To think that the CMS are fucking useless?

[Inthefuckitbucket]

why is it that yet again, women (and yes, the majority are women) are let down by feckless, useless men and the Child Maintenance Service seem to actively facilitate this through their total incompetence and ‘can’t be arsed’ attitude?

my son’s father has not paid a penny to his living costs for a long time now. He has blocked me on everything and so I can’t even communicate with him. I finally (finally) put in a claim with the Child Maintenance Service and they came back very quickly saying they were unable to find him. I called them today and was told that without his correct address, they can’t do anything. Yet they have his correct full name, date of birth, correct previous addresses, employer details and national insurance number.

surely this can’t be the case? Can it?? Would I be unreasonable to contact my local MP? Do you think it would make a difference?

100% op but I give it a page before someone pipes up that they are also useless at the other end and their poor hubby is paying "over the odds" to his evil, crazy ex 🙄.

I sympathise completely. The CMS needs to have the power to take money at source from deadbeat dads who don't want to pay for their Dc.

Do you know anyone who has your ex's address? Could you find it out? Are you in touch with his parents?

Surely if they have NI then they can see if he is working

Ok, yes they are pretty useless.

But. They don't have his address, from him, right now. They have to have this to inform him of the calculated amount to pay, before they can do anything else.

What they will now do, is look him up, see where he's taking credit out from, or contact his employer and ask them to provide an address.

As he's employed, this is all going to be pretty easy for you, but just expect them to take about 3 months to do anything, even the easiest task.

They will backdate from the date of the claim, so you'll get the same amount, it's just a nuisance you have to let them work at the speed of sloth.

My daughter's 18 in 4 months. I've spent nearly 16 years trying to get the CMS to do their job. It will almost be a relief when Dds father doesn't have to pay his £10 a week anymore and I can stop fighting.
The CMS has failed me and it's failed my daughter. It's not fit for purpose.

On a serious note, a huge number of the issues would be sorted out if it became a branch of HMRC with access to all tax records, and any non payment was covered by the government and taken from any future state pension. It should be inescapable. There should also be a minimum level above the £7 PW that NRPs on benefits are asked for. A realistic figure that actually represents a meaningful contribution.

192 him and send them his address.

Oh he’s definitely working. They haven’t even got that far though, just come back saying they are unable to find him to even start the process!

Sorry, that was in response to @Hankunamatata.

The lady I spoke to today said that they will have tried to contact his employer, but that most don’t reply due to data protection. They have everything, just not his address. And the reason for that is that even though I’ve given it to them, it’s rented and I know that his v wealthy parents are paying the rent. So he’s probably not associated with the address. He won’t have updated HMRC when he moved either.

I agree, it isn't fit for purpose.

My ex owes £18k in arrears and now doesn't even pay his £7 a week for 4 children.

I think every case should be individual. If the job centre can see people individually for claims then CMS should be the same.

@corlan I am so sorry. We never envisage that life will be like this, do we? It taints everything.

@debbs77 what has CMS said/ done about this? If anything?

They are 100% rubbish. They failed to get me a single penny in 18 years.

@BibbleandSqwauk is completely correct

@Everydayimhuffling, indeed, @BibbleandSqwauk is completely correct on both points. But it’s seems that yet again, logic and accountability when designing government run systems are actively discouraged.

I don't have any experience of it, but the stories I've heard from friends are mad. Why on Earth aren't they a branch of HMRC? Those guys can tell when I've visited Sainsbury's apparently; they'd be able to track down anyone in the system.

Council tax would have him living there on the roll.

The European country I'm from takes child maintenance very seriously. Like not paying tax, you get prison sentences for deliberate non payment. And they chase you down with bailiffs etc. In fact it can sometimes feel extreme but at least it's not optional as it appears to be in the UK.

i agree completely …

they changed there name from CSA .. now charge £20 to set up claim and do nothing more for the money

I’d like someone from CMS to do an AMA on here. This is a proper organisation who have been around for years, how are they so fucking useless?

It is clearly not ONE persons fault but run and regulated by people with a clear agenda to do as little as possible to support women and children.

A few years back I accidentally claimed over my child benefit allowance - it was a genuine oversight on my part but I was to blame - oh I got some strongly worded letters and a threat of court action. For less than a grand.

Surely there must be a mumsnetter who works there, come on, take one for the team and explain why it’s so terrible…

They would be quicker to employ us lot, we could track men down faster
I really do think it should be quicker and also don't pay - lose your driving license/passport/instant attachment of earnings etc

CMS are bloody useless. I challenged my yearly reviews as EX said he earns £87 per week... I contacted the courts and sent them some evidence of why ex is lying about his income. Currently awaiting a court date!!

I think it should be a crime line tax evasion to avoid paying cams and you have to be transparent about income the same way as you would re tax. Makes me angry.

Absolutely not fit for purpose, they are a joke. Finally though I was getting somewhere with then, and they calculated my ex earned a reasonable amount... when he refused to pay, they were going to put him on a deduction of earnings... I asked what would happen if he left his job, they said they wouldn't be able to chase him until he had a new employer. I warned them that he may leave his job.,,

Predictably, he then 'left' his job and the poor love is now claiming benefits again... he's working cash in hand ffs, just like he has got the last five years, and they just shrug, 'nothing we can do', back to £6.39 a week and £1000's still in debt. They must see this all the bloody time, why can't they do anything about it??

Makes my blood boil. Literally, what is the point of them? They have zero powers or interest unless it's benefitting them (like when the sperm donor finally managed to get a well paying job, which is why they suddenly got serious and go for the deduction of earnings, as they then get 20% from him and 4% off me).

UGHHHHH, totally useless!