Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

1. The protected portion — this amount is always left to you

The law guarantees that a certain amount of your wage or benefit is always left for living. It's called the protected portion (suojaosuus), and enforcement may not touch it. In 2026 the protected portion is 33.03 € per day for you and 9.65 € per day for each dependant (a child or a spouse dependent on your support).

Note the pay period: the protected portion is calculated per day, according to the days of the pay period. The calculator above assumes a monthly salary (30 days). If you are paid every two weeks, the protected portion is calculated for 14 days (for example 14 × 33.03 € with no dependants), and attachment is determined by each pay period. You can get the exact amount for your own pay period from your enforcement officer or from the Enforcement Authority's attachment calculator.

2. Payment-free months — who gets them and how many

During a payment-free month (vapaakuukausi), nothing is attached from your wage or pension — the whole net amount comes to your account.

Once the one-year condition is met, the rule that confuses many is really this: the number of payment-free months depends on your income.

If your net income is at most twice your protected portion (so-called income-limit attachment — the calculator above shows your own limit): you get three payment-free months a year automatically, without applying. In addition, on request you can get one payment-free month a year if your housing or living costs are high or there is a special reason for the suspension.

If your income is higher than this (so-called two-thirds or one-third attachment): you get one payment-free month automatically, and you can apply for more on the grounds of high costs or a special reason — at most three a year in total.

Accepted grounds for additional months include high housing or living costs as well as a special reason — for example glasses, a household appliance or a dental bill. Attach a cost estimate or quote to your request (an optician's price estimate is enough). In a special case, if the party seeking enforcement gives consent, at most six payment-free months a year can be granted. An exception in the other direction: if child maintenance is being collected through enforcement, payment-free months are granted only on weighty grounds.

3. Payment plan — the same amount, but you can pay it yourself

In a payment plan (maksusuunnitelma), you pay an agreed amount to enforcement yourself each month, and your wage is not attached directly. Two things are good to know in advance so you're not disappointed:

The amount is the same. The amount paid under a payment plan is at least the same as would otherwise be attached from your wage — a payment plan does not reduce the amount payable, it only changes who remits the money (you yourself instead of the employer).

It is not an automatic right. A payment plan is at the enforcement officer's discretion. They can approve it if you make it credible that you will pay the agreed amount regularly — so your previous payment behaviour and reliability matter. It therefore cannot be demanded, but it is worth proposing.

4. A payment default entry is removed faster than before — but only if you are active yourself

The law changed: a paid debt removes the entry in about a month. But here is the part that disappoints many: the entry does not disappear by itself. The credit information company removes it only once it has received word of the payment — and getting that word through is, in practice, yours to ensure. Here's how it's done:

1. Pay the debt that caused the entry in full according to the creditor's instructions. If you don't know who the debt belongs to, it's stated on your credit report (you can see your own data free once a year: omatieto.fi).

2. Ask the creditor to report the payment to the credit information company. This is the fastest route — but creditors don't always do it on their own initiative, so ask separately and say it's about delivering the payment information (a so-called "ref" entry).

3. If the creditor doesn't handle it, do it yourself: ask the creditor for a written certificate of payment (a balance certificate or receipt) and send it to Asiakastieto (maksutiedot@asiakastieto.fi, preferably encrypted: mail.asiakastieto.fi). Remember the other register too: Finland has two credit information companies, Asiakastieto and Dun & Bradstreet — the information must reach both, or the entry stays hanging in one of them.

4. There's relief for enforcement entries: if you paid the debt directly to enforcement and the reason for ending is stated as "paid", an enforcement certificate from the Enforcement Authority's online service is enough.

5. Finally, check that "Receivable paid" has appeared next to the entry — from that moment removal happens within 30 days, and some enforcement entries are removed immediately.

5. The interest on a payday loan may be illegal

There is a legal cap on the interest of consumer credit. If you have paid unreasonable interest on a payday loan or flexible credit, part of the debt may be uncollectible — and courts have moderated old credits. Don't try to assess this alone. Financial and debt counselling helps map out your overall situation and points you onward, but assessing the legality of a single loan's interest and possibly contesting it usually belongs to a lawyer or to legal aid. If you are on a low income, you can get free or affordable legal aid from a state legal aid office.

6. Debt restructuring — a fresh start if the debts would never be paid off

If your debts are so large that you realistically cannot manage them, the district court can confirm debt restructuring (velkajärjestely): you pay according to your ability for a few years, and the remaining debts are forgiven. This is not a disgrace but a fresh start laid down in law, used by thousands every year. A debt counsellor helps with the application free of charge.

7. If you are dissatisfied with your enforcement officer

You have legal remedies, and it's worth using them in this order:

1. Request self-correction. The enforcement officer can correct their own error — call or write and ask specifically for "self-correction" (itseoikaisu). Calculation and procedural errors are often fixed this way.

2. Contact the leading district bailiff (johtava kihlakunnanvouti). They are the enforcement officers' superior and supervise their work — and can transfer your case to another handler. There is no absolute right to a change, but an informal, businesslike contact with the bailiff is the right route if you feel the treatment has been improper. Contact details are at ulosottolaitos.fi/yhteystiedot.

3. An enforcement appeal to the district court. You can appeal a decision or an enforcement measure — the deadline is three weeks, and the appeal instructions come with the decision. An appeal does not automatically suspend enforcement, but suspension can be requested. This is free when made by the debtor themselves, and a debt counsellor helps assess whether it's worth appealing.

4. A complaint. You can complain about unlawful procedure to the central administration of the Enforcement Authority, and the highest overseers are the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice. A complaint does not change an individual decision (an appeal is needed for that), but it addresses an official's conduct.

Inheritance or life insurance while in enforcement — what is protected and what isn't

• To a named beneficiary the benefit is paid straight into their account — not into the estate. The money becomes the beneficiary's property.
• Inheritance or insurance money that arrives in the account of someone in enforcement can be attached for your own debts like any other assets. Funds in a bank account do, however, have a time-limited exempt amount (beneficium) of roughly one and a half times the protected portion — anything above that can be attached.
• If your debts are smaller than the benefit, only the amount of the debt is attached and the rest stays with you.
• Funeral costs do not have to be paid from this money: they are paid out of the deceased's estate, and if the estate has no funds, you apply for social assistance. The benefit paid to the beneficiary is legally yours, not the estate's.

So what is actually protected from enforcement? Chapter 4, section 19 of the Enforcement Code lists the compensation that is not attached and is not counted when the attachable amount is calculated: compensation for pain, ache and other temporary harm, for permanent harm and for suffering, as well as benefits granted for a specific purpose. These include, for example, compensation for pain and suffering from personal injury and a crime victim's compensation for suffering — not an ordinary life insurance death benefit, which is a one-off asset. (Section 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act concerns attachment of the policy for the debts of the policyholder or spouse while the insured is alive, not the benefit already paid to the beneficiary.)

What NOT to do

Free help — call, even if you don't know what to ask

Financial and debt counselling (talous- ja velkaneuvonta) is a statutory and completely free service for everyone. Contact your area's National Legal Services Authority office on weekdays 9–12, or electronically: oikeuspalveluvirasto.fi. A counsellor maps out your situation and helps with everything mentioned above — and judges no one.

Your own enforcement officer — contact details are in every enforcement letter you receive. Calling never makes your situation worse; payment-free months and payment plans start with exactly that call.