Child Support MaintenanceChild Support Maintenance is an amount of money that non resident parents pay regularly as a contribution to the financial support of their children.
What is Child Support Maintenance?Child maintenance is paid for children who live away from one or both of their parents. It is an amount of money paid regularly by the non-resident parent for the child.
The Child Support Agency calculates and collects child maintenance for parents with care and children who normally live in the United Kingdom. It can also arrange child maintenance for some non-resident parents who live abroad. The person with care usually applies for child maintenance from the non-resident parent.
Who can apply for child maintenance in Northern Ireland?The Child Support Agency will usually only work out and collect child maintenance if someone applies for it. The Child Support Agency can accept applications from parents with care, non-resident parents and other people caring for qualifying children if all the people involved live in the UK. Special rules apply if:
- the parent with care is on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance;
- there are already maintenance arrangements for the qualifying child; or
- the non-resident parent lives abroad.
How do parents with care on benefit apply?Parents with care who claim Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance do not have to apply for child maintenance. The Child Support Agency treats them as if they have applied for child maintenance unless they opt out. This also applies to parents with care who are in a family where someone else is claiming one of these benefits. Parents with care have a right to tell the Child Support Agency that they don't want child maintenance. But this means that:
- they will not be able to benefit from the child maintenance premium.
- The child maintenance premium allows families on Income Support and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance to be up to £10 per week better off if maintenance is paid for their children; and
- a benefit penalty, called a reduced benefit decision, may be imposed.
Those who opt out of child maintenance may have their benefit reduced if they ask the Child Support Agency not to arrange child maintenance, but a penalty will not be imposed if there is good cause for doing so. Good cause means that there would be a risk of harm or undue distress to the parent with care or the children if the Child Support Agency tried to arrange child maintenance. Parents with care who think that this may apply to them should tell the staff at their Social Security Agency office.
How is the amount of child maintenance worked out ?From 3 March 2003 a new system of child maintenance was introduced for new applications.
The Child Support Agency will work out the amount of child maintenance, using the net income of the non-resident parent. Net income is gross pay minus deductions for tax, National Insurance and contributions to a pension scheme. It will do this using information supplied by the non-resident parent and may also use information from others including the person with care or the non-resident parent's employer.
The amount of child maintenance depends on:
- the number of qualifying children the child maintenance is for;
- the non-resident parent's net income and circumstances; and
- the number of children living with the non-resident parent (we call these children 'relevant other children').
The Child Support Agency generally works out the child maintenance using the income (earnings) of the non-resident parent. In most cases it uses the basic rate. But, for non-resident parents who do not earn very much, or who are in receipt of certain benefits, the Child Support Agency will use a reduced rate or a flat rate.
What is the child maintenance premium?The child maintenance premium allows a person with care who is on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance to keep up to £10 per week of any maintenance paid. If maintenance payments are less than £10 a week, a person with care keeps all of the maintenance paid. A maximum of £10 a week child maintenance premium is payable regardless of the number of persons with care in the household.
If the Child Support Agency is collecting maintenance, Income Support and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance are paid 'gross' of any maintenance paid. This means that the benefit payment takes no account of maintenance paid by the non-resident parent to the Child Support Agency. In these cases, the Child Support Agency will pay the child maintenance premium to the person with care. It will keep any remaining maintenance to offset benefit paid to the person with care.
If the person with care receives maintenance direct from the non-resident parent, they must tell the Social Security Agency that payments are received. The Social Security Agency will work out how much Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance the person with care is entitled to, ignoring up to £10 a week of the child maintenance which they get from the non-resident parent.
Child Support Agency ServicesThe Child Support Agency provides a calculation service and a collection service. It collects child maintenance if the person with care is on Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or if either parent asks it to. If non-resident parents get behind with payments, the Child Support Agency will try to make sure that they pay all the child maintenance they owe.
Confidentiality
The Child Support Agency has strict confidentiality rules and will only disclose information in circumstances prescribed by legislation.
The Child Support Agency administers 2 schemes, if your enquiry is about Child Support Maintenance in Northern Ireland the number is:
0845 713 9896 (for old scheme cases)
0845 608 0022 (for current scheme cases)
0845 713 9704 (Northern Ireland minicom)
(Lines are open from 08.00 until 20.00 from Monday to Friday and from 09.00 to 17.00 on Saturdays)
If your enquiry is about Child Support Maintenance for Eastern Business Unit the number is:
0845 713 2000 (for old scheme cases)
0845 609 0092 (for current scheme cases)
0845 713 2243 (Eastern Business Unit minicom)
Agency leaflets are available in a range of minority languages on request. Audio tape, braille and large print versions are also available on request for visually impaired people by contacting 028 9089 6825.
Or write to:
Child Support Agency
Great Northern Tower
17 Great Victoria Street
Belfast
BT2 7AD
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