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Enforcement in England and Wales
The action we can take
If the non-resident parent lives in England and Wales we start by applying to the magistrates' court for a liability order for the missed child maintenance. This legally recognises there is a debt to be paid and gives us the authority of the court to take action to get the child maintenance owed.
In England and Wales we were granted around 17235 liability orders between February 2007 and January 2008, a 27.54% increase on the previous year.
We will then take the action we think will be most effective in each individual case. We can use more than one of our powers at a time.
We can:
Pass the case to bailiffs to collect the child maintenance owed
Bailiffs act on our behalf to seize the non-resident parent's belongings and sell them to get the money owed.
Freeze money belonging to the non-resident parent
A county court can make a third-party debt order which, on a given date, tells:
- an individual, or a business to freeze money owed to the non-resident parent or
- a bank, building society or the Post Office to freeze money in an account in the non-resident parent's name.
Once the money is frozen the non-resident parent cannot use that money, or get money from an unpaid invoice if they are self-employed, without the court's permission. The county court can then order the individual, business, bank, building society or Post Office to pay us the money shown on the third party debt order.
Between February 2007 and January 2008 we applied for around 1,860 third-party debt orders.
Enter the liability order on the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines
The Register is used by credit-reference agencies to set someone's credit rating. It can also affect a person's membership if they want to join a professional organisation. This register replaced the Register of County Court Judgments (CCJs) in 2006.
If a non-resident parent has their own business, how and when they can pay for anything they need for their business may change if their suppliers are aware that the parent is on this register.
Between February 2007 and January 2008 around 1,620 non-payers had their debts entered on to the Register.
Register the debt against property or assets
We can apply to the county court to make a charging order. If the non-resident parent owns a house or land, we can then register with the Land Registry that we have a charging order against the non-resident parent. We can also register a charging order if the non-resident parent owns other assets such as , stocks and shares, or an interest in a trust.
When the property, or those assets belonging only to the non-resident parent are sold, any money left after paying other orders or charges that have a priority (such as a mortgage) should be paid direct to us.
We can also apply to the courts to force the non-resident parent to sell their property to get the money they owe.
Between February 2007 and January 2008 we applied for 1,780 charging orders.
Take away the non-resident parent's driving licence or send them to prison
If a non-resident parent has refused to pay the child maintenance they owe, we can apply to the courts for:
- an order of disqualification — this takes the non-resident parent's driving licence away from them or prevents them from getting a driving licence for up to two years, or
- a warrant of commitment — this sends a non-resident parent to prison for up to six weeks.
Even if the non-resident parent is disqualified from driving or sent to prison, they will still have to pay all of the money they owe.
Between February 2007 and January 2008, 565 non-resident parents received immediate or suspended prison sentences. A further 25 non-resident parents received immediate or suspended driving licence disqualifications. (Figures for the whole of GB.)
