Since April 1993 the Child Support Agency (CSA) has taken over responsibility from the courts for calculating and collecting child maintenance. It usually collects payments from parents who are receiving Income Support or Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and who do not live with their children, but may also collect from other absent parents.
Arrears of child maintenance should be treated as a priority debt because the Child Support Agency has the power to:
- deduct payments directly from your wages or benefits
- get a court order allowing the bailiffs to remove and sell your goods
- if all else fails, imprison you or disqualify you from driving
If you have been contacted because of arrears of child support you should first of all make sure your maintenance calculation is correct. If the calculation is wrong you may find out you have no arrears at all. Checking the calculation is not easy and you should get advice.
You should try to make an agreement with the CSA to pay what you can afford. The CSA has the right to accept or refuse your offer so you need to make sure you justify the offer and explain how your circumstances have changed.
Remember, your offer needs to be realistic for you - be sure you can keep up with the repayments offered without getting into debt with something else.
Keep copies of all letters received from and sent to the CSA. If you reach an agreement to repay the arrears make sure you have the agreement in writing.
If you are finding it difficult to negotiate with the CSA you should get help from a Debt Adviser.
Information on other websites
The Child Support Agency
Lots of information about maintenance payments and how the system works
Gingerbread
A number of factsheets on Child Maintenance (Gingerbread is a support group for lone parents)
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Information Provider:
Manchester Advice
Date Written:
8 April 2005
Date Reviewed:
30 October 2008
This information is for guidance only and is not an authoritative statement on the law. Please read our Terms and Conditions.
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