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Frequently Asked Questions
Payment and collection of child maintenance
- How much child maintenance did the Child Support Agency (CSA) collect in the last year?
- How many children did this go to?
- What is the average monthly amount the CSA collects?
- How much does the CSA collect by taking money direct from parents' earnings?
- How can parents pay their child maintenance?
- Do parents have to go through the CSA?
- What is the most common way of paying?
Q. How much money did the Child Support Agency (CSA) collect in the last year?
A. Over the 12 months to the end of June 2008 we collected/arranged just over £1,050m. This is an increase of nearly £134m on the previous year, when we collected £916m.
Of the total collections/arrangements, £337m was paid through Maintenance Direct (where we processed an application for child maintenance and the non-resident parent pays direct to the parent with care.)
Q. How many children did this go to?
A. 768,000 children as at June 2008.
Q. What is the average monthly amount the CSA collects?
A. £87.5million. This is an increase of around 15% from July 2006 to June 2007 when we collected £76.4 million on average.
Q. How much does the CSA collect by taking money direct from parents' earnings?
A. In the 2007/08 financial year we collected £269m.
Q. How can parents pay their child maintenance?
A. For all cases where child maintenance is arranged through the CSA the parents can either agree that
- the non-resident parent will pay the parent with care direct, or
- the non-resident parent makes their payments to the CSA.
If parents agree to make their own arrangements they can choose how the non-resident parent will pay the child maintenance. The quickest and easiest way is for the non-resident parent to set up a standing order to pay the child maintenance from their bank, building society or Post Office account direct into the parent with care's account.
Or, if the non-resident parent will be paying their regular child maintenance to us they can pay by:
- direct debit (which is a quick and convenient way of making a payment)
- asking their employer to agree to take their child maintenance payment direct from their earnings or pension
If they get benefits, State Pension or a War Pension, we will usually take child maintenance direct from their benefit or pension. If the non-resident parent has a partner and they get Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Pension Credit, the child maintenance will be taken off before the benefit is paid to their partner. This means that the non-resident parent or their partner will receive a lower amount of benefits.
- Our leaflet "How do I pay child maintenance?" [PDF 205KB]
has more information on this.
Q. Do parents have to go through the CSA?
A. If a parent with care or their partner are claiming Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance they must continue to arrange child maintenance through the CSA. This will change in late October 2008.
If a parent with care or their current partner starts to claim Income Support or income-based Jobseeker's Allowance from 14 July 2008, Jobcentre Plus will tell them how to contact Child Maintenance Options. Child Maintenance Options gives information and support to help parents decide how they are going to sort out child maintenance.
- Our leaflet "What is child maintenance and how does it affect me?" [PDF 205KB]
has more information on this.
- You can find more information about Child Maintenance Options here
Q. What is the most common way of paying?
| Method | Percentage of cases |
|---|---|
| Deduction from earnings order/request | 21 |
| Manual payment (e.g. cheque, bank giro credit or Transcash) | 18 |
| Direct to the parent with care | 19 |
| Standing order | 16 |
| Deduction from benefit | 16 |
| Direct debit | 9 |
Related information
- Read our leaflet
"How do I pay child maintenance?" [PDF 251Kb]
- Read our leaflet
"What is child maintenance and how does it affect me?" [PDF 246Kb]
