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Terms and conditions

This page and any pages it links to explains the Child Maintenance Service online service terms of use. You must agree to these to use the child maintenance online service.

If you continue to use the child maintenance online service, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use. These together with our privacy policy govern the Child Maintenance Service’s relationship with you in relation to this website.

Unless otherwise specified, the material featured on this site is protected by Crown Copyright.

Who we are

The child maintenance online service is managed by the Child Maintenance Service (referred to as 'We', 'Us' or 'Our' below).

In Great Britain

The Child Maintenance Service is part of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). The Child Maintenance Service is responsible for child maintenance in Great Britain.

In Northern Ireland

The Child Maintenance Service is a service provided by the Department for Communities. The Department for Communities is responsible for child maintenance in Northern Ireland.

Using the child maintenance online service You agree to use the child maintenance online service:

  • only for lawful purposes.
  • in a way that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use of this site by anyone else

We can update, change or remove content at any time without notice.

Services and transactions

You can use the child maintenance online service to access online services and transactions, for example reporting a change in circumstances or making a child maintenance payment.

These can be managed by My Child Maintenance Case or another government department or agency.

Some services have their own terms and conditions which also apply - read these before you use the service.

Service access

If our service is not working as it should be we will restore it as soon as possible.

It remains your responsibility to comply with any obligations arising in respect of child maintenance payment.

The Child Maintenance Service reserves the right to deny access to the service where it is considered necessary to protect the organisation, for example, to protect us and/or the service integrity.

Payments

It is your responsibility to ensure that payment is received by the Child Maintenance Service, and has cleared into the Child Maintenance Service's account, on or before the due date. Failure to do so may result in interest and/or a surcharge.

Statutory notices

The child maintenance online service may be used to issue statutory notices to you. These statutory notices will have the same legal validity and implications as a paper statutory notice sent to you by post.

Linking from the child maintenance online service The child maintenance online service links to websites that are managed by other government departments, agencies and service providers. We do not have any control over the content on these websites.

We're not responsible for:

  • the protection of any information you give to these websites
  • any loss or damage that may come from your use of these websites, or any other websites they link to

You agree to release us from any claims or disputes that may come from using these websites

You should read all terms and conditions, privacy policies and end user licences that relate to these websites before you use them.

Requests to remove content

You can ask for content to be removed from the child maintenance online service.. We'll remove content:

  • in order to comply with data protection legislation covering the rights and freedoms of individuals
  • if it breaches copyright laws, contains sensitive personal data or material that may be considered obscene or defamatory

Contact us to ask for content to be removed. You'll need to send us the web address (URL) of the content and explain why you think it should be removed. We'll reply to let you know whether we'll remove it.

We remove content at our discretion in discussion with the department or agency responsible for it. You can still request information under the Freedom of Information Act and the Data Protection Act.

Information about you and your visits to the child maintenance online service

We collect information about you in accordance with our privacy policy and our cookie policy. By using the child maintenance online service, you agree to us collecting this information and confirm that any data you provide is accurate.

Virus protection

We make every effort to check and test the child maintenance online service or GOV.UK for viruses at every stage of production. You must make sure that the way you use the child maintenance online service or GOV.UK does not expose you to the risk of viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which can damage your computer system.

We're not responsible for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or computer system that might happen when you use the child maintenance online service.

Viruses, hacking and other offences

When using the child maintenance online service, you must not introduce viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or any other material that's malicious or technologically harmful.

You must not try to gain unauthorised access to the child maintenance online service, the server on which it's stored or any server, computer or database connected to it.

You must not attackthe child maintenance online service in any way. This includes denial-of-service attacks.

We'll report any attacks or attempts to gain unauthorised access to the child maintenance online serviceto the relevant law enforcement authorities and share information about you with them.

Disclaimer

While we make every effort to keep the child maintenance online service up to date, we do not provide any guarantees, conditions or warranties that the information will be:

  • current
  • accurate
  • complete
  • free from bugs or viruses

We do not publish advice on the child maintenance online service.. You should get professional or specialist advice before doing anything on the basis of the content.

We're not liable for any loss or damage that may come from using the child maintenance online service. This includes:

  • any direct, indirect or consequential losses
  • any loss or damage caused by civil wrongs ('tort', including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise
  • the use of the child maintenance online service and any websites that are linked to or from it
  • the inability to use the child maintenance online service and any websites that are linked to or from it

This applies if the loss or damage was foreseeable, arose in the normal course of things or you advised us that it might happen.

This includes (but is not limited to) the loss of your:

  • income or revenue
  • salary, benefits or other payments
  • business
  • profits or contracts
  • opportunity
  • anticipated savings
  • data
  • goodwill or reputation
  • tangible property
  • intangible property, including loss, corruption or damage to data or any computer system
  • wasted management or office time

We may still be liable for:

  • death or personal injury arising from our negligence
  • fraudulent misrepresentation
  • any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law

Governing law

These terms and conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

Any dispute you have which relates to these terms and conditions, or your use of the child maintenance online service (whether it be contractual or non-contractual), will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

General

There may be legal notices elsewhere on the child maintenance online service that relate to how you use the site.

We're not liable if we fail to comply with these terms and conditions because of circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

We might decide not to exercise or enforce any right available to us under these terms and conditions. We can always decide to exercise or enforce that right at a later date.

Doing this once will not mean we automatically waive the right on any other occasion.

If any of these terms and conditions are held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the remaining terms and conditions will still apply.

Changes to these terms and conditions

Please check these terms and conditions regularly. We can update them at any time without notice.

You'll agree to any changes if you continue to use the child maintenance online service after the terms and conditions have been updated.