Child Maintenance Debt Advice

The CSA consider their payments to be your top priority, and have the power to enforce payment.

Child Maintenance Payments should always be considered as a essential expenditure item, and any arrears a priority debt, as the court or the CSA can be very quick to enforce payments to pay off arrears.

You could be ordered to pay child maintenance either through the Child Support Agency (CSA) or through Court as part of divorce proceedings. 

Court Ordered Payments

If you have been ordered to pay maintenance through court then you can apply for re-evaluation if your income has dropped or circumstances have changed. If you do not pay arrears, the court can send bailiffs to your home and order you to attended a hearing to explain why you have not paid. In rare circumstances the court can write off the maintenance debt. They can also order immediate payment if full, or by instalment via direct debit. If you fail to comply they can take payments directly from your wages/benefits or use bailiffs.

CSA Ordered Payments

The Child Support Agency (CSA) collect payments from non-resident parents on behalf of parents with care. While there is no requirement for separated parents to use the CSA, both parties can apply to the CSA to set a payment level.

The CSA can collect directly from your wages and/or benefits without a court order.

If they cannot do this, for example if you're self-employed and do not receive any benefits, the CSA can ask the magistrates’ court for a liability order.  When this has happens they can enforce the order by:-

• Instructing bailiffs to seize goods and sell them.
• Getting a charging order on your property, which means your home could be sold if you do not pay.
• Seizing money from your bank account.
• Adding your liability order to the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines;
• Asking the court to send you to prison for up to six weeks but the court will only do this if it thinks that you are deliberately not paying; or
• Asking the court to take away your driving licence for up to two years.

If you know you are going to miss a payment then it is important that you contact either the Court or the CSA as soon as possible to avoid action. If you can no longer afford the maintenance payments due to a change in financial circumstances, then contact the relevant establishment as soon as possible to discuss your options.

How Harrington Brooks Can Help

We are not able to assist in negotiations with the CSA, the court or the parent(s) of your child or children. However if you're unable to afford child maintenance due to unaffordable unsecured debts, then we can help.

Using similar guidelines as the CSA, we'd determine how much you can afford to towards your unsecured debts. If on top of the child maintenance obligations, this is more than you can afford, then you may qualify for an IVA or Debt Management Plan. This allows you to pay less towards your other debts so you can afford your high priority debts and other essential expenditure.