Unpaid Child Maintenance Concerns

Child maintenance is regular reliable financial support for everyday living costs for children and young people, and both parents have financial responsibility for helping their children have happy health lives where they can fully participate.

It is important to be aware that if child maintenance is not paid on time and in full then the Child Maintenance Services (CMS) does have enforcement powers to take action. This section provides an overview of how and when CMS recover unpaid child maintenance, which is often called 'arrears'.

What action can CMS take?

  • As these are private agreements, the CMS cannot recover unpaid family based arrangements. If payments are not made in full and on time, however, either parent (or young person ages over 12yrs in Scotland) can apply to the CMS for support.

  • Under Direct Pay, payments are not monitored by CMS. It is the responsibility of the receiving parent to report any payments not paid in full or on time using the online portal.

    Visit Navigating the Online Portal for further support.

    If the payment is not made in full and on time the receiving parent can request to move to Collect and Pay.

    If the paying parent has evidence that payment was made in full and on time, the Direct Pay arrangement will not be moved to Collect & Pay.

    More information on Collect & Pay (opens in new tab)

    Good to know

    It is important to inform the CMS as soon as a payment on a Direct Pay arrangement is not made in full or on time.

    If the missed, part or late payment on Direct Pay is not reported for some time, then the CMS may only consider missed payments up to the date of the last yearly review.

  • Collect & Pay payments are monitored by the CMS, and parents are not required to report missed, part or late payments. If full and on time payment is not received, then the CMS will notify the receiving parent and attempt contact with the paying parent to resolve the issue.

    Where there are ongoing Collect & Pay payment issues, it is advisable to speak directly to the CMS to understand what enforcement action has been taken. There are legal procedures that the CMS must follow to enforce payment.

    Good to know

    The CMS will attempt to collect payment without taking legal action in the first instance.

    The CMS does not need a court order to enforce payments by:

    • Deductions of Earnings

    • Deductions from Benefits

    • Regular lump sum deduction order from a bank account

    A deductions order may take 2-3 months to set up. Whilst waiting for a deductions order to be set up there may be a break in scheduled payments and your portal may show that no payment due.

    If a Deductions Order is unsuccessful, the CMS will take legal action to collect unpaid child maintenance. They may also use enforced payment methods to collect regular ongoing child maintenance payments.

    Legal action will stop if unpaid child maintenance is paid.

    If child maintenance continues to go unpaid, the CMS will:

    • Warn the paying parent that they will take further enforcement action. The letter may not state what enforcement will be taken but may include removal of passport, driving license or imprisonment.

    • Contact the receiving parent to update them.

  • The CMS might set up a payment plan with the paying parent to pay arrears over time.

    The paying parent will keep paying regular, ongoing child maintenance while paying arrears at the same time. It will be one regular payment that includes the ongoing amount plus arrears.

    CMS can only take enforcement action on arrears.

    There is a legal limit that can be taken from earnings or state benefits for child maintenance. If the total amount due is higher than the legal limit, the child may not receive the full amount set by the CMS. If you are a receiving parent and not receiving full payment, contact the CMS to discuss your options.

    Visit Enforcement action and legal powers - Child Maintenance Service - GOV.UK (opens in new tab)

Some of the language and terms used to describe child maintenance can be confusing. so we’ve created a terminology page where we do our best to explain terms. You can find this here Terminology