Confiscation Orders: How They Work and How Long They Last

A confiscation order is a Crown Court order, made after a conviction under Part 2 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), requiring you to pay the state a sum representing what the court finds you gained from crime. It is enforced like a fine: if you do not pay, you can be sent to prison, and the debt survives your release.

Key points

• A confiscation order has no expiry date. It lasts until it is paid in full or the court discharges it.
• You normally have up to three months to pay, extendable to six months at most.
• Unpaid sums carry interest at 8% a year.
• Serving the prison term in default does not wipe out the debt.

The prosecution can ask the court to increase the order if you later acquire assets, with no time limit, up to the full figure the court found you benefited.

Most of Schedule 21 to the Crime and Policing Act 2026 came into force on 29 June 2026 and changed confiscation significantly; much of what is online predates it.

If the prosecution has served, or is about to serve, a statement of information on you, the deadline for your response matters. Speak to a confiscation solicitor before you reply; your first conversation with us is free and confidential.

What is a confiscation order?

The court considers confiscation when you are convicted in, or committed to, the Crown Court and either the prosecutor asks for it, or the court decides it is appropriate (POCA section 6). It is most common in fraud, money laundering and drug supply cases, but can follow any offence you are are alleged to have benefited from.

Since 29 June 2026, everyone exercising these powers must pursue one "principal objective": to deprive you of your benefit from crime, so far as within your means (section 5A). The aim is to take what you gained and can actually pay, not to impose figures nobody could meet.

It is separate from a restraint order, which freezes assets during a case; confiscation decides how much you must pay. For cash and account seizures outside a trial, see our page on cash and asset forfeiture.

How the court calculates the amount

The court answers three questions: did you benefit, by how much, and how much can you actually pay?

Benefit: particular criminal conduct or criminal lifestyle

Without a "criminal lifestyle" finding, the court only looks at your benefit from the offences you were convicted of. With one, it looks at your "general criminal conduct" and must assume that property you received or spent in the six years before proceedings began, and property you held after conviction, came from crime (section 10).

You have a criminal lifestyle if one of three tests applies (section 75):

1. You were convicted of an offence listed in Schedule 2 to POCA, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, people trafficking or directing terrorism.
2. The offence was part of a "course of criminal activity": you were convicted of two or more other benefit-producing offences in the same proceedings, or on at least two separate occasions in the previous six years, and the relevant benefit was at least £5,000.
3. The offence was committed over at least six months, and you benefited by at least £5,000.

Two 2026 changes help defendants. The court now decides the lifestyle question only if the prosecutor asks it to. And when you argue an assumption would cause a "serious risk of injustice", the court must weigh your explanation for being unable to produce the documents that would disprove it (section 10(6A)), which matters where records were lost or never kept.

The available amount, tainted gifts and hidden property

The "recoverable amount" is the lower of your benefit and your "available amount": everything you hold, less certain prior obligations, plus "tainted gifts" (property given away for significantly less than its value). Since June 2026, the court must also add property it considers you have hidden (section 9A), after considering innocent explanations such as money spent or assets falling in value.

Who has to prove what

The prosecution must prove your benefit on the balance of probabilities. If the lifestyle assumptions apply, it is for you to show they are wrong. If you say you cannot pay the full benefit figure, you must show the court that your available amount is lower. Otherwise, the order is made for the full benefit. Even then, an order is only made to the extent it is not disproportionate.

The confiscation process, step by step

1. Timetable. If the court sentences you before dealing with confiscation, it must set a confiscation timetable at the sentencing hearing (section 15A). The old two-year "postponement" rule has been replaced.
2. Statement of information. The prosecutor serves a statement setting out your alleged benefit and assets, and whether it is asking for a lifestyle finding (section 16).
3. Your response. The court orders you to say which allegations you accept and to give details of your case on the rest. If you fail to respond, you can be treated as accepting every allegation about your assets (section 17). This is where most avoidable damage is done.
4. Early resolution meeting. The court can direct an "early resolution of confiscation" (EROC) meeting, where the prosecutor and your lawyers try to agree the figures or narrow the disputes (section 15B). If there is no agreement, an EROC hearing follows (section 15C).
5. Confiscation hearing. The judge hears evidence from both sides, decides benefit and the available amount, and makes the order.
6. After the order. Where confiscation followed sentence, any fine, compensation or surcharge is added within 56 days.

We have seen CPS and HMRC figures of several hundred thousand pounds reduced to little or nothing by challenging the benefit calculation and the assets attributed to our clients. Talk to our serious fraud team before your response is due.

How long does a confiscation order last?

A confiscation order has no time limit. It lasts until the full amount, plus any interest, is paid or the court discharges it, and it stays enforceable even after you have served a prison term for not paying.

Time to pay

The full amount is due on the day the order is made, unless the court is satisfied you cannot pay immediately. It can then allow up to three months. If, despite making all reasonable efforts, you still cannot pay, you can apply to extend this, but never beyond six months from the date of the order (section 11).

Interest

Unpaid sums carry interest at the civil judgment debt rate, currently 8% a year (section 12): £20,000 a year on £250,000.

Can the prosecution come back for more?

Yes, in two ways, and the time limits differ:

• Your benefit. If new evidence emerges, the prosecutor can ask the court to recalculate your benefit, but only within six years of your conviction (section 21).
• Your available amount. If you later come into money through an inheritance, a business or even a lottery win, the prosecutor can apply for a new calculation of what you can pay at any time, with no limit. The court can increase the order to whatever it considers just, up to the benefit figure (section 22). For example, if your benefit was £500,000 but you could only pay £250,000 when the order was made, you remain exposed to the other £250,000 for the rest of your life.

What happens if you can't pay?

The court fixes a prison term in default when it makes the order. The maximum depends on the amount (section 35):

The default term is served after any prison sentence for the offence itself (section 38(2)), and serving it does not end the order: the money can still be recovered from your assets afterwards (section 38(5)). The Magistrates' Court enforces the order, and enforcement can include bailiffs, attachment of earnings and the appointment of an enforcement receiver.

If your assets prove to be worth less than the court assumed, for example, a property sells below its valuation, you can apply to reduce the order (section 23). Small balances can be discharged: under £1,000 where the shortfall arises for specified reasons, and £50 or less at the court's discretion (sections 24 and 25).

Some 2026 reforms, including new rules on default terms, enforcement plans and "provisional discharge" of orders, have not yet been brought into force.

Can you appeal or challenge a confiscation order?

You can appeal to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), normally within 28 days of the order, if the judge got the law or the calculation wrong: typically how benefit was calculated, whether assumptions should have been made, or whether the order was disproportionate. It is far better to win the argument before the order, at the response and EROC stages.

Confiscation order FAQs

Can a confiscation order take my house?

Yes, if you have an interest in it. The court counts your share of the equity as part of your available amount, even if the house was bought with legitimate money. Where a partner or relative also claims an interest, the court can decide the extent of each person's share before making the order.

Do I still have to pay after serving the default prison term?

Yes. Serving the default term does not stop the order from being enforced against your assets by other means (section 38(5)).

How long does proceeds of crime last?

For as long as the confiscation order is unpaid. The prosecution can seek more money at any time if you acquire new assets, and can re-examine your benefit for six years after conviction.

Can the CPS take legitimately earned money?

Yes. A confiscation order is a debt, not a seizure of specific criminal proceeds. Once the recoverable amount is fixed, it can be paid from any assets you hold, however you obtained them.

Is legal aid available for confiscation proceedings?

In many cases, yes. Confiscation is part of the Crown Court criminal proceedings, so legal aid may cover it, subject to the means test. We also offer a fixed private fee service. See Do I qualify for criminal legal aid?

Talk to a confiscation solicitor

Confiscation cases are won on detail: bank records, valuations, third-party interests and the lifestyle assumptions, and many defence firms rarely handle them.

JD Spicer Zeb is Law Society accredited in criminal litigation, with more than 45 years of criminal defence experience, including confiscation arising from money laundering, fraud and drug supply.

Contact us today:

• London Central - Head Office: 020 7624 7771
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• Birmingham Office: 0121 614 3333

Or email: solicitors@jdspicer.co.uk

Alternatively, you can fill out our quick online enquiry form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

James O'Donnell, Partner, leads our serious cases and appeals work. JD Spicer Zeb is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA no. 55671. Call 020 7624 7771, or 07836 577 556 out of hours, or send us a confidential enquiry.

This guide explains the law in England and Wales. Scotland has its own confiscation regime under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Part 3. It is general information, not legal advice on your case.