Child maintenance shocker

[debbs77]

I've today received my first child maintenance payment (after 7 years!) Via the CMS collect and pay.

I know they take fees (20% from the later and 4% from the receiver) but I bought this was calculated before they give me the figure I'm told I will receive. But it's not! I've just got £60 less than I was expecting!

They told me the figure that was calculated. I've budgeted with this figure! And that £60 is a lot of difference.

AIBU to complain or won't it get me anywhere?

Zaphod no idea if you can but is CM non payment classed as a debt like any other £ non payment?

Could you/others claim via court system for the debt? Put charge on his house etc..?

Would be interesting if you could link non payment to credit scores. Put the squash on lending for cars/mortgages/credit cards...

I think the calculation was totally misleading. Your ex though is the root cause of all this. Men who don't pay their way, should hang their heads in shame

It seems harsh, but it does make sense that the fees would be taken out of the amount you receive, since CMS is calculated based on what they believe the payer can afford.

If they calculate that he can only afford £242 a month, they can't then charge him an extra £50+ on top of it when they themselves have ruled he can't afford it.

Sorry that it's made things difficult for you though OP

Awful isn't it. I admit to misreading it. But even so. £41 a week for 4 children.

I have to consider it in mortgage payments or somehow I need to find £500 A month! At least with collect and pay it is taken from his wages.

At least I'm finally getting some. Shame it isn't backdated to 2009!

"i definitely think we should have a system where it's paid by the government and recouped in taxes."
"I don't understand why we can't adopt the American system. Make it a criminal offence not to pay."

^^this, I dont understand why so many women are being told to make do on their own because there is an attitude from the government of "well, if he doesnt want to pay then he doesnt, watcha gonna do?" shrug

Absolutely.

He works part time employed and the rest of the time self employed. For cash

It's fucking disgusting that men are allowed to do this, fully enabled by the government. It's neglect and they should face prosecution, but yet again, as it's mainly women and kids who are effected, the government don't give a shit. So whilst these "fathers" are off pretending their kids never existed, it's single mothers who are actually taking responsibility for their children, who get all the abuse from society.

Sorry OP, not much help for you I know, but it really is outrageous.

£41.71 a week is right. With CMS you have to multiply by 52 then divide by 12 to get your monthly payment amount.

I work with many families where the dad doesn't pay anything. Most of the time they claim it's to stop the children's mum spending it on herself .

If she budgets well and the children get new clothes or - heaven forbid - a holiday, they'll claim it as proof she doesn't need the money.

Contact your MP (sorry i know with 6 kids and working it will be time consuming). Your posts on here would almost be enough to describe the situation. He/She may not be able to do anything for you now but if enough people across the country contact MPs on issues things change through the cross-party work groups. Some of the changes last year to abuse through the family courts only came about because an initial campaign was supported by enough cross-party MPs who had evidence of constituency issues.

So everyone else who is having trouble receiving money from an ex should do the same. It is outrageous.

A final note of "happiness" -I have a friend who is determined shall I say! Her ex refused to pay and the CMS do an irregular grab into his bank account. So she gets occasional lump sums that dont cover the arrears but better than nothing. For those of you with arrears do check that this method is being used. She had to push (funnily enough).

I used to get £13.60 a fortnight taken straight out of ex-p jobseekers. He then stops claiming and goes back to cash in hand work when I then get bugger all.
I never hear from CMS about how they are going to get any payments from him when he stops claiming. He has never paid child maintenance in the 10 yrs our daughter has been alive. Only for those few months he signed on.
His excuse is that he buys everything she needs when she visits (one weekend fortnightly and shared half term) so he believes this equals to us paying a 50/50 share for our daughter. Which is obviously bollocks.
His idea of everything she needs is sweets/cola/magazines/toys and outings. She has her own clothes at his house that he buys and he feeds her during those times.

With CMO doing a deduction of earnings, they'll send to you whatever the employer sends to them and I've found in the past it can be quite random.

If they don't send enough to cover the £41 a week over the year, the difference will accrue as arrears.

As for what Bibidy posted, I'm sorry but that's rubbish.

The non resident parent pays their 20% fee on top of the maintenance figure calculated. And so they bloody should. If they didn't want to pay it, they should pay the correct amount direct instead of messing about.

It's always amazes me that the student loans company automatically finds where you work via HMRC and contacts payroll to automatically deduct 9% out of my pay every month. I have friends that are self employed who also regular get chased by HMRC to make sure hey are paying the correct amount. Yet RP has to do all the chasing for child maintenance! Also, how do they believe all these non-earning NRP's survive on fresh air!

I used to get £13.60 a fortnight taken straight out of ex-p jobseekers. He then stops claiming and goes back to cash in hand work when I then get bugger all.

I do believe that all NRP shoudl be deemed to be receiving income of 40 hours x NWM as a bare minimum, and the debt should accrue.

it is takn into considration to get a mortgage my dsis used hers and they accepted it as an income

and ys it should be amount plus fees its their own choice not to pay directly

This is society's responsibility, therefore sufficient funds to bring up children should be collected centrally and failure to pay be punished. Yes, it is down to tax payers as we are all part of society and the health and well being of each individual is our collective responsibility.

I am becoming more and more ashamed of the selfishness that my generation has created.

It make perfect sense. You would never have received the full amount. They are charging him 20% ON TOP of his due maintenance.

That's to encourage him to pay you directly and at 20% you'd think most would but heho some are a bit dim!

katronfon, I expressed myself badly. Yes, the father of each child is as responsible as the mother, and in most (many?) cases they both do their best.

The problem of feckless fathers not paying or paying too little has been with society for decades, and it results in a more impoverished society altogether. Therefore, the problem of what to do about irresponsible adults who do not take their children's needs seriously is a problem that society as a whole needs to solve. That means each individual in that society needs to take some responsibility for the solution - we shall all be the richer for it, after all.

I think what sparked my thoughts was somewhere upthread someone said that they didn't want their taxes increased to pay for other people's children. Personally, I would like to know that everyone in my society has enough to eat, somewhere warm to sleep and that children are not left impoverished because some bloke thinks he can just walk away. So, I will pay a bit more and expect my government to recoup the cost from the selfish git who is responsible for those children's welfare.

On the other hand, I'm quite a fan of the short sharp shock and think that reintroduction of the stocks might be the simplest way forward

It's a crazy system isn't it. £10 A week per child. And nothing on top. Brought 4 pairs of school shoes this week, plus one is off to high school and needed brand new uniform. Not to mention the food!