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CSA Collection & Enforcement
Regulations.
In trying to speed up the enforcement of arrears, the CSA set
up an Enforcement Unit in 2005. This
department however managed to collect just £8 million at
a cost to the taxpayer of £12 million……this
represents just £1 for every £40,000 outstanding!!
Under the Collection and Enforcement Regulations, the Secretary
of State was authorised to appoint Bailiffs to levy distress for
arrears of Child Support.
The current Statutory Legal Ruling concerning enforcement of
CSA debts can be found at the end of this document.
In the following pages, we have extracted
the relevant parts of the Enforcement Options that have been made
available for external advisers, with the emphasis being on the
enforcement/bailiff action. We have highlighted important parts
in red.
What this section covers.
• What is levying of distress?
• Powers available to the Bailiff
• When Bailiff action should be considered
• Bailiff action
• Deciding not to proceed with Bailiff action
• Appeal against distress
• Taxation of the costs of distress
• Action in trespass
• Complaints about Bailiffs
• Withdrawal of Bailiff action
• Agreement in place what next?
• The possible outcomes of the Bailiff process
What is levying of distress?
Levying of distress is the legal term given to the seizure and
sale of a debtor’s goods and the proceeds of the sale would
go towards settling the outstanding debt and the Bailiff costs.
Powers available to the Bailiffs.
The main aim of the Bailiff is to try and gain payment in full
or to obtain an effective agreement with the non-resident parent
to repay their arrears. If an arrears agreement is made, the Bailiff
would visit each week/ month to collect the agreed monies. However
if the non-resident parent refuses to cooperate, the Bailiffs
may levy distress.
Bailiffs are not allowed to force entry into
premises in order to levy distress, therefore, unless they
are invited in, they cannot list any goods for distress (potential
sale) The Bailiffs will always take a percentage of any monies
that they manage to secure as part of their charges.
The relevant Statutory Legislation concerning this is the Child
Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992, Section
30 see below.
When Bailiff action should be considered.
Prior to taking Bailiff action, consideration has
to be given as to how effective levying of distress would
be. The following factors should be taken into account in any
decision made.
• Welfare of the child
• Would the agency be criticised for insensitivity, for
example if there had been a recent bereavement in the household
• Is the non-resident parent on a very
low income or in receipt of a benefit
• Non-resident parent is known to have
no goods on which to levy distress
• Is the non-resident parent under 18 and classed as a child
(Child Support act 1991 Section 55 (1)
• Non-resident parent potentially violent
status
Although levying of distress may not be appropriate in some cases,
the threat of a Bailiff visiting the
non-resident parent can sometimes
be enough to prompt the non-resident parent to make an arrangement
to pay.
Bailiff action.
When the decision to appoint a Bailiff to levy distress has been
made, the Bailiff will require as much information as possible
about the non-resident parent to ensure this action is a success.
For example, details of their lifestyle, business address, and
confirmation of any items owned by the non-resident parent e.g.
a vehicle, details of interim maintenance assessment in place
and any voluntary payments made.
If the non-resident parent is a serving member of the armed forces
and lives in military accommodation i.e. the Bailiff has to go
through a military checkpoint to gain access to the property,
the Bailiff will require details of the Commanding Officer and
a contact number to request permission to enter the premises.
Note: On receipt of a referral from
the Agency, the Bailiffs will take initial action to levy distress
within seven days.
If they are unable to contact the non-resident parent on
the first visit, a contact letter will be left warning
of Bailiff Action. If the non-resident parent fails
to respond, a further visit will be made within 14 days
of the warning letter. If the second visit fails to result in
contact being made, the case will be returned
to the Agency.
If contact is unsuccessful, the Bailiffs should
not hold on to a case for more than 13
weeks, unless:
• An arrangement to pay is in place, or;
• The Agency have specifically advised them to keep the
case for longer
Bailiffs usually try to make an arrangement
where the debt will be cleared within 13
weeks, but this is not always possible, depending on both
the size of the debt and the non-resident parent’s ability
to pay.
In exceptional circumstances, the
Bailiffs may return a case earlier if:
• The Agency may have asked for the return of the case if
the non-resident parent’s situation has changed, he has
paid the debt in full or the parent with care has withdrawn their
authority
• The non-resident parent may be untraceable, the case would
then need to have trace action taken on it
• The agreement with the non-resident parent has fallen
through and they are unable to levy distress
If Bailiffs become aware that the non-resident parent is
no longer living at the address provided, they will discretely
try and find out the non-resident parent’s new whereabouts.
This could include consulting:
• Neighbours’
• Landlords
• New occupiers
When they locate the non-resident
parent, the Bailiffs will visit the
new address within seven days to obtain
an arrangement and notify the Agency.
If they are unable to trace the non-resident
parent, the Bailiffs will retain the case for seven
days following the final visit, and if contact is still
not made, the case will be returned to the Agency with a Nulla
Bona certificate (gone away) Another example of when a Nulla Bona
certificate would be issued is if there are insufficient goods
to levy distress on.
Appeal against distress.
Where a case has been referred to the Bailiffs and there has been
an attempt to, or an actual levy of distress, the non-resident
parent can appeal to a Magistrates Court if they believe the levy
to have been irregular.
Taxation of the costs of distress.
There may be occasions when a person
who has been the subject of levying of distress may decide to
appeal against the amount of the Bailiff costs. They will lodge
the application in the County Court and enclose a copy of the
bill of costs.
If the court feels that there is a case to answer, they will arrange
a hearing date for the District Judge to consider the matter.
They will send a copy of the application and the costs to the
appropriate Business Unit. The case officer should inform the
appropriate Bailiff when an application is received. The District
Judge will notify the non-resident parent and the Child Support
Agency of their decision.
Complaints about Bailiffs.
All complaints about Bailiff action should initially be directed
to the relevant Bailiff Company. (Our advice would be to write
to the CSA also)
However, if the company concerned
are not bailiffs, but are a Debt Collection Agency (DCA), then
by law, they must hold a Consumer Credit Licence. In this case,
you would need to address your complaints to the Office of Fair
Trading. For further details on this, you will need to visit our
section on the front page entitled : How to Complain.
Agreement in place…… what next?
If the non-resident parent makes an
agreement with the Bailiffs,
this would be for the arrears covered
by the Liability
Order only. The non-resident parent should be contacted
to make an agreement to pay the regular maintenance and any other
arrears, as appropriate. If the non-resident parent refuses to
comply, the Bailiffs should be left to deal with their agreement.
Further action should then be taken against the non-resident parent
for the remainder. This would normally mean applying for a
further Liability Order to register the debt on the arrears
that have accrued since the previous Liability Order was granted.
If the non-resident parent is paying
their regular maintenance and there are no further arrears then
the case is retained on enforcement until such time as the Liability
Order has been satisfied
Liability Order paid in full
• The non-resident parent should be contacted to ascertain
if they intend to pay regular maintenance
and contribute towards any other arrears which may have accrued,
(if appropriate). Arrears can be outstanding from the beginning
of the case (if a safe period has been applied for) or from the
end date of the Liability Order to the present day.
• Agreements made should be monitored to ensure that they
are honored. The Agency must have
received three monthly payments or
six weekly payments for the case to
be deemed as compliant for enforcement purposes. Once honored
the case can be cleared from enforcement.
• If the non-resident parent is not willing to make regular
contributions towards the maintenance assessments and/or arrears
then a further liability order would
need to be applied for and the process would begin again.
Liability Order debt Outstanding – Non resident parent makes agreement.
• The agreement must be to pay
the regular maintenance due, arrears
covered by the Liability Order and any other
outstanding arrears. The Agency must have received three monthly
payments or six weekly payments for
the case to be deemed as compliant for enforcement purposes. If
the method of payment is direct the case officer will need to
confirm with the parent with care that payments have been received.
However the case should not be cleared
from enforcement until the Bailiffs Agreement
has been met in full.
Note: To read the entire section on Enforcement Options you will
need to visit the following web address:
www.Dca.gov.uk/enforcement/mccreview/summary/pdf
SOURCE:
Under the Child Support Legislation (Child Support Act 1991, Regulation
35 and (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992,
Regulation 30, the Agency is empowered to utilise private
bailiff firms to levy distress for arrears of child maintenance.
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