Anyone used the CMS for new application recently - help needed

[MadameLeBean]

Finally approached ex for maintenance but he has lied to me about his income (very blatantly - it's about half of what he should be earning) so having to use CMS but does anyone know if they need some sort of response from him before they can confirm income with hmrc and tell me what the maintenance amount should be? He is full time employee so no self employed issues etc

Posting in chat for higher traffic

Please answer if you know as this is really stressing me out

On the phone they told me they don't need a response from him to check his income details with hmrc but in the welcome letter to me they said they need to contact him to check some details before they can confirm the amount of maintenance (I assume this is that he does not dispute the level of contact and number of dependents I have stated in the application??)

Also - should I tell him I know he's lying and so I need to go through the official channels? Or do I accept his lower offer for an easier life? I don't want to screw him over and I think he very probably can't afford the full maintenance amount but now he has lied I feel like he might be also making up how hard up he is.

Anyone ??

Hi there,

We're moving this over to our Lone Parents topic - hopefully there'll be some MNers who can offer the OP some advice.

Thank you

I only get £5 a week through CSA..Can I suggest you call them and ask the questions...The CSA were really helpful when I called.

There is no reason to accept lower offer for an easier life..Once sorted through official channels should make your life easier

They go with the HMRC figure but they do give the NRP a short amount of time to dispute if the amount they earn is 25% different to the HMRC figure. It also gives them time to confirm or dispute details such as pension contributions, other children he is paying for or living with and the number of nights the children you are claiming for stay with him. They do not need him to confirm his income - they use the figure they have unless the NRP disputes it.

Thank you for your replies. My question is will the CMS tell me the amount he is supposed to pay or do they need to wait for his confirmation of things like contact time and other dependents? I think he might try to delay things by not responding to them. I know he has lied to me about what he should be paying so he won't want the CMS confirming it.

The delay tactics won't make a difference , they will accrue areas while delaying..

I get a letter telling me he has to pay £10 a fornight...

He will be sent a letter saying how much he is supposed to pay. You will receive a letter at the same time. He will be given a short amount of time to raise any disputes and if he doesn't dispute their calculation then he will have to make payments according to their schedule. He can't cause any delay. He has to make payments according to their schedule until any dispute is resolved.

Thanks HeadDoctor that's really helpful

Hello - has anyone out there had a bad experience with the CMS (Child Maintenance Service?) - the replacement service to the CSA (Child Support Agency)? My experience has been appalling, insulting and very dissatisfactory. I am looking for all single parents to be heard. The single parent shouldn't suffer from a government provided scheme, that we the individual pay for - it is dis-functional, ill thought out, mismanaged and leaves the lone parent extremely distressed. Today I have set up a Twitter account CMS Be Heard@CMS_complaints please follow and share with friends and family, I am determined vulnerable families should not suffer at the hands of the CMS service.