Understanding your child maintenance statement

A guide for receiving parents

About this leaflet This leaflet tells you everything you need to understand your statement. It explains what the different parts of your statement are, and tells you more about the terms used in it.

Important information

This leaflet is only a guide and does not cover every circumstance. It only refers to the statutory child maintenance scheme provided by the Child Maintenance Service. It does not refer to any child maintenance schemes provided by the Child Support Agency.

We have done our best to make sure the leaflet is correct as of 28 October 2013, but it may not reflect changes to the law or to our procedures after this date. You may want to get independent advice before making financial decisions based on the content of this leaflet.

About us

The Child Maintenance Service is the government’s statutory child maintenance service. We work out, collect and pay out child maintenance payments on behalf of some separated parents in England, Wales and Scotland.

Our role is to make sure that parents who live apart from their children contribute towards their children’s upkeep by paying child maintenance.

What is child maintenance?

Child maintenance is regular, reliable financial support that helps towards a child’s everyday living costs.

In most cases, the parent who does not have the main day-to-day care of the child pays child maintenance to the parent who does have the main day-to-day care. In child support law the parent who receives child maintenance is known as the ‘parent with care’ - we call them the ‘receiving parent’ - and the parent who pays child maintenance is known

3

as the ‘non-resident parent’ - we call them the ‘paying parent’. In some cases, the receiving person can be a grandparent or guardian.

If they live in Scotland, a child aged 12 to 19 and in full-time, non-advanced education or training can apply for child maintenance.

Get in touch If you can’t find the information you need in this leaflet, you can contact us or find out more in the following ways:

On the web:

www.gov.uk/child-maintenance

By phone:

Call us on 0845 266 8792*. Our TexBox and textphone number is 0845 266 8795*.

Our opening hours are: 8am to 8pm - Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm - Saturday

By letter:

Write to us at: Child Maintenance Service PO Box 249 MITCHELDEAN *Please see the information about call GL17 1AJ charges at the back of this leaflet.

4 Understanding your child maintenance statement

Contents

5 Your child maintenance statement

5 A guide to your statement

11 Explanations of other terms that may appear on your statement

17 Frequently asked questions

17 Useful information

5

Your child maintenance statement We send you your statement every year to help you to keep track of your child maintenance payments.

Your statement only includes payments you have already received. It does not include information about payments you are due to receive in the future.

You don’t need to do anything when you get your statement. However, if your closing balance shows you are owed some child maintenance, we will contact you about this separately.

A guide to your statement An example of a child maintenance statement is shown over the page. We’ve added numbered arrows pointing to the most important parts of the statement. You can find definitions of each of the terms the arrows point to on pages 8 to 10.

Overall summary

£500.00 

7

£0.00 0  period £84.2£2,12ayments du

otal payme

losing balan

e to you for the

nts issued to you £475.0

ce £109.2

£2,129.1 £0.0

/08/2012/11/2012 24

WilliamSARa, Born

 to help you fully understand ement.

Case effective date: 18

Child: David Paul Smith,  18/08/2004 onborn on 15/06/2006

3

 arrears. 

We've also sent you a leaflet called Your child maintenance statement explainedyour stat

2 8

013

ent

Opening bala

P

24 August 2012 to 21 SThis statement shows all the child maintenance payments issued to you 

It also shows during the dates shown for the child or children named below. 

T

C 

the amounts you were owed and your closing balance for the year. 

7 Please keep this statement in a safe place. It’s for information only – we will write to you separately if the closing 

nce 

eptember 2

Your child maintenance statem1

reference: 121000839954 ce: 1­3I14LC

4

0

7

90

6 Understanding your child maintenance statement

Child Maintenance Service Team

Phone number: 0845 266 8792 Website: www.gov.uk/child­maintenance Date: 01 October 2012

Your client Mrs Sam Sample Our referen20 Any Street Anytown Any County SS1 1XX

balance of the statement shows that you are owed child maintenance 

Page 1

Date Amount you owed £

Amount you paid £ Description Balance 

due £

24/08/2012 Maintenance Due­Case1 ­500.00

27/08/2012 84.27 Maintenance Due­Case1 ­584.27

28/08/2012 400.00 Voluntary Payment Recorded ­184.27

28/08/2012 75.00 Voluntary Payment Recorded ­109.27

Closing balance ­109.27

This statement shows the payments you've made during the statement period. Your Payment Plan shows you the payments you are due to make and the dates on which we intend to collect the payments. We send this to you separately. 

Because child maintenance is worked out daily, the amount you pay each month could vary depending on the number of days in a month. 

  

­9.19

   

7

Page 2

18/11/2012

18/12/2012

01/01/2013

18/01/2013

01/02/2013

18/02/2013

01/03/2013

18/03/2013

01/04/2013

18/04/2013

01/05/2013

18/05/2013

01/06/2013

18/06/2013

01/07/2013

304.17

304.17

304.17

304.17

304.17

304.17

304.17

300.00

310.00

310.00

280.00

310.00

300.00

310.00

0.00

300.00

­4.17

305.83

1.66

311.66

7.49

287.49

­16.68

293.32

­10.85

289.15

­15.02

294.98

­9.19

Opening balance

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued 

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued 

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued

Child maintenance due to you

Payment amount issued

­9.19

Balance due to you £

Amount issued to you £

Amount you were owed £

9

1011

5 6 12

8 Understanding your child maintenance statement

1 Statement dates

This is the period covered by the statement. So the statement will list all the child maintenance payments you received between these two dates.

2 Case effective date

This is the date when the paying parent became legally responsible to pay child maintenance for the child or children in your case who qualify to receive it.

3 Children

The names and dates of birth of the children you received child maintenance for in this case during the period of this statement are listed here.

4 Summary

This part of your statement shows you what’s been happening with all your child maintenance payments during the period covered by the statement. If you use Collect & Pay, the summary will give details of the collection fees you have been charged to use the service.

9

5 Date

This tells you the date when an amount of child maintenance was due to be collected from the paying parent.

We work out how much child maintenance the paying parent has to pay as a weekly amount. But they can pay every week or every month. The dates on your statement will confirm how often you received payments.

6 Opening balance

The amount of any child maintenance owed to you at the start of this statement period.

7 Payments due to you for the period

The total amount of child maintenance you were owed for this period, including any owing to you from before the statement start date (arrears).

8 Total payments issued to you

The total of all Collect & Pay payments sent to you by the Child Maintenance Service during the period covered by the statement.

10 Understanding your child maintenance statement

9 Closing balance

The amount of arrears owed to you at the end of the statement period.

10 Child maintenance due to you

An amount of child maintenance you were owed. This could include arrears payments owed to you.

11 Payment amount issued

A payment collected from the paying parent or their employer and paid to you for a Collect & Pay case, or a payment made to you by the Child Maintenance Service.

If you use Direct Pay, the description ‘Direct Pay payment’ will appear on your statement instead.

12 Balance due to you

This is the amount of child maintenance from the statement’s opening balance that is still due to you at the end of the statement period.

11

Explanations of other terms that may appearon your statement

These terms may appear in the ‘Summary’ section of your statement.

Total Collect & Pay fees deducted

The total amount of collection fees for using Collect & Pay taken away from the amounts of child maintenance paid to you during the period covered by the statement.

These terms may appear in the ‘Description’ column on your statement.

Amount written off

Unpaid child maintenance payments (arrears) which the paying parent does not have to pay. We will have already written to you about this. As a reminder, the reasons for ‘writing off’ amounts of child maintenance include:

• we have made a decision that the paying parent does not have to pay these arrears

• the paying parent has died and it is not possible to collect arrears from their estate.

Child maintenance adjustment

The amount of child maintenance you should receive in a Collect & Pay arrangement could change as a result of a change of circumstances.

If this happens, the statement will show the original amount of child maintenance due and the adjusted amount of child maintenance as a result of the change of circumstances.

12 Understanding your child maintenance statement

Cheques returned

A cheque payment that was returned to the paying parent because it could not be processed.

Child maintenance due to you

The amount of child maintenance owed to you on a payment date for a Direct Pay case.

Closing balance – existing arrears

The amount of child maintenance arrears in your closing balance which has built up under the Child Maintenance Service.

Closing balance – previous agency arrears

The amount of child maintenance arrears in your closing balance which built up under the Child Support Agency.

Collect & Pay fee deducted

The 4 percent collection fee taken away from a child maintenance payment listed on the statement. This fee is for using the Collect & Pay service.

Compensation payment

The total amount of payments you received during the period covered by the statement as because of a mistake or official error made by us, or a complaint made by you.

Direct non-scheme payment amount (Direct Pay)

A payment made direct to you by the paying parent which is not part of the agreed schedule of child maintenance payments.

13

Direct Pay amount

An amount of child maintenance we worked out you should receive direct from the paying parent as part of a Direct Pay arrangement.

Direct Pay payment adjustment

The amount of child maintenance you should receive in a Direct Pay arrangement could change as a result of a change of circumstances.

If this happens, the statement will show the original amount of child maintenance due and the adjusted amount of child maintenance as a result of the change of circumstances.

Direct Pay payment

A child maintenance payment the paying parent agreed to pay direct to you as part of a Direct Pay arrangement.

Outstanding balance

We will include all outstanding amounts owed by the paying parent. These could be from child maintenance, child maintenance arrears, interest or money they owed due to overpayments. The amounts may be owed to you or may be owed to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Payment from admin account

A payment we made to you for administration reasons.

Payment from suspense account

A payment made to you which at first was held in our account because information about the payment was missing or inaccurate.

14 Understanding your child maintenance statement

Pending write-off (total for all periods)

Unpaid child maintenance arrears which are not part of a paying parent’s ‘negotiated amount’ of arrears (the amount of arrears that we have agreed they must pay). This amount is suspended for the time being. We will write it off when the paying parent has paid the total negotiated amount of arrears.

We will have already written to you about this.

Previous active arrears

An amount of unpaid child maintenance owed by the paying parent and transferred from the Child Support Agency. The paying parent still owes this amount and must pay it.

Previous outstanding balance

All outstanding amounts owed by the paying parent from a Child Support Agency case. These could be for child maintenance, child maintenance arrears, interest or money they owe due to overpayments.

Previous suspended arrears

Arrears owed to you by the paying parent which were temporarily suspended by the Child Support Agency. The paying parent may have to pay these in the future.

Split care offset amount

This is what we do to adjust the payments due when there is more than one qualifying child and each parent is both a receiving parent and a paying parent.

We call this ‘split care’. This means each parent provides the main day-to-day care for one or more of the children in a case. They will be

15

entitled to receive maintenance for the child or children living with them. They must also pay maintenance for the qualifying child or children that do not.

If one parent owes unpaid child maintenance to the other, this can be ‘offset’ against any payments that the other parent has to make. If both parents owe each other arrears, the amounts owing can be offset against each other. If there are no arrears, then the ongoing payments that each parent has to make can also be offset against each other.

Third party offset payment amount

A payment made direct to a third party by a paying parent that reduces the total amount of child maintenance (or the total amount of arrears) owed to you.

The payment must have been for:

• a secured mortgage or loan taken out to buy the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live, or to make essential repairs or improvements to it

• rent on the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live

• mains-supplied gas, water or electricity charges for the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live

• essential repairs to the heating system in the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live, or

• Council Tax (Rates in Northern Ireland) payable by the receiving parent on the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live.

16 Understanding your child maintenance statement

Voluntary payment amount

A payment the paying parent made direct to you after the date when child maintenance was applied for, but before the date of the first scheduled payment.

The payment must have been for:

• a secured mortgage or loan taken out to buy the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live, or to make essential repairs or improvements to it

• rent on the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live

• mains-supplied gas, water or electricity charges for the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live

• essential repairs to the heating system in the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live, or

• Council Tax (Rates in Northern Ireland) payable by the receiving parent on the home where the child or children who qualify for child maintenance live.

17

Frequently asked questions

Q: Can I ask for a statement at any time? A: We send a child maintenance statement to everyone who has a case with us every 12 months. This is usually on the anniversary of the date when the case opened. But you can ask us to send you an up-to-date statement at any time.

Q: Can I find out information about my payments online? A: Yes, by using our self-service website. This is a personal online child maintenance account. If you’re registered, you can track your payments and get an up-to-date statement balance by logging in. It is completely safe and secure.

You can log in or register for a self-service account at http://childmaintenanceservice.direct.gov.uk/client

Useful information Help and information

If you want to know more about child maintenance, go to www.gov.uk/child-maintenance You can find information and leaflets here, and find out more about our services.

If you would like to talk to someone about your case, please call us on 0845 266 8792*. Our TexBox and textphone number is 0845 266 8795*.

Please have your customer reference number with you when you call. This is a 12-digit number starting with the number 12. It will be shown as ‘your reference’ at the top of any letter we’ve sent you.

We may record our phone calls to check our service and to train our employees.

18 Understanding your child maintenance statement

If you don’t have a case with us, you can call Child Maintenance Options on 0800 988 0988* between 8am and 8pm, Monday to Friday, and between 9am and 4pm on Saturdays. The person taking your call can help you with general questions about child maintenance.

Other languages

If English is not your first language, you can use your own interpreter or one that we provide. Call us on 0845 266 8792* for more information.

Information in other formats

This leaflet is available in other languages and in Braille.

Contact us on 0845 266 8792* for more information. Our TexBox and textphone number is 0845 266 8795*.

*Call charges

Calls to 0845 numbers from BT land lines should cost no more than 4p a minute with a 15p call set-up charge. You may have to pay more if you use another phone company or a mobile phone, or if you are calling from abroad.

Calls from mobile phones can cost up to 40p a minute, so check the cost of calls with your service provider.

Charges were correct as of the date of this leaflet.

Calls to 0800 numbers are free from BT landlines but you may have to pay if you use another phone company, a mobile phone or if you are calling from abroad.

19

nt.

The Child Maintenance Service administers the statutory 2012 Child Maintenance Scheme (2012 Scheme) and is part of the Department for Work and Pensions.

www.gov.uk/child-maintenance

We print on recycled paper. This keeps costs down and helps look after the environme

CMSB043GB v002 (October 2013) ISBN 978-1-78425-019-5

© Crown copyright October 2013