The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

Attachment of debt due to judgment debtor

Rule 1—(1) Where a person (in this Order called “ the judgment creditor”) has obtained in a county court a judgment or order for the payment of a sum of money amounting in value to at least £50 by some other person (“the judgment debtor”) and any person within England and Wales (“the garnishee”) is indebted to the judgment debtor, that court may, subject to the provisions of this Order and of any enactment, order the garnishee to pay the judgment creditor the amount of any debt due or accruing due from the garnishee to the judgment debtor or so much thereof as is sufficient to satisfy the judgment or order against the judgment debtor and the costs of the garnishee proceedings.

(2) An order under this rule shall in the first instance be an order to show cause, specifying the place and time for the further consideration of the matter (in this Order called “the return day”) and in the meantime attaching the debt due or accruing due from the garnishee or so much of it as is sufficient for the purpose aforesaid.

(3) Among the conditions mentioned in section 108 (3) of the Act (which enables any sum standing to the credit of a person in certain types of account to be attached notwithstanding that certain conditions applicable to the account in question have not been satisfied) there shall be included any condition that a receipt for money deposited in the account must be produced before any money is withdrawn.

(5) An order under this rule shall not require a payment which would reduce below £1 the amount standing in the name of the judgment debtor in an account with a building society or a credit union.