Making arrangements for child maintenance - full version

February 2009

What are the options for making arrangements for maintenance?

Come to an agreement between yourself and the other parent

Advantages

Reaching an agreement avoids conflict and makes it more likely that the maintenance will be paid.
You can make an agreement to suit you – for example, agreeing a mixture of regular payments plus lump sums for certain items, or ‘payments in kind’ such as for school uniforms. Sometimes you may be able to negotiate more than you could get through the CSA.
You can start to receive payments straight away.
You can still apply to the CSA later if things do not work out (see below).

Disadvantages

You both need to be able to negotiate the amount that has to be paid. You will each have to consider what the non-resident parent can afford as well as the needs of the children. If you have difficulty communicating with one another, or if one person feels intimidated by the other, you are unlikely to be able to come to an agreement that is fair for everyone.
If the agreement breaks down or the nonresident parent does not make some or all of the payments, you have no immediate way of making them pay or recovering the missed maintenance.

Ask the Child Support Agency to calculate and/or collect maintenance on your behalf

Advantages

At the moment, the service is free.
The non-resident parent doesn’t have to know your address or any other details about you.
You do not have to negotiate an amount or set up arrangements for payment with the nonresident parent. Instead, the CSA will contact the non-resident parent and get his income details. They will then calculate child maintenance, using a set formula (see below).

The CSA can take action against the nonresident parent if they fail to pay and collect any arrears.
There may be compensation available if, for example, you suffer financial loss because of a mistake made by the CSA or if there have been long delays in dealing with your case.

Disadvantages

It can take some time for new applications to be processed, particularly if the non-resident parent does not co-operate. However, if the other parent can pay you maintenance in the mean time any amount they pay can be deducted from the amount built up while you were waiting for the application to be processed.
It can be difficult to find out from the CSA what is going on with your application and you are likely to have to push them to take action – see Tips for dealing with the CSA below.

You have no control over any enforcement action the CSA may take and, although they say they are now taking more action, their past record in taking prompt and effective enforcement action has been poor, particularly where the nonresident parent is self-employed.
There is a maximum amount of child maintenance you can get through the CSA, although if the non-resident parent is well off you can go to court to try and get more.

Ask the court to make an order for payment or maintenance

As child maintenance is mainly dealt with by the CSA, there are only a limited number of circumstances where you have the choice of using the court, including:

if you are able to come to an agreement with the non-resident parent and want to turn this into a formal order,
where you are already receiving child maintenance through the CSA and are eligible to apply for a top up – this could be for any special expenses you have, for example because of a child’s disability or for a child’s education,

if the CSA cannot deal with your application, for example because the non-resident parent is not living (or treated as living) in the UK.

For more information about when a court might deal with maintenance, call the Single Parent Helpline.

Advantages

If you turn an agreement with the non-resident parent into a Consent Order, this may help maintain good relationships between you, and the agree¬ment can be enforced through the court if maintenance is then not paid.
Higher amounts of maintenance may be awarded than by the CSA (if there is money available).
The Consent Order on child maintenance can be one part of a larger financial settlement negotiated between you and the non-resident parent, covering other matters such as payment of the mortgage.

Disadvantages

You have to go through a formal court procedure and get legal advice – this can take time.
Once a Consent Order is in force, an application to the CSA can not go ahead for one year.
Enforcement action can be costly and time-consuming. You will have to go back to court each time you need to vary the amount.
You will have to pay legal fees for all the above actions and for legal advice if you do not qualify for help with legal costs.

Help in deciding what option to take

For help in deciding what option to take, call the Single Parent Helpline.

You can also contact the new Child Maintenance Options Service, set up by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (the new body now responsible for the CSA). The new Options Service offers a telephone helpline giving information on choices in arranging child maintenance, access to a website with useful information including a child maintenance calculator, and various information leaflets on dealing with aspects of separation, including a model private agreement form.

How the Child Support Agency calculates child maintenance

Two systems of child support

There are currently two systems for dealing with applications for child maintenance through the CSA. One for maintenance assessments made before 3 March 2003 (the ‘old system’) and one for calculations made on or after this date (the ‘current system’). At some point, all cases will go over to a new single scheme but this is not likely to be for some time (see Changes to the Child Support Agency below). Some ‘old system’ cases can get changed over to the new scheme, for example when a person who is in some way linked to your case makes an application under the new rules.

The links between people’s different cases can be very long and complicated and you will not know the reason why your case has been converted to the new rules as this is confidential information that the CSA is not able to tell you. When cases are converted from the old scheme to the new, the amounts may not change straight away, they may be phased in over a period of time.

The information in this factsheet is about the way child maintenance is calculated under the ‘current system’. For more information about applications under the ‘old system’, call the Single Parent Helpline.

The maintenance calculation

Maintenance is set at one of four rates:

nil rate;
flat rate of £5;
reduced rate, if the non-resident parent’s net income is between £100 and £200 per week; and
basic rate, if the non-resident parent’s net income is £200 per week or more.

Who does the nil rate apply to?

Non-resident parents who are:

full-time students;
a child under 16, or a young person under 19 who is in full-time non-advanced education;
prisoners;
16–17 year olds getting Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance;
a young person getting a work-based training allowance;
people in residential care or nursing homes getting help with fees or on certain benefits; or
a patient in hospital who has had their benefits reduced.

Who pays the flat rate of £5?

Non-resident parents where the nil rate does not apply and who:

claim Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or Pension Credit (or their partner claims);
have income of £100 or less per week; or
claim certain benefits, including contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance; Retirement Pension; Incapacity Benefit; Employment Support Allowance and Invalid Care Allowance.

For more details call the Single Parent Helpline.

How is the reduced rate calculated?

The reduced rate of maintenance applies if neither the flat rate nor the nil rate applies and the nonresident parent’s net income is between £100 and £200 per week. The reduced rate is worked out by adding £5 to a percentage of the non-resident parent’s net income over £100 per week. The percentage is based on the number of children applied for and the number of other children living with the non-resident parent. The figure is rounded to the nearest £1.

no. of other children living with the non-resident parent	no. of children applied for
	one	two	three or more
none	25%	35%	45%
one	20.5%	29%	37.5%
two	19%	27%	35%
three or more	17.5%	25%	32.5%

Example of how the reduced rate of child maintenance is calculated

Euan lives with Dipa and her daughter Rana. His weekly net income is £190 and neither the nil rate nor the flat rate applies. Heather claims maintenance for their son Iain from Euan. The amount of Euan’s weekly income above £100 is £90. As he lives with one child and maintenance is only being claimed for one child, the amount of maintenance he has to pay is: £18.45 (20.5% of £90) + £5 = £23.45, rounded to £23.

How is the basic rate calculated?

The non-resident parent pays the basic rate if none of the other rates applies. It’s a percentage of net income, calculated in two stages.

Stage 1
Net income is reduced by a percentage, depending on the number of other children living with the nonresident parent. The percentage of the reduction is the same as in stage 2 – see below.

Stage 2
Maintenance is a percentage of this reduced amount, depending on the number of children applied for (rounded to the nearest pound).

Number of children                  Percentage
one                                                     15
two                                                     20
three or more                                      25

Example of how the reduced rate of child maintenance is calculated
Simon lives with Bronwyn and her four children. Simon’s weekly net earnings are £175 and £83 tax credits. Lucy applies for maintenance from Simon for their children Hannah and Stephen.

Stage 1
Simon’s net income of £258 (£175 + £83) is reduced by 25 per cent (£258 x 25% = £64.50) because he lives with four children: £258 -£64.50 = £193.50.

Stage 2
The maintenance due for two children is: 20% of £193.50 = £38.70, rounded up to £39.

What counts as the non-resident parent’s net income?

Earnings, less tax, National Insurance contributions and all contributions to a personal or occupational pension scheme;
tax credits; and
any pension payments he or she receives.

Other income, for example from savings, dividend income from a company or renting out property, is ignored in the basic rate calculation, but if you think the non-resident parent can afford more maintenance, you can ask for a ‘variation’ (see below).

What do I do if I think the non-resident parent has not disclosed all his or her income?

When the CSA decides about the amount of maintenance to be paid, they must send you a notification of the decision, which will state the amount of the non-resident parent’s net income that was used in the calculation.

If you think the non-resident parent has not disclosed all their income, one way of finding out more about how the ‘net income figure’ was calculated is to write to the CSA to say that you want to appeal against the assessment. (You don’t need to give a detailed explanation at this stage, but it helps if you can give some reason why you disagree with the figures.)

This will lead to the CSA sending you (as part of the papers for the appeal) a more detailed breakdown of the calculation, including full details of the non-resident parent’s income. Once you have the appeal papers, you are in a better position to decide what information and evidence you have or could get hold of to explain why you think the non-resident parent has a higher income than he or she has stated. (If you don’t want the non-resident parent to know your whereabouts, ask the CSA to black out any contact information when the appeal papers are sent to them.)

At the tribunal hearing, the non-resident parent will be asked to provide proof of their income. You will have the chance to tell the tribunal the reasons why you think the net income figure used in the calculation is wrong.

In some cases, the problem is that the nonresident parent has other income (such as income from a company or rental income) which does not count as part of the net income for the basic rate calculation. Or the non-resident parent may have diverted income elsewhere, so their income looks less than it really is. In this case, you need to ask the CSA for a ‘variation’ – see below.

Is there a maximum and minimum amount of maintenance?

There is a minimum amount payable of £5 in basic and reduced rate cases. However, non-resident parents on the flat rate may pay less in some circumstances, for example if they receive Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and share the care of the child.

The CSA does not take into account net income above £2,000 a week when it calculates maintenance.

What are variations?

You can ask the CSA to adjust the calculation to deal with some special circumstances. These adjustments are called variations. You can ask for a variation to increase maintenance because you think the non-resident parent has:

substantial assets (over £65,000);
non-benefit income of more than £100 a week and they are liable to pay the nil or flat rate of child support;
other income of at least £100 a week that has not been taken into account or diverted; or
a lifestyle inconsistent with their stated income.

If you think one of these circumstances applies, write to the CSA setting out your reasons – see Further help and information on page 8 for contact details. Frequently the CSA turns down applications for a variation. But if this happens, you should say you wish to appeal to a tribunal. Tribunals can be more sympathetic, and can order the non-resident parent to produce more information about his or her finances.

The non-resident parent can also ask for a variation to reduce maintenance in certain circumstances, for example because of the costs of keeping in contact with the child.

For more information about variations, call the Single Parent Helpline.

What else can affect the amount of maintenance I get?

Your maintenance calculation can reduce if:

the non-resident parent shares care of your child;
another child comes to live with the non-resident parent;
the local authority has part-time care of your child;
someone else who cares for your child asks for the child maintenance to be split between you;
someone who cares for another child of the nonresident parent applies for child maintenance; or
the non-resident parent asks for a variation.

How does shared care reduce child maintenance?

If the non-resident parent looks after your child overnight for at least 52 nights a year, this is known as shared care.

A non-resident parent on the flat rate, for example because they’re on benefits, will pay you nothing, even if they only look after one child one night a week.

A non-resident parent on the reduced or basic rate has child maintenance reduced in proportion to the number of nights they share care.

Number of nights 52–103 104–155 156–174 175 or more
Maintenance one-seventh two-sevenths three-sevenths one-half, then £7
decreased by

Changes to the Child Support Agency (CSA)

What changes have already happened?

There is now a new body running the CSA called the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC). Over the next few years there will be a series of changes, culminating in the introduction of a new government scheme starting in 2011.

C-MEC has started off by creating a new Child Maintenance Options Service (see Further help and information on page 8). This is a telephone helpline, giving information about different options for arranging child maintenance.

The new helpline may try to encourage parents to try to come to their own arrangements if they can, but the choice is up to you. If you cannot agree arrangements or if you think the non-resident parent is or might be an unreliable payer, you can always use C-MEC’s own child maintenance service.

If you receive Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, you can now choose whether or not to use the CSA, rather than having to use the agency as in the past. You can also now keep up to £20 each week of any maintenance paid to you before it affects the amount of benefits you receive. (Previously, the maximum amount you could keep before benefits were reduced was only £10 per week, and only if you were in the current scheme.)

What further changes are planned?

Between 2009 and 2011, new powers for collection and enforcement of child maintenance payments will be introduced for people using the CSA. They include making either direct debit arrangements or direct deductions from earnings, in addition to the routine methods of collecting child maintenance. Currently, this does not happen until after payments have been missed. New enforcement powers will include ordering banks to take child maintenance payments directly from a non-resident parent’s bank account, and the possibility of taking away a nonresident parent’s passport until arrears are paid.

C-MEC is also expected to introduce new powers to write-off certain child maintenance debts or accept a lesser sum. Debts will only be allowed to be completely written off in very limited circumstances. C-MEC will be able to accept partial payment of a debt in full and final settlement, but only if the parent with care agrees. It will also be able to reduce a non-resident parent’s liability, where he has made another payment as a substitute for child maintenance and the parent with care has agreed to this.

C-MEC is expected to introduce a new provision which will allow them to claim child maintenance debts from the estate of a non-resident parent who has died.

In 2010, single parents receiving Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance will be able to keep any child maintenance they receive in full.

Starting in 2011, there will be a new way of working out child maintenance. The amount will be fixed for a year and based on the non-resident parent’s yearly gross income (before tax and National Insurance), using the latest available tax-year information from HM Revenue and Customs. As the new calculation will be based on gross rather than net income, the percentage of income the nonresident parent will be expected to pay will be lower.

Where the income is between £200 and £800 a week, the rates will be:

12 per cent of gross income for one child;
16 per cent for two children; and
19 per cent for three or more children.

Where the income is over £800 a week, the rates will be 9 per cent, 12 per cent and 15 per cent on the excess above £800. The amount will only change if there is a 25 per cent change in income orif the non-resident parent loses or starts a job.

Will everyone go on to the new scheme straight away?

No. From 2010 onwards, parents currently using the CSA will begin to be offered the choice (starting in 2011) of:

leaving the CSA system and making their own arrangements;
moving to the new system at some point from 2011 onwards; or
carrying on as they are, using a simple cash transfer service.

It is expected to take until 2014 before everyone who has chosen to use C-MEC’s child maintenance service has been transferred.

I’m owed child maintenance. Will C-MEC pursue the arrpursue the arrears owed to me?

Yes. The government is introducing new measures to improve collection and enforcement (see above). Already the CSA has an Operational Improvement Plan which intended to collect an additional £213 million by March 2009.

Tips for dealing with the Child Support Agency

If possible keep a copy of your child support application and a record of the date it was sent in. The CSA has been known to lose applications. If you can prove you sent your application in, and there has been a delay as a result of the application being lost, you may be able to get financial compensation.
Chase up progress on your case at regular intervals. At the time of writing the CSA is more likely to take action on cases where the parent is actively chasing them. So do contact them regularly to find out what is happening and what action is being taken.

Keep copies of any letters and notes of any telephone calls and who you spoke to. This can prove useful if you want to complain, claim financial compensation from the CSA or demonstrate to an MP or tribunal the steps you have already taken to keep in touch with the CSA and get your case resolved.
Make a complaint if you think you are getting poor service. Complaining can help get your case resolved, it can lead to an apology, and in some cases fi¬nancial compensation. By complaining, you might also be preventing the same problem happening to others in the future. The first step is to write to or phone the Complaints Resolution Team setting out your complaint in as much detail as possible. For more information on how to complain, phone the Single Parent Helpline.

Involve your local MP. Sometimes, by asking your MP to take up your case, it gets looked at again by someone in the CSA at a higher level and things get resolved, and, in some cases, compensation paid. MPs can also ask the Minister responsible for child support to have your case looked into, hopefully leading to action. Find out who your local MP is by asking at your local library or town hall or see www.parliament.uk. Your MP can also refer your case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, who investigates cases where there has been poor administration (called maladministration).

If you are unhappy about a decision or think it is wrong, ask for a revision or consider an appeal to an independent tribunal. For more information about how to challenge a decision call the Single Parent Helpline.
For more details on all aspects of how the CSA deals with applications, see the Child Support Handbook published by the Child Poverty Action Group, which should be available at a library in your area.

Further help and information

Gingerbread Single Parent Helpline
0808 802 0925

(Open Mondays to Fridays, 9.00am–5.00pm, with extended opening on Wednesdays to 8.00pm)
Free information on a range of issues including maintenance, benefits, tax credits, debt, employment, education, legal rights and holidays.

Gingerbread Single Parent Information Online

Website: www.gingerbread.org.uk/information
All our information for single parents available online.

Gingerbread Membership
0800 018 4318

(Mondays to Fridays, 9.00am–1.00pm)
Information about becoming a member and any Gingerbread groups operating in your area.

Child Maintenance Options
Tel: 0800 988 0988

Website: www.cmoptions.org
Run by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement
Commission to provide impartial information and support to help both parents make informed choices about child maintenance.

Child Support Agency
National Enquiry Line: 08457 133 133
Website: www.csa.gov.uk

Call for general information and application forms and to request free information leaflets.
Belfast CSA Centre: 08457 132 000
Birkenhead CSA Centre: 08457 138 000
Dudley CSA Centre: 08457 131 000
Falkirk CSA Centre: 08457 136 000
Hastings CSA Centre: 08457 134 000
Plymouth CSA Centre: 08457 137 000

Chief Executive’s Office
Longbenton
Benton Park View
Benton Park Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE98 1YX

Citizens Advice Bureau

Check your telephone directory for your local bureau or find details on www.citizensadvice.org.uk, or if you live in
Scotland, www.cas.org.uk

One Parent Families Scotland

Tel: 0808 801 0323
Website: www.opfs.org.uk
Free information for single parents living in Scotland on a range of topics, including maintenance.

Disclaimer

This information is not a comprehensive guide to the law, nor a substitute for specialist or legal advice. We have done our utmost to ensure that the information provided is correct at the time of going to press and have tried to indicate where legal or other specialist advice is absolutely vital.


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