Universal Credit

[amberpatchoulilili]

i'm hoping some knowledgeable mumsnetters can help me with a query.

Ex partner is a long term avoider of paying child maintenance for our children. If there's a dodge or a loophole with CMS he will find it.

He's now living with his new partner and her children. She will have a pretty good wage (i know what she does) and i imagine it will be £40k minimum.

Ex has stopped paying maintenance again and CMS say he is in receipt of benefits.

When we lived together and he was out of work the only thing he could claim was jobseekers due to my wage.

But, despite using every trick in the book to dodge paying, he hasn't told the CMS he lives with her children - which would reduce his minimum amount when he is actually working. There's no chance he doesn't know about this as he has found some fairly obscure ways to try and reduce maintenance over the years.

i'm suspecting that he is using a different address to the one he lives at and is claiming universal credit and job seekers as a single person. there will likely be a single persons council tax dodge in the mix as well.

his old house that he rented never came up on any rental listings when he moved out and hasn't been sold. old and new address are a long way from me so don't know if old house is occupied.

is this a possibility? i can't see any other reason he is managing his lifestyle (expensive car, frequent new clothes and trainers, takes the children out for expensive activities and to restaurants every time he has contact, huge fuel costs due to distance) without committing benefit fraud. it can't be funded by credit due to an IVA that will still be in place.

he has a long history of undeclared contractor earnings with HMRC as well.

he owes thousands in unpaid maintenance so it does annoy me if he is fiddling the system even further.

It's possible thats he's using a different address for benefits, yes.

Money aside though how are you coping? You seem to have been managing the burden of being financially responsible for the kids for a long time on your own. It's hard, I know but i'll never understand how a parent can do that to their kids.

luckily i have a good secure job and a fairly good wage but i by no means have lots of extra money in our little family pot.

my parents have helped out with school trip money and uniforms which has been gratefully received.

it absolutely infuriates me when parents don't financially pay for their children but i won't give up hassling the CMS to chase him.

he was working april to september but they didn't catch up with him until august so he never paid april onwards. paid once in august and then stopped again as he's on benefits.

You know what though - one day, the kids will be grown up, they'll reach 18 and he won't have to pay. However, he'll have spent the years in the interim fucking up his career big time in order not to pay. He's wasting time not focussing on his career and as you know, relationships are fickle so his current girlfriend not likely to be long term.

In the end, it's his loss. Be proud. Your kids have got you. They don't need him. He's a "nice to have" not "an essential". You're essential though and they'll see that in years to come.

i'm sure she won't be happy having him poncing off her for long because even with benefit fraud he won't be bringing his fair share to the pot with her.
interestingly the maintenance arrears don't get wiped out when youngest is 18. so my children could be adults living their own lives and he will still have to pay me - i'm not sure he realises this as i had to dig deep to find it in the legislation.
it will amuse me greatly when he still has to pay me every last penny when the children are adults! he will be furious 😂

If you suspect he is cheating the benefits system by all means report him. It is theft of public money.

it will amuse me greatly when he still has to pay me every last penny when the children are adults! he will be furious 😂

Thats funny! I didn't know that either.

He's not much of a boyfriend to the new woman then is he? No job, no prospects, no assets, crap dad - he's no prize. Let him cocklodge off her if she's daft enough to let him.

How old is he?

i reported him last time i suspected it. DWP, HMRC and CMS fraud teams. I know the CMS didn't find anything (they didn't look very hard) but i don't know about the others.
yes think i will do that again.

It is possible that he is using a different address however he could also be claiming as single.

My sister is having a similar problem like you

@Chowtime he's 51! no pension (always thought he would live off mine, one excellent reason why i never married him!).
i don't want to say too much but suffice to say she is not a stranger to him before they got together. she knows exactly what he is like and has had some recent very shocking revelations regarding his behaviour that she is choosing to ignore.
i feel sorry for her poor children having him shoe horned into their lives.
it will end in tears i'm sure.

that's interesting. if he was claiming he was single but at her address surely the systems would see that another adult lives there? maybe i have more confidence in systems talking to one another than i should!

sadly he is one of thousands pulling the same predictable stunts.

not paying for your children should be as socially unacceptable as drink driving.

Is he a tradesperson doing cash jobs ? Asking because you said he’s owes hmrc for contracting. Maybe that’s where his money is coming from.

i'm trying to be vague but no not trades and his industry never does cash in hand. he will be getting money paid into an account (not necessarily his own) following submitting an invoice. so could be doing that but just not putting it on his tax return. i shared his website with the relevant people as evidence of work (date stamped) but CMS aren't allowed to use social media or digital platforms as evidence (the legislation pre dates these being common so does need changing).
i don't know if dwp or hmrc do use it as evidence or not.

It depends. He could be using her address as a temp one and claiming he is single. So they have more of an income coming in.

Sadly your correct on that. My sister who has 2 kids with her ex is on universal credit. All my sister was entitled to was £4 every month for 2 children. In the end my sister said forget about it.

Even if he is living somewhere else, I can’t imagine job seekers/ universal credit funding a lifestyle like the one you have described. Perhaps the gf is funding him? Or something else you don’t know about eg he is working in a different industry for cash in hand. Maybe an Inheritance of some sort?

@jadey1991 i can't throw the towel in. i have to keep pushing the system to do the right thing even if it's a few pounds a month. i do understand though that others have different feelings about it. i'm a stubborn old goat 🐐

Hi sorry to jump on post. Dont no how to make a new post.

me and my partner broke up, joint claim uc
he works earns around 1700 a month.
he’s still living here downstairs now
spare room.

what do I do?
he can’t afford to move out yet. Have 3 kids here also that are ours

We pay own bills always have done.
just not sure what I do next?
what proof can I send?
will he have to pay rent here I’m so confused by it all?