Changes to the payment-free months granted to debtors coming into effect on 1 May

Changes to the payment-free months granted in the garnishment of recurring income will come into effect on 1 May 2023. The change will apply to an estimated 100,000 individuals and will cause congestion in National Enforcement Authority Finland’s customer service as well as increase the processing time of payment-free month applications. National Enforcement Authority Finland will strive to improve the efficiency of payment-free month application processing in order to clear the backlog.

Payment-free months are granted both automatically and on a discretionary basis. There is no need to apply for payment-free months granted automatically ex officio.

Payment-free months from the garnishment of recurring income can only be granted once the garnishment has been on-going for an uninterrupted or nearly uninterrupted period of 12 months.

Applications received on or after 1 May 2023 will be processed according to the new Act.

Changes to payment-free months granted automatically

Payment-free months included in income limit garnishment

• The number of payment-free months granted to debtors in income limit garnishment will increase to three months per 12-month period from the previous limit of two months.
• Income limit garnishment means that the debtor’s income exceeds the protected portion but is no more than two times the protected portion. In 2023, the protected portion for the debtor themself is 922.50 euros per month.

Payment-free months included in one-third garnishment

• According to the amendment, also debtors subject to a one-third (1/3) garnishment of their income will be automatically granted one payment-free month per 12-month period.
• One third of a debtor’s income is garnished if the income is more than two times but no more than four times the protected portion (922.50 euros).

Changes to payment-free months granted by application

On the grounds provided in the Enforcement Code, debtors in income limit garnishment may also be granted one further payment-free month per 12-month period upon application.

On the grounds provided in the Enforcement Code, debtors in one-third garnishment may also be granted two payment-free months per 12-month period upon application.

No other changes will be made to the granting of free months.

Application instructions for payment-free months

Please note that some payment-free months are granted automatically, and your application will only apply to discretionary payment-free months.

To expedite processing, we ask you to submit your application through the electronic enforcement service .

You can use the prohibition on payments calculator to calculate the protected portion of your income, among other things.