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Cms, self employed....grrrrrrrrr!!

9 replies

user1468348545 · 20/01/2020 18:05

Is it me or do the cms seem to have no real power when it comes to self employment!

My ex (DS dad) has decided to go self employed and started to muck around with maintenance. Prior to this he'd changed what he was giving me 4 times in a year but always gave him benefit of the doubt as least he paid.
Applied to cms as was last straw, and they ordered he should pay x amount. He disputed it so continued to pay much much lower y amount. Cms said it would take a while before they could action anything as I either had to reject the money for a few months so it was non payment or wait till it hits a certain nomination and then they can action it. He asked for mandatory reconsideration, it was rejected. He is now appealing through court and has not paid anything for 2 months saying he can't afford it! Have been to cms again to say hes now not paying at all but because he's appealing it they can't do anything until a judgement is made! It can take up to 46 weeks to be heard in court fgs!! In the meantime I just have to wait, continue to report and see what happens. Is it me or is this ridiculous??

Grrrr sorry, just needed a rant. It's been a hell of a couple of years with him, and he no longer has contact with DS (his fathers choice, safeguarding concerns so until these are addressed we can't move forward and he won't do anything to address it) and this is just the icing on the cake now!

OP posts:
Racmactac · 20/01/2020 18:14

He should still be told to pay the amount he has been assessed at until conclusion of the appeal.

Contact your MP - CMS have a special department to deal with MP complaints. You will get a quick response.

user1468348545 · 20/01/2020 18:16

Oh he's been told and my case is supposedly collect and pay but he still just does what he wants. Everytime I speak to them I just get well theres nothing we can do :( just starting to wonder what the point in them are.

OP posts:
brendansbuddy · 20/01/2020 18:16

Sorry this must be maddening. Kids are not 'pay per view'. And yes it's ridiculous and outrageous that he isn't paying. I assume the CMS helpline have done all they can for you?

unicornsarereal72 · 20/01/2020 18:17

I don't know what the answer is. I would support MN trying to promote some way we can work together to change things. As a collective I would hope we could make a difference? .

I started my claim for cms Oct 2018. So 16 months now. I am still waiting on an appeal date (over a year) for ex's second income and a liability order(6 months) on non payment of award from his main income.

I have no faith in the system but have no other choice. Although I am now not expecting anything moving forward (11 years of support to go still). But I'm not going to go away.

eeyore228 · 20/01/2020 18:17

My DH was under the old scheme of maintenance for his children from a previous marriage and they hounded us like dogs over mistakes that were made by them. I never understand how some people seem to get away with it whilst others are treated like criminals. It left both me and my DH in a mess that we are still sorting now. Hope you get it sorted.

PettyContractor · 20/01/2020 18:22

A random thought, but if Universal Credit is allowed to just assume you make a certain amount from self-employment, should there be some joined up thinking whereby CMS should be allowed to assume the same?

user1468348545 · 20/01/2020 18:29

That's it. I'm trying to get round the mindset of not receiving anything so if I do it's a bonus. Just frustrating that there's meant to be all this enforcement ability etc but they don't actually seem to be able to do anything all the while he keeps appealing.

OP posts:
Fidgety31 · 20/01/2020 18:30

My ex went self employed to avoid paying maintenance too and the cms told me they don’t have the resources to chase people like that .

ButterAlwaysMelts · 20/01/2020 18:38

Same here. He hasn't paid any maintenance for just over 5 years.

Very frustrating.

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