Guide · Updated 07/07/2026
Direct Pay vs Collect & Pay
Once the CMS sets a figure, there are two ways it can be paid — and the difference costs real money. The choice is also about to change fundamentally: the Government intends to abolish Direct Pay altogether around 2027-28.
The two arrangements today
| Direct Pay | Collect & Pay | |
|---|---|---|
| Who moves the money | Parents pay each other directly (standing order etc.); CMS sets the amount only | CMS collects from the paying parent and passes it on |
| Fees | None | Paying parent: +20% on top of maintenance. Receiving parent: −4% deducted |
| Who can insist | Either parent can request it; CMS should allow it unless the paying parent is judged "unlikely to pay" | CMS can impose it where a paying parent misses payments or is assessed unlikely to pay voluntarily |
| Payment record | Kept by the parents — keep meticulous records; disputes about whether payment happened are common | Kept by the CMS |
Maintenance of £400 a month on Collect & Pay costs the paying parent £480 and delivers £384 to the receiving parent — £96 a month absorbed in fees. Over a year that is £1,152. Compliant parents should almost always prefer Direct Pay under current rules, and a paying parent moved to Collect & Pay can ask to return to Direct Pay after a sustained period of compliance (in practice around six months of full, on-time payment).
Paying parent protections and duties on Collect & Pay
- Payment schedules should be issued in advance; deductions from earnings must respect the protected earnings rate (60% of net earnings must be left). See enforcement powers.
- Missed payments trigger arrears and enforcement charges: £50 for a regular deduction order, £200 for a lump sum deduction order, £300 for a liability order — on top of the debt.
- If you are wrongly recorded as having missed payments you actually made (a recurring Direct Pay-to-Collect & Pay trigger), evidence the payments and challenge both the arrears figure and the arrangement decision. Bank statements beat assertions.
On Direct Pay: protect yourself
- Pay by traceable method with a clear reference. Never cash.
- Keep every statement. If the receiving parent reports non-payment, the CMS decides on the evidence — an unreferenced transfer is arguable; a referenced standing order is not.
- Receiving parents: report non-payment promptly. Delay makes both collection and evidence harder.
What is changing: the end of Direct Pay
Following a 2024 consultation, the Government confirmed on 23 June 2025 that it will abolish Direct Pay. Highly compliant Direct Pay cases will be encouraged into private family-based arrangements; everything else moves to Collect & Pay. Alongside this, collection fees are to be restructured from 2027-28: 2% for all users (both sides), with 20% retained for non-compliant paying parents. The changes need primary legislation and are targeted at 2027-28. The House of Lords Public Services Committee (October 2025) was unconvinced the CMS could handle the caseload transfer and warned results could worsen. Track progress on the reform tracker.
Sources
| Source | Type | Date | Credibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWP — Government response: Improving the collection and transfer of payments | Primary (government policy) | 23 Jun 2025 | High |
| Commons Library CBP-10687 — What fees are charged when arranging child maintenance? | Parliamentary briefing | 2025 | High |
| Child Support Fees Regulations 2014 | Primary legislation (SI) | As amended | High |
| Lords Public Services Committee — Reforming the CMS | Parliamentary report | Oct 2025 | High |