Child maintenance enforcement fees under fire

Vulnerable families will be the hardest hit by new child maintenance enforcement fees, family law organisation Resolution claims.

The new fees were introduced this week (11 August) for people using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) Collect and Pay system. Resolution says they will affect around 120,000 people across the UK.

Applicants face a £20 charge to open a new child maintenance case – although victims of domestic violence and abuse or those aged 18 or under are exempt – and parents with care who ask CMS for help to collect maintenance will have 4% deducted from the payment they receive. The paying parent, meanwhile, will have an extra 20% added to their child maintenance bill.

As Stephen Lawson, a member of Resolution’s child maintenance committee says, the new charges mean that for every £100 assessment, the paying parent will have to pay £120 but the receiving parent will only receive £96 – the government takes a “tax” of £24.

“These charges will have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable families. No one chooses to use CMS’s enforcement option if they can come to their own agreement, and penalising the parent with care for needing support to access the money they need to bring up their child is unfair – 4% of each payment could mean a lot to a family that is struggling,” he says. 

“The 20% additional charges for the paying parent are also disproportionate and may have a huge impact on the finances for hardworking paying parents. Couples who separate often find it difficult to financially manage with two households, and for some this extra fee may be straw that breaks the camel’s back. Many of the people using the Collect and Pay Service are on low incomes and these additional fees will impact on the amount received by the ultimate beneficiary – the child.”

However, the government claims the fees will act as an incentive for parents to collaborate following a separation, encouraging them to think again before defaulting to CMS.

In a written ministerial statement, Department for Work and Pensions minister, Steve Webb, said: “The charges are encouraging not just compliance but also a shift towards collaboration, which is in the best interests of the children involved. The fees are also about people making a small contribution to the cost of an expensive service that will continue to be heavily subsidised by the taxpayer.”