Child maintenance

[ColourfulOrangex]

My sons dad currently owes over £2000 in arrears and should be paying £200 a month

Due to the arrears and the fact he still refuses to pay there has been a deduction from earnings in place for 3 months now, yet I have still not received a penny (it has been a collect and pay case from the beginning)

Am I being unreasonable in wondering what they are doing? I understand they obviously cannot pass any money on that they don't receive but shouldn't they be chasing it more than this??

I rung them today and they just said they will contact the employer, this is all fine except this is what they have done for the past few months and nothing has come of it...not really sure why I'm posting just venting I suppose but has anyone had any success with CMS with deduction from earnings?

I should add the case has been going on for nearly 4 years as he used to have to pay around £30 a month (not that he ever has) but has since got a better job so the arrears have been growing

My sister said it took 8 months to get any money from her ex. I've just opened a case so wonder how long it's going to take! He's on benefits so it will work out as just over £1.50 per child per day.

Per week* not day.

You should be fully blaming the man you chose to have chidren with, not a service set up to assist that most pay nothing for.

Get in touch with your MP, see if they can push CMS.

Businesses are obliged to act on a DOE so CMS should be dealing with them.

You are not unreasonable to be pissed off that missed maintenance payments aren't treated severely like a missed tax or council tax payment would be.

Not sure why yellow thinks that people shouldn't be angry at a service that is funded by the tax payer?

Contact your MP. They have the power to expedite things.

Thank you maybe I will contact my MP, obviously I am pissed at him but the service is there to help surely?

@ThisLittleKitty fingers crossed you get some, my son doesn't go without, far from it but I do think his dad should help support him, when I first opened the case his was £6 a week

Thanks. I've already had to deal with the fall out from him about not being "fair". It's not even the money for me either it's the principle, you have kids you pay for them.

I have heard that companies do not have to abide by the deduction of earnings.

I always ask interviewees if they have a AOE on their current salary as it gives me an idea of what type of person they are if they have.

CMS are taking money from my partners wage to pay his child maintenance as his ex wife didn't believe that he was earning less than she wanted. He is on zero hours contracts and works when he can. So do I to help him pay.

It's killing him that he can't afford the payments. But on the other hand it's killing us as they are taking nearly 70% of his wages so he's starting to get bank charges etc.

So it's not always as simple as they don't want to pay.

I'm going through the same.. currently owed £4000. He has a deduction of earnings, as they take 11 weeks to set up he just leaves his job before they can take any money then goes cash in hand so they can't find him. CMS told me they can't do anything while he job hops. They can't put a liability order on him while he job hops as they will always go for deduction of earnings first, and they can't force a deduction of earnings as they can't stop him leaving his job. It's stupid.

70% how is that right?? I was told that he maximum I would get was 19% and that's for 4 children.

Oh really @BakerBear I didn't know that

@BrokenHollandaise I completely agree it definitely isn't everyone who is like this, some parents want to do what they can but can't for whatever reason but that's definitely not the case here unfortunately, CMS actually rung me yesterday to tell me he said he has shared care so he shouldn't be paying, I had to send them a copy of our court order to prove this isn't the case so he is just trying to get out of it however he can, your DP sounds like a good parent

@Mamabear14 yep that's exactly what he does and then he will change some circumstances on it to hold it off for another month, it's just frustrating

I'm not sure on how the percentage is worked out but I know they have to leave the paying parent enough to live on

We don't have his DS for any overnights etc but he tries his best to see him.

I'm not sure if it is 70% it just seems like a lot. Off a £30 wage they took £11 so that's more than a third.

Last month he didn't have a big wage from his other job just about £180 and he was left with £70.

Leaving us with £77 for a month is not enough to live on.

@BrokenHollandaise no that's not enough to live on, maybe get them to reevaluate the case

I'm not saying all parents are like this but I just feel something more should and possibly could be done about it

Just had a quick google

You must be left with at least 60 per cent of your net income. Your net income is the money left after you've paid tax, National Insurance, and other payments taken from your gross income, such as pension contributions.

I have had a claim open since last June (no maintenance for 2 years before that as he refused to work).

CMS went for AOE in November and i chased it every week to be told its 12 weeks etc.

Last week i should have got money and called them - "oh sorry a computer glitch means the letters weren't sent we can only apologies"

So now they are starting from scratch and giving him yet another chance.

It is a totally incompetent service and so far I have only dealt with complete morons. I hate to say it but really really frustrated with it and the people working there.

He's been trying but they just keep saying he's got to pay which I fully understand.

He's sent wage slips etc to show he gets little money some months but nothing has changed yet so might need to get him to chase them up.

broken why doesn’t he have his DS overnight?

He doesn't pay tax etc as his earnings are low. I try and work as much as possible to help as well.

I just think they are taking so much to clear arrears.

They based it on a month when he had a really good wage rather than realising he was on a zero hours contract and balancing it out.

Our housing benefit has just done the same. I've had no income this month at all and he had the 70 but they've done it from old wage slips and decided we've to pay 40 a week. Which we just don't have.

It would disrupt his DS routine too much to have him overnight at the moment. But we are hoping it'll be soon. He takes him out for the day etc when he can.

@donners312 completely agree and by having collect & pay CMS get a small percentage of the money too from both parents

If it was a fine they would be constantly on at them and threatening court etc