What is an Administration Order?

It is a mistake to think the courts are only there to help creditors. If you are having problems keeping up with monthly payments to your debts, you may be able to ask the County Court for an administration order.

Administration order would group all your debts together and lay down how much you can afford to pay towards them all each month. You would make just one monthly payment to the court, which would then pay each creditor an agreed amount. The court would also take a small percentage of the money to cover costs.

As long as you kept up the repayments laid down in the administration order:
· all interest on debts would be frozen,
· you should not get any letters or phone calls from the creditors included in it,
· your creditors would not be able to take any action against you without court permission, and
· you should not get any more visits from debt collectors.

If everything went as planed, the Administration Order would run until all the debts are paid off*, although you (or your creditors) would be able to ask for the repayment to be reviewed if your financial situation changed.

Do l qualify for an Administration Order?

Administration orders are only available to people who:
· Have at least two creditors,
· Have at least one County or High Court Judgement against them, and
· Owe less than £5000.

If you think you qualify, you can ask your County Court for form N92. If you would like more information about Administration Orders, or you are not sure it’s the best way for you to manage your debts, talk to a debt advisor.

· * If the court thinks it would take too long to repay your debt, you may be granted a Composition Order, a special kind of Administration Order which means you will make payments for a fixed period (normally 3 years), after which the outstanding debt will be written off.