Wednesday, October 6th, 2021
Better protection New rules for the garnishment protection account
Heavily indebted – and an account attachment is pending? Then the current account should become a P account as soon as possible. New rules will apply from December.
Buy groceries by bank card, transfer rent, mobile phone bill settle: All of this and much more often goes through the checking account. But those who are heavily in debt must expect the account to be seized.
So that those affected still have the opportunity to withdraw or transfer money, they have to give it to them Convert current account into a garnishment protection account – P-account for short. New rules will apply from December 1, 2021. Important questions and answers:
What is the P-account about?
“A P-Account enables the holder or the The owner can still dispose of a certain amount freely, “says Sally Peters. She is managing director at the Institute for Financial Services (iff) in Hamburg. A certain amount is therefore protected from attachment month after month. For the P account, the exemption is called, it deviates slightly from the garnishment exemption for the garnishment of wages.
How high are the seizure exemption limits?
The basic amount is currently 1252.64 Euros (from December 1: 1260 euros on the P account). “Anyone who converts their account automatically has it,” says Peters. The amount can be increased with a so-called P-account certificate, for example if you have maintenance obligations. In special cases or with a higher income it can happen, according to Peters, that the competent enforcement court or the competent enforcement authority sets the amount individually is or receives social benefits for these, usually has an allowance currently of 1724.08 euros per month, from December 1 of 1731.44 euros per month, “says Pamela Wellmann from the consumer advice center in North Rhine-Westphalia in Düsseldorf. The amount of the exemption increases with each additional person to whom there is a maintenance obligation.
From December it is planned, among other things, to expand the savings options on the P-account. What exactly does that look like?
It happens that account holders have protected credit from the Do not use up all of the monthly allowance. “You can now carry over your credit for three months to the next month,” says Sally Peters. So far this was only allowed for one month. With the new rule, the legislator wants to make it possible to save even for larger purchases.
Which there are further innovations in the P-account from December?
“A whole series” says Pamela Wellmann. For example, the legislature has made it clear that a bank must convert a current account into a P-account even if the current account is in the red. “The negative balance will then have to be kept in a separate account in future,” says Wellmann. In addition, the exemption will be adjusted annually in future – and no longer every two years as before.
What about joint accounts?
In general, it is only possible to use the P To keep the account as an individual account and to protect credit accordingly. “The garnishment of a joint account currently often leads to financial problems for the account holder concerned,” says Wellmann request the bank to transfer the credit according to headers to individual accounts. Provided that these are private individuals and not associations or companies.
Debtors must now apply for their individual account to be converted into a P-account so that they can benefit from the seizure exemption limit. “The accounts of the non-debtors are not subject to any seizure restrictions,” explains Wellmann.
The account cannot be seized – what is it about?
Upon request, the enforcement court can determine that the entire balance on the account cannot be seized. For this purpose, debtors must make it credible that no attachable income is to be expected in the future. “That can be the case with social pensioners, for example,” says Wellmann. In future, it will only have to be made credible for six months – and no longer for twelve months as before – that no attachable income is to be expected.
What about back payments?
Those who apply for benefits such as a pension or child benefit are not infrequently approved with a delay – i.e. with additional payments. The amount then paid out for several months can, if it flows into a P-account, often exceed the tax exemption stored there.
So that this money does not end up with creditors, In the future, part of these payments can be exempted via a certificate. “The money is available to the debtors concerned at short notice, without the need to consult a court, as has always been the case in the past,” says Wellmann. In certain cases you still have to go to court, especially in the case of pensions.
What is Is there anything else important?
“In the future, the bank has a duty to inform, debtors about to inform the still available balance – that is, not covered by the attachment, “says Sally Peters. Your tip: In the event of a garnishment, the account can be converted retrospectively into a P-account for four weeks. “So even in the case of an attachment it is not too late.”
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