CMS diverted income. child maintenance dodgers, CMS not fit for purpose, leaving children in poverty, facilitating abuse and coercive control

[Toastandavocado]

Am I being unreasonable to think this is a crock of shit?

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/child-maintenance-modernising-and-improving-our-service/child-maintenance-modernising-and-improving-our-service

Here’s my advice from someone with years of experience of the woefully inadequate CMS system. Ltd Company Director wilfully paying a pittance to the welfare of his children and a system that has never ever led on the Welfare of the Child principle (if you’re at the start of this journey this advice is for you 💐)…

submit a variation as soon as you know there is diverted and unearned income. Be sure to mention both diverted and unearned income in your variation form to catch all hidden income sources- At this very early stage know you are going through the process, you are ticking the boxes that allow you to move to tribunal. Less than 20% of variations/Mandatory considerations are upheld and this is because CMS are an administrative money making government body and not one bit about your welfare, or the welfare of your child/children. Be very aware of this going forward, it will save you the years of heartache and stress I have had. And it will hopefully get you to a place more quickly where you can actually have your child/children’s welfare supported. I’ve spent years with ‘bits’ of information, misinformation and full ridiculous wild goose chases from CMS. DO NOT FALL INTO THIS TRAP. If you have a self employed/Ltd Company Director child maintenance dodging ex this is what you need to do… you need to follow the steps to get to tribunal. It is the ONLY way you and your child/children stand a chance. By all means involve your MP/MSP in fact I’d urge you to do that but they are not going to get your children the maintenance they deserve… by all means report them to HMRC (which CMS tell you to do, then HMRC direct you to online because they’re so overwhelmed with RP’s they don’t deal with them) however this will still not get your child/children the maintenance they deserve. They live in real time? You live in real time? You and your child/children need the support now. The way I have stated below should have a much better chance at success…

www.voiceofthechild.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Variations-Overview.pdf

www.gingerbread.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Challenging-your-Child-Maintenance-Service-calculation.pdf

Submit a variation instantly, once your variation is submitted (you can submit a variation at any time in your CMS case) chase up every week, as soul destroying as it will be as otherwise you’ll place your faith in a system that is broken and shit and doesn’t care about your child/children… you will be on hold for over an hour every time you phone, possibly cut off after an hour and have to start again, that happens often too. Keep going until they reject it, they will.
Don’t fall for their lies that their online portal is a wonderful way of keeping in touch, they’ll ignore that too. Push to get a response, that allows you onto the next ‘administrative’ step.


Do not bother playing detective, contacting HMRC or doing any of the the other nonsense that should be their job, just provide what you can.

As soon as you receive your rejection (because you will) complete and send in the mandatory reconsideration form (within a month)

wait for that to come back rejected because it will! Now download the tribunal form and fill that in and send it off (within a month)

www.gov.uk/government/publications/appeal-a-child-maintenance-group-decision-by-the-dwp-form-sscs2

And now you’ve got a fighting chance of getting some justice and maintenance for your children.

The system is set up to make us fail… it’s nearly killed me. I’m at tribunal stage. Come along and join me and let’s get a fair outcome for our children and improve their life chances. They deserve to be supported by both parents and they deserve a system that protects and supports them, we don’t have this in the UK and it’s an utter disgrace for a country that should genuinely protect the welfare of the child, and uphold the legislation around this. I’m rooting for you.

Agreed op.

Oh most definitely! The investigator provided a complete breakdown of what he found in bank statements, so if anyone goes to Tribunal, they’re best to ask the Judge to involve the FIU as it will likely prove your case that the ex has more money than they’re letting on!

Thank you, and yes we do all deserve better! I can’t believe this CMS system is so crap but it’s all we have. Although, it’s deadbeat dads in the first place that ar3 the cause of us having to go down that route,

Thanks Dahlia, it’s these bits of info that I really hope help the women coming behind us. The stress is horrendous and none of us would want it for our daughters or friends. Nearly 2023 pfft

Thanks cooda

FIU involved in my case and my God the fuss I had to make it to get to this stage. CMS already had a Liability order against him (I am a grandparent carer) and they always win this because there is no defence in law to non payment of child support. This is quite funny when you discover how bad CMS are at actually applying this.

They also tried to take out a charge over his property but a simple search at the Land Registry by me revealed he had transferred it into his elderly parents' names. I had to tell the CMS this as they forged ahead.

I got one of the decent FIU workers but even then I had to bite my tongue over a 2 week period when he sent me paperwork showing a nil contribution as my gs's deadbeat dad stated he earned less than £200 pw and provided accountancy "proof".

I then got a phone call. FIU man told me he told deadbeat dad he was not happy with the paperwork supplied by his accountant and that he wanted five years of his books straightaway. He told him I wanted to settle for x amount and he point blank refused. Strangely the next morning FIU man was contacted and deadbeat dad paid me directly the same day. I had to sign a disclaimer but I was just relieved to walk away. I believed it better to get a lump sum rather than continue with the stress of non payment over the years.

I don't think they tell people at FIU stage that you can put a figure forward to settle. I was asked the lowest I would accept and I said a whole lot more. It depends how much they have to hide and I have no doubt I was still significantly short changed but I felt at peace with my decision for my gs.

I should mention that when I say I "settled" this was because there were substantial arrears on my case that the Liability Order made a legal debt. I settled within £750 of the amount due and agreed to write that off. Just to clarify.

Elsie sorry you’ve had this struggle too, I can only imagine the grandparent status would have made it all the more difficult for you as parent status is confusing enough for CMS. Glad to hear you got some outcome but it’s still utterly frustrating it’s not the ‘fair’ outcome or putting the children at the centre by the organisation that reports to lead on the welfare of the child… as I said in my op… crock of shit.