A P-account (Pfändungsschutzkonto) – What should you do if your account is attached?
Are you in debt? And you don’t have enough money to pay off these debts!?
Then your account may be attached!
Warning!
Your account could also be attached even if
- only citizen’s income, social security benefits, housing benefit or child benefits are paid into your account
- if your wages have already been attached
Important:
If you only have an „ordinary“ current bank account, nothing in your account is protected. After one month, your bank is obliged to transfer the entire balance to the creditor who has attached the account! This also applies to all benefits that in principle cannot be attached, such as citizen’s income, social security benefits, housing benefit and child benefit!
You can only protect your income if it is in an attachment protection account (in German Pfändungsschutzkonto or P-Konto for short)!
What should I do if I expect my account to be attached?
Convert your ordinary account into a P-account. This is your right!
If you have a P-account, you are automatically protected against attachment to the extent outlined below. You must apply to your bank to have your account converted into a P-account. You can keep the same account number and the bank charges stay the same. You can also continue to use all the previous functions.
Exceptions:
- A P-account is always a credit account. You cannot overdraw.
- A P-account is always an individual account. If you have an account jointly with another person, you must therefore hold 2 accounts.
- You may only have one P-account.
You can convert your account into a P-account even if it is overdrawn („in the red“). However, the debts owed to your bank remain.
My account is not a P-account and is being attached. What can I do?
Your account will be blocked. Your bank cannot pay out any money to you, make any transfers or pay standing orders. But your money does not disappear immediately! The bank is obliged to wait for one month to see if you convert your account into a P-account during this time. It is therefore essential that you go to your bank immediately and apply for the conversion. The bank must set up the P-account within a maximum of 3 working days.
After this you are protected against attachment and only then can you withdraw money again.
Tip:
Tell the bank employee at the counter that you need to apply for a P-account immediately. Do not agree to an appointment in a few days.
If you have an online account, there is an online form for setting up a P-account.
What is protected on my P-account – i.e. cannot be attached?
- The protected basic allowance
If the P-account is attached, € 1,500 is currently automatically protected, i.e. cannot be attached (basic allowance).
If a lower amount is paid into the account per month, only this (lower) amount can be paid out. You are also entitled to the basic allowance even after the account has been attached, e.g. you can also make transfers and direct debits. The type of income (wages, social benefits, tax refunds, etc.) and the time of receipt of payment are irrelevant.
Note: The basic allowance changes every year on 1 July.
- Higher basic allowance for maintenance obligations
The basic allowance granted automatically can be increased if
- you live together with your husband or wife
- you live together with your children
- you pay maintenance or
- benefits for third parties (e.g. partner, stepchild) are paid into your account. However, this only applies if you receive citizen’s income, social security benefits or asylum seeker benefits.
In this case, the following allowances apply:
- € 2,061.43 if you have 1 maintenance obligation
- € 2,374.21 if you have 2 maintenance obligations
- € 2,686.99 if you have 3 maintenance obligations
- €2,999.77 if you have 4 maintenance obligations
- € 3,312.55 if you have 5 or more maintenance obligations
These allowances do not apply automatically. You have to present some form of confirmation (see below)
In addition, the following payments may be declared as exempt from attachment:
- Child benefit
- One-off social benefits from the job centre or the social welfare office
g. initial purchases for a home, baby etc. or subsidies for school trips as well as a range of other benefits - individual illness/disability benefits, e.g. care allowance, allowance for the blind and similar benefits
- regular benefits from the job centre or the social welfare office, if these are higher than the basic allowance or any higher allowance granted
- assistance from the German “Mother and Child” foundation (Bundesstiftung Mutter und Kind”) as well as other assistance
- back payments from the job centre or social welfare office in full
- regular payments from the job centre or social welfare office that are higher than the certified allowance
- back payments of other social benefits (e.g. pension, unemployment benefit) or back wages up to a maximum amount of € 500.
You should send the certificate to your bank immediately. Your bank may require a new certificate every year.
Example:
Ms A. and Mr B. live together. Ms A’s 10-year-old child also lives in the household. The family lives on € 1,200 salary, € 250 child benefit and € 885 citizen’s income from the job centre. All payments are paid into Ms A.’s account, which has now been attached. A total of € 2,335 is paid into the account every month. Ms A. can apply for a certificate confirming 2 maintenance obligations, i.e. € 2,374.21. Once the bank has received the certificate, the income cannot be attached. If the job centre makes a back-payment, this amount can also be declared exempt.
An amount of € 2,374.12 + € 400 back payment = € 2,774.12 is declared as exempt for Ms A. and Mr B.
You can find a sample certificate at
www.schuldnerberatung-hessen.de/infoblaetter/p-konto_bescheinigung.pdf
Who issues the certificate?
Debt counselling centres, insolvency offices, law firms, social benefit agencies and employers can issue certificates.
If you cannot find anyone to issue the certificate locally, go directly to the enforcing court (local court in your area). The local court will set the higher allowance. However, they will also want to know where you previously applied for a certificate without success.
However, if a public creditor (e.g. tax office or town treasury) attaches your account, you must contact their local office (not your local enforcement court) to obtain a certificate.
What do you need in order to apply for a certificate / exemption?
Please bring the following documents with you:
- Proof of who lives in your household,
- Identity cards, family records (birth, marriage certificates etc. In Germany: the “Familienstammbuch”)
- If you pay maintenance for someone outside your household: Proof that you have to pay maintenance and evidence of maintenance payments actually made (e.g. bank statements, receipts)
- Proof of receipt of child benefit (e.g. bank statement)
- Benefit notices for regular social benefits (e.g. citizen’s income, social security benefits)
- Benefit notifications for one-off social benefits (e.g. subsidies for school trips, startup equipment)
- Proof of back-payments
- Attachment protection for higher incomes
You have no maintenance obligations: Your income is higher than the basic allowance
or
you have maintenance obligations and your income is higher than the higher basic allowance.
You can then apply for a higher tax-free amount to be left to you.
Example:
Ms D. is single person and earns € 1,800. Her wages have not been attached. If this amount is paid into Ms D.’s P-account, the bank may only pay out the basic allowance of €1,500. The remainder of € 300 can be attached. Ms D. can then apply to have only as much attached from her account as would be attached from her wages. The wage attachment table applies in this case and € 215.78 of her wages would be subject to attachment.
If Ms D’s wages have already been attached, only the part not attached will be paid into her account. Ms D. can then apply for no other amounts in the account to be attached. In this case she must file an application with the local court
However, the following also applies in this case: If a public creditor attaches the account, the application must be sent to the court in the jurisdiction of this creditor (e.g.: attachment by the tax office).
For additional information, see „Info sheet 5 – Attachment of income“ at www.infoblaetter-schuldnerberatung.de
You can also apply for special attachment protection if you have regular high expenses, e.g. high travelling costs to work or medical expenses.
Tip: Help is often needed here. Contact a local debt counselling centre, if necessary.
What happens if my account is overdrawn?
Can my bank withhold money or debit a loan instalment?
In principle, your bank may withhold money if the overdraft facility (overdraft) has been cancelled and you do not have a P-account.
However, if you apply for a conversion to a P-account, your bank must pay out to you the part of your income that cannot be attached (i.e. the basic allowance or the confirmed higher allowance).
If you have authorised the bank to debit the loan instalment, you can revoke this authorisation. The bank may then no longer debit the loan instalment from your account.
Transfer to the following month
If you have not withdrawn or transferred the part of your income that has not been attached by the end of the month, the remainder will not be automatically attached. The remaining amount of money can be carried over into the following month three times and you can withdraw or transfer this in addition to the protected or higher basic allowance. In the third month, you must have spent at least the amount carried forward. The bank must then transfer the amount to the attaching creditor.
Tip: This is a complicated rule. If you want to make things easier for yourself, withdraw the entire balance that has not been attached at the end of each month.
Does the P-account cost more than my previous account?
No. Your bank is not allowed to increase the bank charges! The courts have made a clear ruling on this.