Put briefly the old scheme of 15% (1 child) , 20% (2 children) and 25% (3 or more children) of the paying party’s net income has been abolished under the new scheme and replaced with a percentage of gross income:
- For income under £800 gross a week: 12% (1 child), 16% (2 children) and 19% (3 or more children)
- For income over £800 gross per week: 9% (1 child), 12% (2 children) and 15% (3 or more children)
It is the case that provided you have more than one child it is possible to use the new child support method of calculation and even convert from the old scheme.
Until now, conversion was impossible but effectively you can now request the Child Support Agency to cease their involvement, wait for 13 weeks and then submit a fresh application under the new scheme.
It is now possible for the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) to either simply calculate the level of child maintenance or doing this in addition to the actual collection of the monies from the paying parent. If the latter approach is taken the receiving parent will have their maintenance reduced by 7% and the paying party will be charged 20% of their maintenance to the CMS to cover the associated charges and to encourage voluntary payment. The charges levied are a new development.