How child maintenance affects benefits
If you are a receiving parent and get benefits, you will be able to keep all child maintenance payments. If you are a paying parent and you, or your partner, get benefits, you will pay the flat rate of maintenance.
Parenting Terms used by Child Maintenance Service
- the paying parent – the parent who does not have the main day-to-day care of the child and who pays child maintenance to the receiving parent
- the receiving parent-the parent who has the main day-to-day care of the child and to whom the paying parent pays child maintenance
Receiving parent on benefits
If you are a receiving parent and get any social security benefits, you will be able to keep all child maintenance paid as it does not affect any of the benefits you claim. It will also not affect any housing benefit you receive.
This applies to all kinds of child maintenance payments, including family-based arrangements, statutory child maintenance arrangements and court orders.
Some types of contributions made 'in kind' as part of a family-based arrangement can sometimes affect benefit claims, such as if your child's other parent is paying part or all of your mortgage.
If you’re making a benefit claim, you should always report your child maintenance arrangements to your Jobs and Benefits office, including how much you are receiving and how often you receive it, even if you don’t think it will affect your claim.
Paying parent or partner on benefits
If you are a paying parent and you, or your partner, receive any of the benefits listed below, you will normally pay the flat rate of child maintenance which is a fixed weekly amount of £7.00.
If you use the Collect and Pay service the £7.00 will normally be taken from either you or your partner’s benefit each week, which will also result in you paying an additional £1.40 per week collection charge. Only one £7.00 payment plus an additional £1.40 per week collection charge will be taken no matter how many children are involved in the case.
If there is shared care, the £7.00 weekly payment could be reduced. CMS will include any shared cared arrangements when working out your child maintenance payments.
You will pay the flat maintenance rate of £7.00 plus an additional £1.40 per week collection charge if you get:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Pension Credit
- Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
- Category A, B, C or D Retirement Pension
- State Pension
- Incapacity Benefit
- Training allowance (other than work-based training for young people or, in Scotland, Skill-seekers training)
- Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
- War Disablement Pension
- War Widow’s Pension, War Widower’s Pension, or Surviving Civil Partner Pension
- Bereavement Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Industrial Injuries Benefit
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
- social security benefit paid by a country other than the United Kingdom
- Universal Credit - unless earnings are reported in the assessment period