It's a CMS one

[2020canfuckitself]

Received my annual review from CMS today. Fantastic need!

Payments have been put down to £5 per week for 3 children, down from £25! This is after the csa have already quashed it debt of £15,000.

Why are they allowed to just walk away from the responsibility of providing for their children? Why are they allowed to continue to have more kids, leaving the ones they already have in utter poverty?

Why are they allowed to cook the books when they a self employed? He's driving around in a brand new car, always dressed in the latest clothes, holidays etc.. total dick.

Now I'll have to start working more double shifts to make up the shortfall, meaning my kids suffer even more.

Just ranting, I'm sure I'll get over it

Oh and Cosey maintenance to the nrps child should not be dropped because they choose to move in with someone else's child. If the mother of the 2nd child loses some UC as a result, that is for them to consider in advance. Its not compulsory to live together and an NRP should not be supporting a step family at the expense of the first. Maintenance should be the first financial obligation an NRP has to fulfill. All else, rent, bills, etc should be 2nd priority so wage - cms = what you can afford rent wise etc. If you need more, find a way to earn it, you don't dump the shortfall on the RP to make up.

You said it... total dick. He sounds like an ass. Sadly it’s not uncommon.

@Coseynightin and let me guess if she spends a penny on herself it MUST have come from the maintenance 😂

@HugeAckmansWife totally agree! My ex dp has 2 stepchildren and another son which brings my children's money right down anyway. The whole thing is ridiculous

If you believe he is cooking the books report to HMRC. You can also report him to CMS for lifestyle not matching his lifestyle.

Lodge a complaint and contact your local MP. It’s the only way to get CMS to listen.

Do parents have any say in cms writing off maintenance debts?

@Coseynightin

Id wager more NRP would pay more if they knew the money was being spent on the children instead of being thrown into the RP household pot.

50/50 should be the default and then this does not happen.

I bet when together though also you benefited from his self employed status.

At it again I see

Do you actually know the purpose of Child Maintenance?

The prime minister himself doesn't even know how many children he has - you think he pays maintenance for the others? The system is rotten, from the top down. I have no hope of people suddenly waking up to the injustice and making good for women and children.

@TrulyOutrageousJem

Your username is fab!

I loved Jem

Do you know of anyone who has complained to their MP and if it got them anywhere?

Dont feed the under the bridge dweller.

Cosy here you must be hungry

@Soubriquet

I think this is the only thing America has got right

That CSA is taken from the wages or they go to jail

If a resident parent left their child in dire poverty, dirty clothes, not enough food etc, that parent would be jailed

Yet the other parent can throw them £5 and they are fine to swan off and make more children

Totally bloody agree!

My ex pays most weeks, but not all. He sort of picks and chooses. November and December are sparse as he coincidently struggles to pay then presents lavish Christmas gifts

When I point it out he says what do I expect him to do? I say that maybe next year we'll not feed DS, pay for his college train fare, clothing etc, because we want to get him the biggest present..... . Instead we have to manage it all, oh to have the luxury to choose to not support a child!

Knob..

@2020canfuckitself

£5 a week! What can I do with £5?

I'm so angry and hurt. My kids don't deserve this

Bloody insulting isn't it

@nancybotwinbloom

I complained and got a resolution via my MP. It was also expedited and moved through the system much quicker.
The whole system is a nightmare!

@safariboot

It's fraud by the father and should be treated as such. If the government can have people to snoop on alleged benefits cheats, they should be able to have people to snoop on child support cheats. Lifestyle incompatible with declared income should prompt a serious investigation.

I wouldn't have much faith in the American approach though. The system there is a reincarnation of the debtors prisons of Victorian England. It's the can't pay, far more than the won't pay, who get jailed without any lawyer to defend them.

I usually just let the insults about America go by - you are entitled to your opinion no matter how uninformed it might be. However -- we do get CMS (called CSS, Child Support Services) right. It is NOT "debtor's prison"! But CSS has investigators who do find out where unemployed fathers get their money for cars and rent, etc. If they use a company credit card, CSS gets copies of the charges which are considered income. If they get cash gifts from relatives or girlfriends they the gifts are income. If they claim "no money" and they have life insurance, they can be required to cash in the policy to pay child support. Yes, some men get by without paying, I am sure. But not as many as it seems from reports here.

At least you got £25, I’ve only ever got £7 a week for my 4 kids from ex,
So £1.75 per child per week. And even then that was a fight to get

My ex didn’t pay cm for 3 years, cms didn’t do anything as they told me he could be living off a partner so they wouldn’t investigate, they told ME to try to find out what he’s doing, when we had no contact

Maybe a celebrity like Marcus Rashford could start a campaign to shame absent fathers into paying for their kids and for CMS to be overhauled so these losers can't get away with non payment.

@PretendLife

Maybe a celebrity like Marcus Rashford could start a campaign to shame absent fathers into paying for their kids and for CMS to be overhauled so these losers can't get away with non payment.

I wouldn’t hold my breath.

@PretendLife

Maybe a celebrity like Marcus Rashford could start a campaign to shame absent fathers into paying for their kids and for CMS to be overhauled so these losers can't get away with non payment.

That would be something to see!!

Thanks everyone, I just needed the rant. Just got to work out £80 worth of things I can remove from my budget per month. I'm already on the cheapest internet package and I need that 100%

Reading the comments I cannot believe how many nrp pay either the bare minimum or nothing. Surely its child neglect?

He’s a dick. You and your DC deserve so much better.

Definitely worth contacting your MP as others have said. It’s worth a go, you won’t get less than you are now.

Why did they write off the debt?

The system allowing NRPs to reduce their payments when they live with their partner’s kids is a disgrace. We didn’t cut child support for DH’s older two when we had our DC because they didn’t suddenly cost less when they’re at their mum’s.

Contact Marcus Rashford, I like that idea too.

Maybe the fantastic women of Mumsnet could start a national campaign? Write to a few celebs to get the ball rolling?

Op can you realistically cut down £80 a month?

He's an absolute shit, I'm sorry for you and all the other posters on her going through this.

If he’s not paying it then she will have no choice, I’ve never relied on child maintenance because we’ve never got more than a few pounds. And no it’s not classed as neglect.

@AnneLovesGilbert I just got a letter one day saying all his owed maintenance was being written off, I tried to appeal but lost unfortunately.

Now it's switched over to CMS. They're equally as crap.

It's going to be a huge struggle but I'll have to just deal with it. £80 doesn't seem like much but it is to me. Ah well