If parents don't pay
If a non-resident parent doesn't pay the right amount of child maintenance at the right time, we will take action to get any money owed to a parent with care or the Government.
If you are a non-resident parent and you know you are going to be late making a payment, you should tell us straight away.
If parents pay child maintenance through us we can take action as soon as they miss a payment. If they pay child mainteance direct to the parent with care after they made an application to us, the parent with care can contact us and ask us to collect the money they owe.
We will try to get in touch with parents by phone first. If we cannot contact them by phone, we will send a letter to warn them that we can start enforcement action unless they:
- make an agreement to pay the full amount of the child maintenance they missed
- keep to the agreement they had already made.
They have seven days to respond to our warnings. If they don't we can take further action to get the money they owe for their children. This will depend on each case but it might include:
- taking money direct from the non-resident parents earnings if they have a job
- refering the case to a debt-collection agency
- taking action through the courts. This can be expensive and can result in the non-resident parent paying more money, having their driving licence confiscated or even going to prison.
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