CMS Financial Investigation Unit

[Pixieb34]

Hello,
Wondering if anyone here has had any experience of the Financial Investigation Unit part of the Child Maintenance Service?
I have finally got them to look at my exs income after years of financial abuse from him. They’ve said he is now coming in to see them for an interview. Is this is positive sign? I don’t hold out much hope as they seem completely ineffectual and he always gets away with not paying somehow, despite having earnings of over £150k.
I would be grateful for any insights!!
Thanks, Pixie

Looking at this from a neutral perspective, you allege financial abuse and that his earnings are in excess of £150k; an investigator (doing their job properly) will need to see evidence to support what you allege. A lot of weaker financial parties in divorce and the aftermath start subscribing to a "pot of gold" theory about their ex and begin to believe that have more assets or a higher income than they actually do. It creates a lot of anguish, from expensive litigation at the point of divorce or separation through to back and forth tussles with the CMS.

Your husband being interviewed by the CMS is a positive sign only if you are right in your allegations. My question would be on what basis do you know his earnings are in excess of £150k? Good evidence would be a recent P60 or knowing where he works and what he does for a living. Less strong would be an assumption based on what he used to earn (for example, my ex-wife is still convinced that I earn a lot more than I actually do because I decided to work less after divorce when I didn't have to keep up with her overdraft anymore. In reality, after commuting costs and paying her maintenance I didn't see any of the last £10k so I saw no point in earning it and moved to a job local to where I lived).

After an appeal last year it was decided he’d earned £150k based on HMRC figures from 2022. They decided at that point that he owed £6000 in unpaid maintenance. He then declared an income of £1000 per year based on a new tax return meaning he paid nothing. He’s a company director, a lawyer and knows exactly how to play the system. I know from my children (eldest now 19) that he employs and pays his wife through his company. There’s other evidence too but I’d say that’s sufficient to demonstrate what he’s doing and has done for years meaning my children have never got the maintenance they’re entitled to .

Threaten that you will complain about his conduct to the SRA. They will deal with him far more effectively than the CMS and his income will be on the line if he doesn't behave.

As long as he is not evading tax (and it doesn’t appear he is) or committing any crimes the SRA will not be interested or able to get involved

I’ve already contacted the SRA and if he’s been proven to have misled the CMS regarding his actual income (which he has by filing different tax returns in order to have the maintenance reduced) then they would pursue that as a complaint.

It's a conduct matter and they will be interested.

Hi
My Ex husband has now been under financial investigation for 15 months after two years of battling with the CMS. I believe he is hiding his income as the usual story of self employed etc, he also received £12k in furlough payment….how do you get furlough if you wasnt earning His financial review every year is stating he earns less than £4k a year…benefits would pay more.
Has anyone had a positive outcome from FIU and how long has it taken? My case worker was great at getting back to me but now its been escalated to her manager i cant get hold of him. I find it strange that all im given is a mobile number and i cant seem to find a central main number to call. I did at one point think it was my Ex and his new wife scamming me and getting someone to call as ive had no letter etc from FIU but CMS have confirmed it…phew!
Any advice or feedback would be gratefully received.

@Feebs381
I thought exactly the same thing, that my ex was scamming me, when I was first contacted…it all seemed so unofficial with just a mobile number to contact!
I wish I had some more info to offer but my case with the FUI has only been underway for 6 months (after several years of trying to appeal the CMS decisions).
I have also contacted my MP and they are also emailing on my behalf, hopefully it will push it further.

Oh thanks for getting back to me. Its very weird about the mobile numbers only. Im thinking about sending them a text as don’t have email address. So frustrating it takes so long.

Hi
Having been under the financial investigation team with CMS I have now received the outcome. My ex has significantly underpaid (surprise surprise) and I'm unsure whether to ask for mandatory reconsideration in order to proceed with going to court? The other option is wait and see if he pays and let them follow the process. I'm thinking with the first option I'm in control? He will not pay and it would take formal proceedings for him to take it seriously.

Has anyone asked for mandatory reconsideration and followed through with court successfully? TIA

Mobile numbers are used as non paying parents are very unlikely to respond to an 0300 number whereas they may answer a mobile number . The nature of the job also means they need to be contactable outside the office .

Hi not entirely sure what you mean? Maybe you were answering a different thread?

I now have got no choice to go to court as FIU found hidden money but somehow now he can resubmit new evidence of new earnings of £129 a week. Just gathering all the evidence of the last 4yrs! Fyi ex husband is a self employed builder with a wife as an accountant 😡

my ex who was severely abusive during our 10 year relationship and got away with a lot of things he should be behind bars for is now financial abusing his children (whilst trying to get custody). I’ve seen lots of parents dealing with child maintenance investigations for hidden income but my ex is currently under investigation for pretending to have another child so that he can pay less maintenance to our children (which has gone down by £400 a month), when he had a vasectomy 8 years ago. Has anyone else had anything as bizarre as this and what was the outcome?

Hi what is the contact number for CMS financial team please ?

Hi, sorry for jumping on your thread,
CSA are currently ongoing investigation with my Deadbeat….
he also was investigated by fiu for claiming two children in his case. And was told he would back date it.
He’s also a director to a limited company earns over 100k a year. I’ve been jumping hurdles for the past year. And finally thought I was at the end of it. And very similar to most of yours. He’s now claiming a lower income. He’s also paying and maintenance for the past two months. CMS don’t seem to be rushing to get the money from him. I’ve just emailed my local MP and attached it to my file on CMS. Did this help with a fraud investigation? His tried following to get out of payment

withholding income amount they found his unearned income of £73k

claiming 2 extra children fraudulently not his not living with him. (He got away with it) fiu involved

claiming we have debt together mortgage and bank loans (we don’t)

now dna

Fortunately, claiming universal credits/jobseekers allowance even though he pays himself dividends. he’s restricting his income to lack of income in. (All backed up with evidence)

this has been over a space of 10 months.

i’ve been told to not appeal and go straight to FIU again as they can do more than appeal and court.

When did I step in and say this is abuse now? Or I see that they can take driving license/ prison sentence when do they see this as a last measure.

I’ve also report ever claim his made to police for financial abuse

sorry for jumping on your thread,
CSA are currently ongoing investigation with my Deadbeat….
he also was investigated by fiu for claiming two children in his case. And was told he would back date it.
He’s also a director to a limited company earns over 100k a year. I’ve been jumping hurdles for the past year. And finally thought I was at the end of it. And very similar to most of yours. He’s now claiming a lower income.

He’s also not paid me maintenance for the past two months. CMS don’t seem to be rushing to get the money from him. I’ve just emailed my local MP and attached it to my file on CMS. Did this help with a fraud investigation? His tried following to get out of payment

withholding income amount they found his unearned income of £73k

claiming 2 extra children fraudulently not his not living with him. (He got away with it) fiu involved

claiming we have debt together mortgage and bank loans (we don’t)

now dna

, claiming universal credits/jobseekers allowance even though he pays himself dividends. he’s restricting his income to lack of income in. (All backed up with evidence)

constantly asking for reconciliation.

this has been over a space of 10 months.

i’ve been told to not appeal and go straight to FIU again as they can do more than appeal and court.

When do they step in and say this is abuse now? Or I see that they can take driving license/ prison sentence when do they see this as a last measure.

I’ve also report ever claim his made to police for financial abuse

sorry rush post so many mistakes to correct

I went through an FIU investigation with my ex last year. They uncovered money he'd been paying himself during Covid ( Director of a LTD company) and it took about 5 months start to finish.
They directed a new amount of maintenance to pay from X date and he's refusing to pay it. He raised a mandatory reconsideration which was rejected, and it's now going through a first tier tribunal with HM Courts & Tribunals. I was told that could take 67 weeks!
And until that happens, he can just carry on paying the pathetic amount he's been paying for the last two years.
The whole system is a joke.

Hi hun I have sent you an urgent pm

My financial investigation was concluded in September, it took 9 months. They uncovered £140000 of unearned income and decided he owed £14500 in arrears for that one year alone and the maintenance should be £800 going forward.
At this time he’s paid £4500 as a one off payment, closed the case (as he opened it in the first place) and I’ve had to reopen another but he’s still not paying maintenance.
it’s been utterly farcical and up to now a waste of the FIU’s time as he’s still not paying.
I keep making complaints however and it is being dealt with my a complaints manager at the moment following several letters from my MP. I don’t hold out much hope but I’m not prepared to sit back and ket him just get away with it.
Good luck with yours 💐

Gosh this doesn't give me much hope. We're currently at the stage of exchanging Form Es. The first hearing is next week. He's disputed CMS since the start (a few months ago). They investigated as i challenged it twice and it rose to 744 then the day after he disputed it and its reduced to 427 for 4 children. Similar situation, he's director of a Ltd company and has rental properties. He pays himself a tiny salary and keeps the rest in his business account. I have some more info now thanks to the disclosure but he's definitely not shown everything. According to his accounts he's spent a whopping £85 on keeping himself alive with food for 3 months. CMS has suggested FIU but by the looks of your experience I don't know if its going to be worth the stress. Ideally I'd fight for a good financial settlement as i have 100% care of the children and hes likely to leave the country. Realistically he's going to fight against every last penny. I'm sorry you've fought for so long and not had a good outcome. I hope you get there at some point!!

He has now submitted more evidence to say he earns £129 a week so now i have been advised to apply for tribunal court against him and dwp as i cant do another mandatory reconsideration. Application in and hoping to hear from them soon.

I was told before taking it to court to allow FIU to do the digging before so they will be able to assess all his accounts and business with out his permission, also he won’t be aware. So they have advised me to not reconsider and go straight to that path. That way he thinks his won and will soon forget and not realise his being watched!

I’ve also been advised to report to benefit fraud as well. As this will strengthen the claim when they look into him.

I forgot to mention he offered me £250 a month for me to drop the claim otherwise I would receive nothing… all in emails…

I did go to accept this but then he failed to pay it the first month so I thankfully kept claim.

we are in arrears now of over £3000 because of his first fraudulent claim on CMS

plus the fact his now stopped any payments completely. Which will add on.

his also appealed and taking it to court. But as far as I’m aware there’s a 18 month wait.

It’s unbelievable that so many of us are having very similar experiences and very little in the way of positive outcomes, and it takes so long for anything to happen! The CMS must spend all its time on dealing with mandatory reconsiderations and appeals! When they should have them straight in court and forced to pay for their own children. It’s a disgrace!