The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) can take money from your monthly universal credit (UC) payment for magistrates court fines.

You may get a letter called a fixed penalty notice (FPN) telling you about a court fine, or there may be a hearing at the magistrates court.

When you could get a magistrates court fine

You might get a court fine for things like:

• a driving offence

• not paying a fixed penalty notice

• not having a television licence

• some other criminal offences

See Citizens Advice: Paying a court fine.

What happens when you get a fine

The court sends you a document called a 'collection order'.

The collection order says how much you have to pay. This is the court fine plus any costs or compensation.

The collection order tells you if the court made a 'deduction from benefits order'. This means money will be taken off your UC to pay the fine.

Table: Court fine deductions from April 2024

Amounts in this table are rounded to the nearest pound.

Court fines are treated as a lower priority than some other deductions.

The DWP might not make deductions for a court fine if you already have money taken off for a UC advance, rent arrears or unpaid gas, electricity or council tax.

Up to 3 different third party debts can be taken at a time.

There are limits on how much can be taken in total each month.

If you cannot afford the deductions

You cannot ask the DWP to reduce the deduction for a court fine.

But you could ask for other deductions to be reduced if you cannot afford things like rent, important bills and food.

Call the UC helpline on 0800 328 5644 to discuss lower deductions for:

• UC advances

• budgeting advances

• rent arrears

Call DWP debt management on 0800 916 0647 to discuss lower deductions for:

• budgeting loans

• benefit or tax credit overpayments

You might have to show you cannot afford the deductions.

A debt adviser can help you make a budget sheet or look at other ways to pay off debts.

Ask for a review

You can ask for a review if you think the DWP has made a mistake about deductions.

The review is called a 'mandatory reconsideration'.

Citizens Advice explain how to ask for a review.