More than £300 million in maintenance was collected for children from April to June this year, vital support which single parent charity Gingerbread warns is at risk as the Child Support Agency (CSA) prepares for closure.
Existing cases with the CSA will be closed and parents will have to reapply to the new Child Maintenance Service (CMS), once case closure begins next year. Trials of the new scheme have already begun.
To reopen their case, parents will have to pay £20 up front and may face ongoing collection charges if the paying parent fails to pay and the CMS is required to step in.
Gingerbread is concerned that many single parents will drop out of the system altogether rather than struggle to find £20 to reopen their child’s case, face ongoing charges, or go through the process of reopening a difficult case.
Gingerbread chief executive Fiona Weir said:
“Child maintenance can and does make a significant difference to the lives of children, and lifts some of the poorest families out of poverty. It is wrong to put single parents through the worry and stress of case closure and the cost of paying to access the money their children deserve, particularly when they may have struggled long and hard to get maintenance paid in the first place.”
Contact our solicitors
Our specialist solicitors can advise on any family law matter, including issues around child custody and child maintenance. Call us on 01463 898 650 or click here to make an online enquiry.
