To ask about cms direct debit

[Cmsquestions]

Tldr - aibu to think that a resident parent cannot refuse payment via a direct debit?

bit of context - payments were missed so resident parent applied to cms and payments have been taken out of wage for over 12 months now with no issue. Due to the 20% cms fee, non resident parent now wishes to pay via direct debit straight to resident parent. Resident parent refuses and says continue using cms, they don’t care about the fee the non resident parent halls to pay.

aibu to think they don’t get to say this, and that the non resident parent can just go ahead and set up a direct debit , and if the resident parent returns this, this would be evidence the cms would look at when they apply back to the cms for collection from wages?

before the inevitable is asked, I’m not the non resident parents new partner

A) it’s not a Direct Debit, it’s a standing order

B) with a direct arrangement there’s no certainty. With the CMS they aren’t at the whim of someone who has already proven themselves unreliable.

The non resident parent should have paid in the first place. The resident part had every right to involve CMS to make them pay. Why should they not pay towards their child?

The payment via CMS taken from wages gives the guarantee hopefully that the child will be paid for by the NRP.

The RP is not unreasonable to say that they want to stick with CMS collecting. Otherwise malicious NRP would stop paying until CMS caught up and repeat the cycle. Non-payment of CMS is serious and RP would be a fool to trust the NRP when they previously didn't pay.

Yep, this. The NRP had their chance, showed themselves to be an unreliable payer so the RP is sensible to stick to the current arrangement.

The NRP doesn't get the choice anymore. They had a chance and proved themselves to be unreliable.

Aaaaaaaand literally no one has answered the actual question 🤣

it’s not about whether the resident parent would be reasonable to want to go through cms. I understand why anyone would. It’s whether I was bing unreasonable to think the non resident parent COULD set up a direct payment.

non resident parent has said they’ll refuse direct payment. I don’t think they actually can, and then claim through cms, after 12 months of cms wage collection

If the non res parent paid on time each month the resident parent may never have gone to CMS so it's on them.

It’s whether I was bing unreasonable to think the non resident parent COULD set up a direct payment

Why should the res parent accept this though? They had the chance, they didn't, so now official channels will be used.

The NRP could set one up, yes that’s true and that can be rejected by the resident parent - they can ask their bank to send the payment back. It all depends on whether the NRP has the account details of where they need to pay? And is it in breach of the agreement with the CSA?

They can reject the payment or they can change bank account and refuse to give you the information.

So yes, they can refuse to accept it.

I don't know the process but do have payroll experience and If it's a wage deduction, CMS would need to contact the employer to stop the deduction (employer won't stop without formal confirmation)

So if the NRP just set up a standing order they'll potentially be paying double for a period

Clearly NRP needs to contact CMS and request to change back to direct payment... they will either agree ir not. CMS seem to agree to everything NRP suggests so I'm sure they'd agree. If CMS agree the RP has no choice in the matter. If they refuse a standing order that NRP can prove then they refuse... not alot CMS or NRP can do about it.

If the nrp started paying separately now and not going through the cms then I believe the cms would just start building up arrears as all payments should go through them due to the resident parent using them for payment.

if the nrp has been paying for 12 months without missing a payment I believe they can approach the cms and ask to go back to just paying the agreed amount (direct pay?) as they have ‘proved’ them self.

if they start to not pay on time again the rp can go back to (is it collect and pay?)

because this is still all going through the cms as such then they can oversee it and switch between direct pay and collect and pay much easier.

If I was the resident parent, I'd accept any payments that came directly to my account to cover any arrears that were a result of the missed payments, then bounce back another payments and ensure that the enforced payments continued through CMS.
I would not accept direct payments and I don't blame this resident parent for doing so.
Surely these extra payments could just be kept though, 2 agreements can't run alongside each other.
His choice if he doubles up

Well the NRP can set up a direct debit if they want, if they have RP's details but they're going to get money taken out by CMS unless they speak to them about it and the RP can still choose to claim via CMS.