The long and winding road
How we used information from the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA) to lead us to one non-resident parent in Liverpool.
Some non-resident parents never tire of trying to avoid us. Take the case of one non-resident parent in Liverpool we have been pursuing since 2003.
Over the years we sent him a number of letters, which we had returned to us marked "addressee unknown". We sent bailiffs to see him but their visit proved fruitless - the non-parent claimed he lived with his mother and the house was being sold as she was going to live in a nursing home. Employees at his business helped him shelter from us and fielded his calls. He also failed to turn up at court.
Using the powers available to us, we traced the non-resident parent through the DVLA who confirmed that the non-resident parent and his mother still lived at the original address. Despite his car being parked outside, his mother denied knowledge of his whereabouts and she also seemed far from in need of nursing home care. With a confirmed address, we have now issued a warrant for his arrest.
We are taking quicker and firmer action against parents who fail to pay child maintenance. We are also looking into thousands of cases where parents have avoided paying what they owe for their children over many years.
Already over the last year, there has been a marked increase in the number of enforcement actions taken. For example between November 2005 and October 2006 we were granted around 13,700 liability orders, up from 11,245 between April 2005 and March 2006.
(A liability order shows that the law recognises that there's a debt to be paid and gives the authority of the court to take action to get the money owed.)
