To ask for your opinions on Child Maintenance Service?

[josarmyx]

Long time lurker first time poster,

I've recently separated from my DH, but can't seem to get him to pay any maintenance for our 3 DC, I've read a lot of mixed reviews about CMS and want to know if its worth using them or not? I've spoke to Child Maintenance Options and like the sound of direct pay but want to know if its worth paying £20?

Would love to get some feedback and advice thank you!

YABU - Direct pay isn't worth it
YANBU - Direct pay works fine

Well it’s different for everyone isn’t it?? I get £7 a week for 4 children so for me no it isn’t worth it and I will be cancelling

I appreciate that Happycat must be quite frustrating, i get that obviously amounts vary for everyone but i just wanna know if direct pay actually works, do you use direct pay? sorry if OP was confusing

I initially had a good experience. They quickly progressed to deduction of earnings on my ex who evaded paying maintenance for 7 months.. I actually applied to them shortly before I left him because I knew I was leaving. They gave him several chances to do direct pay which he ignored.. Then it moved quickly to DOE..i received 1 payment.. Then all of a sudden its stopped 🙄.. Whether he's told his employer or not to stop taking it out his wages I don't know.. But I told cms now they are applying for enforcement action. Ordinarily I wouldn't care but my ex earns in excess of £70k and is pleading poverty.. All I wanted to do was save that money up for my daughter so she has a good start in life but he begrudges it.

I would use them, just so you have a record of missed payments. They are bloody painful though and always favour the paying parent. My ex is over £1500 in debt to me, misses payments or will pay late/ less, they have said he has negotiated with CMS and isn't paying arrears at the moment. But I can't argue that with them.

I use Direct Pay and have found the CMS to be very good. There are long wait times to get through if you need to speak to them but their staff are helpful and knowledgeable. Some of their letters etc. explaining how payments (and particularly arrears) are calculated are very difficult to understand but in my case they have turned out to be accurate.
My son's father wouldn't have paid a penny voluntarily so I am extremely grateful for the existence of the CMS. I would say it was well worth using them based on my personal experience. However, my ex is in regular paid employment so it was probably a straightforward case for them. I'd imagine it's far more difficult if your ex is self employed.

If that’s the one when they take it straight off them from their benefits (or work) then yes, they take it straight off him it works if you don’t have an ex like mine who comes off benefits or quits his job or self employed etc all you can do is open a claim and see it’s only £20

I would use them, just so you have a record of missed payments.

This is good advice. A future Govt might make CMS chase up absent parents who don't pay.

Pebbledashery
thanks so much for that, that sounds so annoying, i think thats what DH will do to try and get out of it but i just want my DC to have the best in life!

trevthecat
that is really good advice, i was thinking of just applying to them because i'll have them there if i need them because i cant trust him to pay and me and the DC will be in financial difficulty anyway moving forward as i cant work to look after them, DH was the breadwinner!

Bathsheba
Much appreciated, ive read alot about people complaining about the staff so thats nice to read i guess, DH is in full time employment so i think it would be quite straight forward, im just worried that he'll stop payments and nothing will happen moving forward

Happycat
i think its where the other parent just pays it directly, yeah i think i'll eventually just open one and see, but i'm the kind of person that has to know about everything before i do something lol, if it doesnt work for other people then i assume it wont work for me!

What are they like for chasing payments on direct pay? i dont want to go for collect and pay because of charges that i really cant afford but dont know how ill cope if he misses payments

The way I'd look at it is if you don't apply you'll definitely get nothing. If you do apply you'll probably get something, even if it takes a while.

My ex refused to pay until he had the CMS notification. The threat of them taking money straight from his wages and his employer finding out he's tried to evade paying maintenance (embarrassment etc) means he pays every month.

If a payment is missed you phone them after 5 working days. They will chase your ex.
If it keeps happening you can go onto collect and pay. You lose 4% but he has to pay an additional 20% in fees to CMS so its usually enough to give them a kick up the backside.

You cannot claim any money for the period before you made a claim. Arrears collections only start from the day you make your first claim.

Ime they did nothing when my ex didn’t pay, he didn’t pay for 3 years but they didn’t do anything, said he could be “living off a partner” but like I said it’s all down to individual claims and some people have success with them, if he won’t pay you himself then it’s the only option really.

freezedriedromance
yeah that absolutely makes sense, so do you use direct pay then? i'm not sure if my ex would really care about CMS being involved or not, I just really need his help and hes not willing to help privatly, but financially i cant afford all the charges.
when you say i phone them after 5 working days do you mean i have to wait from 5 days from the date the payment is missed? thanks so much for your advice

Yeah I used direct pay.
And yes, 5 days from missed payment as CMS allow the 5 days in case the banks are at fault for slow processing etc.
CMS aren't perfect, understaffed etc so it is a case by case basis and some people have had trouble. In my experience though its been a god send.

Thanks so much for your help!! its good to get some different views and perspectives

Need advice. Separated from children's father. He pays less than £100pw maintenance for 3 children I know I'm lucky to actually get any maintenance but he sees them for 3hrs aweek on a Wednesday while I'm working his choice they have no sleep overs no weekends no trips out just the 3 hrs. I've just done all the school uniform I've asked if he can contribute to it and the answer is no. I work 3 jobs to his one and he is on a very good wage. Am I wrong in asking for a little help?

@Ejlchapman - has that amount been calculated by the CMS or is it just a mutual agreement?

Might be worth calling the CMS (if you know his current income) and get an assessment. I personally don’t think you’re being unreasonable about the uniform etc, but there’s nothing you can really do to force him to pay.

That's what the CMS has said he has to pay. I've asked them to take another look at his earnings. But I don't know if his behaviour is normal or not?