 from your nearest County Court Office, or you can download one from the courts' website here.

You should read the guidance notes (Form N270) to help you complete this form. If you experience difficulties in completing the form, you should seek assistance from your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

When you have submitted your form, the court will get in touch with your creditors to inform them of your application. If any of your creditors wish to object to your application, they have 16 days in which to do so. Reasons for objection may be dissatisfaction with the proposed monthly payment, or disagreement with what you say you owe, or they may just wish to make separate arrangements.

If no objections are received and the court staff are satisfied with the details of your application, an Administration Order should then be made. If there are any objections or problems with your application, then a hearing should be held, where you can make your case to the judge. Creditors who object can also attend to make their views known, and the judge will then make a decision on whether to issue an Administration Order or not based on the evidence presented.

Administration Order - Other Issues

There is no fixed time limit on an Administration Order, so it will end when you have finished paying off all your creditors in full.

Details of the Administration Order will be recorded on your credit reference files for six years from the date the Administration Order is made.

If you do not keep up with your agreed payments, the court can cancel the Administration Order. Should your circumstances change and you feel you can no longer keep up with the payments, you MUST contact the court to ask them to reduce the payments. You can apply to change your payments using form N244, which you can get from the court office.

When you have paid off all your debts under the Administration Order, you can get a 'certificate of satisfaction' from the County Court. There is a small fee to pay for this, currently £15.

Advice On Administration Orders