Child maintenance

[Suchaheadache24]

tried legal thread but had no response.

So pretty straight forward question, is child maintenance effective from the date you apply ? I got a confirmation to say the got my application on the date I applied however the date they have stated on letter that states the maintenance payments has a date that is 2 and a bit weeks after the application was recieved.

Tried to contact CMS but an hour waiting on the phone with two children with autism really couldn’t do much longer 😩

Yes it's from the date you apply, the date payments start might well be later but the total for the year will be pro rata'd from the date you apply. So you'll get the full years total from the date you applied but over less than 12 months.

It really isn't very clear - if I've not made that clear I'll try again ☺️

Makes complete sense @Sunsparkles , it’s why I can’t understand why the date they’ve calculated from is 2weeks after I applied. They stated the later date and all even though I have email confirmation of that day I applied.

I mean they’ve miscalculated it to but just wanted to check :)

Not always. I applied in September but, because they had to track down the other parent and inform him, payment never got calculated until the end of December. I appealed but was told that they legally need to inform the other parent before it starts.

Thank you both for this. Yes it seems to be the case that they don’t calculate until they’re able to contact the other parent. Think it’s a bit ridiculous but there you go