Question 1

Overview

Accepted Answer

Most Child Maintenance Service cases are set up within a month. It can take longer if there’s a problem with contacting the paying parent.

Once your case is set up you:

can manage your case online
need to report any changes to your circumstances, for example changes to your employment, benefits or the people who live with you
can ask someone else to deal with your Child Maintenance Service case for you

When payments start

The first payment is usually made within 6 weeks of making payment arrangements (if the contact details for the paying parent are known).

Question 2

How to pay

Accepted Answer

Child maintenance can be paid:

between parents
directly from the paying parent’s earnings - arranged with their employer
by Direct Debit
by reducing the paying parent’s benefits

Payments are paid into the receiving parent’s bank account.

The receiving parent has main day-to-day care of the child. The paying parent does not have main day-to-day care.

Contact the Child Maintenance Service if you’re having problems paying.

If you can agree on making payments

Once the Child Maintenance Service has worked out an amount, you can make the payments yourself (if you both agree).

This is called Direct Pay.

The easiest way to pay is by standing order - payments go direct from the paying parent’s bank, building society or Post Office account into the receiving parent’s account.

The Child Maintenance Service can still enforce missed payments. Keep a record of payments in case there are any problems in the future.

Either parent can choose Direct Pay without needing the other’s consent, unless there’s evidence that the paying parent is unlikely to pay.

When payments are managed for you

If you’re using the Child Maintenance Service to collect and pass on payments, they’ll arrange this based on when the paying parent is paid their wages, pension or benefits.

This is called Collect and Pay.

You must tell the Child Maintenance Service about any Direct Pay transactions you make or receive while you’re signed up to the Collect and Pay service.

Collection fees

You have to pay a fee each time you make or receive a regular child maintenance payment. The fee is:

20% (which is added to the payment) for paying parents
4% (which is taken off the payment) for receiving parents

You cannot avoid collection fees by making payments in advance.

You will not have to pay:

any fees if you choose a private arrangement
collection fees if you use Direct Pay

Collection and payment schedules

If you’re the paying parent you’ll be sent a letter explaining how much you need to pay and when. This is called a payment plan.

If you’re the receiving parent, you’ll be sent a letter telling you what payments will be made and when. This is called an expected payment plan.

Paying off child maintenance arrears

If you’re a paying parent and you’ve missed paying child maintenance you’ll usually be asked to pay the full amount you owe straight away.

You can pay:

with a credit or debit card
through your bank

In some circumstances, you might be able to agree with the service managing your application to pay the arrears in instalments.

The Child Maintenance Service will take action if child maintenance is not being paid.

Question 3

If a parent does not pay

Accepted Answer

The Child Maintenance Service will take action if child maintenance is not paid.

When a payment is missed, the paying parent will be contacted to:

find out why they have not paid
arrange for them to pay what they owe
warn them about action that might be taken if they do not pay

If the paying parent does not respond, the Child Maintenance Service will take action to get the child maintenance owed.

Enforcement charges

Action taken by the Child Maintenance Service	Charge
Liability order	£300
Lump sum deduction order	£200
Regular deduction order	£50
Deduction from earnings request or order	£50

What action is taken

The Child Maintenance Service will take action immediately if the paying parent pays through them.

If the paying parent used the Child Maintenance Service to calculate child maintenance but pays directly, the receiving parent needs to ask the service to take action.

Unpaid child maintenance can be collected in 3 different ways.

Take money from a paying parent’s earnings or benefits

The paying parent’s employer is told how much to take from their wages. If the employer does not pass on the money the service can take them to court.

If the paying parent gets benefits, a State Pension or a War Pension, the amount owed can usually be taken from these payments.

Take money from a bank or building society account

The Child Maintenance Service does not need permission to do this. They can tell the bank or building society to take either regular or one-off payments.

Take court action

A paying parent can be taken to court over unpaid child maintenance. Things the courts can do include:

sending bailiffs (Sheriff Officers in Scotland) to a paying parent’s home to take and sell their belongings to get the child maintenance owed
sending a paying parent to prison
collecting money that’s owed to the paying parent by someone else and using this to pay the child maintenance owed
forcing the sale of a property and using the money to pay the child maintenance owed

If a paying parent tries to avoid paying by selling property or transferring it to someone else, the service managing their case can ask the courts to stop them.

The service can also ask the courts to reverse any sale or transfer that’s already happened.

If action is taken through the courts, the paying parent may have to pay the service’s legal costs as well as their own.

Question 4

Changes you need to report

Accepted Answer

There are some changes you must tell the Child Maintenance Service about by law.

Either parent

Either parent should tell the Child Maintenance Service if the paying parent’s income changes by 25% or more.

You also need to tell the Child Maintenance Service if:

you want to close your case
you want to change from using a payment collection service to a Direct Pay service, or the other way around
there’s a change to the number of nights a child stays with the paying parent - known as ‘shared care’

Paying parent

You must report if you:

move house (give your new address within 7 days of moving)
start or stop getting benefits
change your phone number (including mobile number)
start or stop working for an employer
start or stop being self-employed
become unemployed

If you pay child maintenance through deductions in your earnings and you leave your job, you must tell the Child Maintenance Service:

the date you left your last job
the name and address of your new employer (if any)
how much you expect to earn
your new payroll number (if any)

You should also report details about children who you or your partner have registered for Child Benefit, for example:

any changes to the number of children living with you
if any child living with you reaches the age of 20

Receiving parent

You must report if there’s a change to the number of:

children living with you that you get child maintenance for
children that you or your partner have registered for Child Benefit
nights a child regularly stays overnight with the paying parent

You must also tell the Child Maintenance Service if:

a child you get child maintenance for leaves full-time education (up to and including A Level) or reaches the age of 20
you or any of the children you get child maintenance for no longer live in the UK
you find out that the paying parent is coming off benefits
you’re moving house or know that the other parent is
your phone number (including mobile number) changes

When you report a change

Depending on the change, some examples of information you’ll need when you call are:

employers’ details or payslips
benefits information
tax return or what you think you’ll earn if you’re self-employed

If you do not give the right information

You could be taken to court and fined up to £1,000 if you:

do not give the information you are asked for
give information that you know is false

This applies to any person or organisation who, by law, must give the Child Maintenance Service information, for example:

employers
accountants
either parent

When changes could affect your payments

Changes to your circumstances may mean a change to the amount of child maintenance you pay or receive.

You can find out how child maintenance is worked out.

Question 5

Disagreements about parentage

Accepted Answer

When someone denies they’re the parent of a child, the Child Maintenance Service will:

ask them for evidence proving they’re not the parent
tell the other parent what’s happened and ask for evidence to prove parentage

If there’s no evidence to prove they’re not the parent, the Child Maintenance Service can:

ask both parents to take a DNA test
ask the courts to make a decision

Assumed parentage

The Child Maintenance Service can assume parentage if the person named as the parent:

was married to the child’s mother at any time between the conception and birth of the child (unless the child was adopted)
is named on the child’s birth certificate (unless the child was adopted)
has taken a DNA test that shows they’re the parent
has legally adopted the child
is named in a court order as the parent when the child was born to a surrogate mother

If parentage is assumed, they’ll work out a child maintenance amount. The person named as the parent has to pay this until they can prove that they’re not the parent.

Paying child maintenance during a disagreement

When a child maintenance amount has already been worked out, the person named as the parent has to pay until they can provide evidence they’re not the parent.

When the amount has not been worked out, the service managing the case will not work it out or ask for payment until the disagreement has been sorted out.

If the person is found to be the parent, the amount of child maintenance they have to pay will be back-dated.

Named person proves they’re not the parent

When this happens, the Child Maintenance Service may:

refund any payments made after the date they first denied they were the parent, or offset the amount against maintenance for another child
refund the cost of any DNA tests arranged through the service

They may also ask the other parent to pay back any child maintenance.

Refunds depend on the circumstances of each case.

Question 6

Complaints and appeals

Accepted Answer

Contact the Child Maintenance Service if you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received.

If you’re still not satisfied

The office managing your case will contact the Complaints Resolution Team.

They’ll try to sort out your complaint within 15 working days.

If they think it may take longer than this, they’ll keep you updated and agree a timetable with you.

If you’re not satisfied with how the Complaints Resolution Team deals with your complaint you can ask the Complaints Review Team to look at it.

Independent Case Examiner

You can ask the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) to look into your complaint if you’ve already been through the full complaints process.

You must not contact the Independent Case Examiner until you’ve received a final response from the Child Maintenance Service saying you can do so.

If you’re unhappy with the response from the Independent Case Examiner, you can ask your MP to get the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to look into it.

If your complaint is valid

The Child Maintenance Service will:

apologise and explain what went wrong
make any changes needed to put it right

If you’ve been treated particularly badly, you may get a consolatory payment. However, you do not have a legal right to this.

Appeals

You can appeal a child maintenance decision about payment amounts.

Before you can appeal, you must contact the Child Maintenance Service to ask for the decision to be looked at again. This is called ‘mandatory reconsideration’. You’ll need to say why you disagree with the decision.

If you’re unhappy with the outcome of the mandatory reconsideration, you can appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal. The tribunal is impartial and independent of government.

Appeal to the tribunal within one month of getting the mandatory reconsideration decision. If you submit your appeal after a month you’ll have to explain why you did not do it earlier.

Download and fill in form SSCS2 and send it to the address on the form.

You’ll need to choose whether you want to go to the tribunal hearing to explain your case. If you do not attend, your appeal will be decided on your appeal form and any supporting evidence.

After you submit your appeal, you can provide evidence. Your appeal and the evidence will be discussed at a hearing by a judge and one or two experts. The judge will then make a decision.

It usually takes around 6 months for your appeal to be heard by the tribunal.

Question 7

Contact

Accepted Answer

Call the telephone number you were given over the phone if you’ve recently applied to the Child Maintenance Service. You can also find the number:

in your welcome pack
at the top of any letter from the Child Maintenance Service

There are different contact details if you live in Northern Ireland.

Employer helplines

Get help from the Employer Support Team if you need to make child maintenance deductions from an employee’s pay. You’ll find the number:

in your employer welcome pack
at the top of any letter from the Child Maintenance Service

Manage your Child Maintenance Service case

Overview

When payments start

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Manage your Child Maintenance Service case

Overview

When payments start

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