The Child Support Agency (CSA) is an agency set up by the government to administer child maintenance for parents living in the U.K. (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands). There is no connection between payment of child maintenance and entitlement to contact.
WHAT IS CHILD MAINTENANCE?
Child maintenance is the amount of money paid by a non- resident parent (NRP) for the upkeep of their qualifying children. A "child" is a person who is under 16, or 16-18 and receiving full-time, non-advanced education, or 16/17 years old and registered for work or youth training.
WHO CAN ASK FOR A CSA ASSESSMENT?
- A parent with care
- A non-resident parent
- Someone who is not a parent, but cares for a child whose parents live elsewhere in the U.K.
Continued....
APPLYING TO THE CSA
- If you are a parent with care (PWC) who is in receipt of Income Support (IS) or income based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), you are required to authorise the CSA to seek child maintenance. Failure to do so will result in a reduction of benefit at 40%; this is £22.48 per week of your personal Allowance if aged 18 or over, or £13.54 or £17.80 if aged under 18.
However if you believe that giving the CSA authority to pursue child maintenance from the NRP will cause you or the children harm or undue distress, then the CSA may not require you to give them authority, and will not seek child maintenance. The form that you are required to complete when you claim IS or income-based JSA has a section on this. Also, a reduced benefit direction cannot be issued if you are receiving IS or income based JSA which includes a disabled child premium, a disability premium or a higher pensioner premium, or Child Tax Credit (CTC) which includes an element for a disabled child or young person.
- If you are not in receipt of any of the above benefits you can apply to the CSA for a child maintenance assessment as a private client. This also applies to other people with care of a child, such as grandparents, and to NRPs.
- If there is an existing court order or written agreement made before 5th April 1993 concerning child maintenance then this must go back to the court to be varied or enforced. The exceptions are if you claim IS or income based JSA, or the court order was made on or after 3rd March 2003 & has been in force for at least a year.
COLLECTION OF MAINTENANCE AND PAYMENT METHOD
- If the PWC receives IS or income based JSA, then once the assessment is made, the CSA can collect the money and pass it on to the PWC through their benefit.
- If the PWC is not in receipt of any of the above benefits, then they can request that maintenance is collected by the CSA.
HOW CHILD MAINTENANCE AFFECTS OTHER BENEFITS
- For CSA assessments made after the 3rd of March 2003 ( new rules) any maintenance received will be deducted from your IS or income based JSA, but you will be allowed to keep up to £10 of this maintenance, called the child maintenance premium before any deductions are made.
- For CSA assessments made before the 3rd of March 2003 (old rules) any maintenance received will be deducted in full from IS or income based JSA. But see section on Transfer of Existing Cases to the New Rules on page 5.
- For Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, £15 maintenance is disregarded and the rest is counted as income in the calculation.
- For Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit, all maintenance received is disregarded and you are not required to co-operate with the CSA as a condition of receiving your full entitlement.
HOW CHILD MAINTENANCE IS CALCULATED - THE CSA FORMULA
NEW RULES
For assessments made after 3 March 2003 the amount of maintenance due will be based on the NRP'S net income. If the NRP'S net income £200per week( p.w) or more the maintenance due is as follows:
- 15% of net income for one child
- 20% of net income for two children
- 25% of net income for 3 or more children
Those with net income of less then £200p.w. will pay a reduced rate of maintenance & those with a net income of £100p.w. or less, or in receipt of IS or income based JSA or certain other state benefit/pension/allowance will pay a flat rate of £5p.w.
For more detailed information about this see CSA leaflet CSL109 A Technical guide.
The calculation will also take into account all the children in the NRP'S current family including stepchildren. This means that the NRP'S net income will be reduced by 15% for one child in the current family,20% for two children & 25% for three or more children before applying the above.
The calculation WILL NOT take into account:
- The income of the parent with care
- The income of either parent's current partner
- Housing costs
- Travel to work costs
If a child stays with the NRP for one night a week or more the calculation will take this into account if it adds up to at least 52 nights a year or more. If the NRP is assessed at flat rate & has care of their child for at least 52 nights in the year they will usually be exempt from paying the £5 flat rate.
OLD RULES
For assessments made before 3 March 2003 the general rule is that child maintenance should not be more then 30% of the NRP's net income. The old CSA formula takes the following into account:
- The daily cost of maintaining each child (based on IS levels).
- The income of the PWC and the NRP after making allowances for tax, national insurance, half of any contributions to a pension scheme, and housing costs (other than Council Tax).
- Any children from other relationships.
If the NRP is on IS or income based JSA, £5.50 is normally deducted from their benefit each week for child maintenance.
NIL RATE ( new rules )
The following NRP'S do not have to pay maintenance:
- Those with net income of less then £5p.w
- Students in full time education (i.e at a recognised school or college with at least 12 hrs p.w. tuition)
- Young people (aged 16-19) in full time non –advanced education (i.e up to A level, NVQ level 3 or equivalent)
- 16 or 17 year olds in receipt of IS or income based JSA or a member of a couple in receipt of this.
- Those doing work-based training, or skillseekers training in Scotland.
- Prisoners
- Those living in residential care or nursing home & are assessed at flat rate or getting help from a local authority with the cost of this accommodation.
- Those assessed at flat rate because they are in receipt of a government benefit/pension/allowance & this has been reduced to the personal expenses rate due to being in hospital for 52 weeks or more.
EXEMPT NRPs ( old rules )
If the NRP has been assessed under the formula as having to pay £5.50 or less, he/she is exempt from paying anything if he/she:
- Has the family premium included in their calculation.
- Has a net income of less than £5.50 (student grants, loans & work based training allowances for young people are ignored when calculating net income).
- Receives (or would receive but for failure to satisfy the national insurance contribution conditions ,or for receipt of an overlapping benefit) Maternity Allowance or statutory maternity pay, Disability benefits or Carers Allowance.
- Is under 16 years of age or under 19 and in full time non-advanced education.
- Is in prison.
VARIATIONS (new rules)
Sometimes child maintenance can take into account exceptional circumstances that are not covered by the basic rules. This is called a variation, and it forms part of the maintenance calculation. It can lead to an increase or a reduction in the amount of child maintenance.
There are three categories of grounds on which a variation can be agreed:
- Special expenses incurred by the NRP, such as high travel costs to maintain contact with the children, or outstanding costs from the relationship,
- A pre-April 1993 property or capital settlement where the NRP transferred property or capital to the PWC, partly or wholly in lieu of child maintenance,
- Additional cases - a PWC can apply for an increase in child maintenance if the formula leads to an amount of maintenance which does not properly reflect the NRP's true circumstances because they have, for example, diverted an asset or income or have a lifestyle inconsistent with their declared income.
See CSA leaflet CSL 108 :Variations:' Help for exceptional circumstances' for full details of grounds.
DEPARTURE DIRECTION FROM THE FORMULA (old rules)
If a NRP feels that they have special circumstances that the CSA were not able to consider when making the child maintenance assessment, then they might qualify for a departure from the formula assessment. This could be because of something such as high travel costs to maintain contact with the children, or outstanding debts from the relationship. The PWC can also request a departure if they can show that the NRP has, for example, diverted some income so that it is not taken into account for the formulas, or has a lifestyle inconsistent with the claimed level of their income.
ENFORCEMENT ACTION BY THE CSA
The CSA will begin recovery action if the NRP stops paying maintenance or falls into arrears. Recovery action will begin once the CSA has been notified of non-payment by the PWC.
- In the first instance the CSA will issue an arrears notice, and negotiate payment of these arrears with the NRP.
- If a NRP persistently defaults on payments, the CSA can issue a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) on the NRP and their employer.
- If these methods fail, or the NRP is not employed, the CSA can take court action to enforce payment by obtaining a liability order.
- If, after this court order, money is still due, the CSA can apply to the ''s court for a warrant committing the NRP to prison, or to disqualify the NRP from holding a driving licence as an alternative to prison.
- It is a criminal offence for the NRP to refuse to provide information or to knowingly provide false information. The CSA can take a person to court if they have evidence of this, and conviction carries a fine of up to £1000 and a criminal record. (This power also applies to employers, accountants and PWCs who knowingly provide false information to the CSA).
PARENTS WHO LIVE ABROAD
The CSA has no power to pursue NRP's for maintenance if they do not live in the U.K. unless the NRP works for a British company abroad and is paid via a U.K. payroll, or works for the British Armed Forces, a U.K Local Authority, U.K National Health Service, U.K Civil Service abroad.
Otherwise the CSA will cancel a child maintenance assessment if the NRP has left the country. The PWC would in this instance need to pursue child maintenance through the courts.
PATERNITY DISPUTES AND DNA TESTS
If there is a dispute about parentage the CSA will interview both the PWC and the alleged parent. The CSA can presume parentage where a man was married to the mother at the time of conception or birth or, if unmarried, his name is on the birth certificate.
If there isn't sufficient evidence to establish parentage then the CSA can request that both parties and the child take a DNA test. If the alleged parent refuses to take a DNA test, the CSA can presume that he is the father without taking any court action to determine this.
The alleged parent is responsible for the cost of the DNA test, and the cost will be refunded if they are not in fact the parent. Parents who wish to have a DNA test carried out voluntarily can get a list of accredited laboratories from the Department for Constitutional Affairs by ringing 020 7210 0665.
IF YOU THINK THE ASSESSMENT IS WRONG
If you think the assessment is wrong, contact the CSA in writing or by phone and ask them to look at it again. If you are still not happy with the assessment you can appeal to the independent case examiner. The CSA leaflet A guide to changing & appealing against child support decisions tells you more about appealing against a decision.
TRANSFER OF EXISTING CASES TO THE NEW RULES
The government will notify those PWC when they will be transferred over to the new rules. There will be some existing cases that will transfer early because of a linked claim e.g. an NRP has another child & the PWC makes a new claim to the CSA.
Alternatively if you have an existing case and it closes & a new application to the CSA is made more than 13 weeks after its closure then you will be assessed under the new rules.
When existing cases are transferred those PWC's on IS or income based JSA will get the £10 child maintenance premium but the child maintenance bonus will no longer be available. This means that once an existing case has been transferred onto new rules any child maintenance bonus accrued under the old rules must be claimed within 28 days by coming off income support because you are working. See Gingerbread Factsheet ‘Financial Support to help you return to work' for full details on claiming the Child Maintenance Bonus.
FURTHER HELP
Phone the CSA Helpline on 08457 133 133
Or Visit their Website
www.csa.gov.uk
or write to:
Child Support Agency
PO Box 55
Brierley Hill
West Midlands
DY5 1YL
For more information on the CSA calculation ask for the CSA leaflets Parents who live apart, A guide to how child maintenance is worked out, Helping you understand your child maintenance calculation, or for the full range of CSA leaflets contact the above number, or phone One Parent Families Advice Line on 0800 018 5026: Monday,Tuesday & Thursday 10a.m. - 1p.m
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