CMS stopped all enforcement action during COVID-19

[sunshinesky]

The CMS are currently only taking calls from parents whose income has reduced. They will not accept any calls on individual cases, and are not taking any enforcement action.

This means any parent can report their income has reduced to nil and the other parent cannot challenge/ question it, and the CMS will not take any action to recover any payments from income that parent does receive during this time (eg if they get 80% on furlough).

What is the point in the CMS if they are no longer taking any enforcement action? There will be so many single parents and children affected by this at a time when the main / resident parent may also have their income cut.

So they are only taking calls from NRPs seeking to reduce payment. Unbelievable.

Absolutely no point at all. What a joke.

Yes, exactly that! Once again priority is given to the non-resident parent.

Oh shit. Well i guess last month is the last payment ill receive then

Sorry but this is my reality all the time not just during Covid-19 my ex hasn’t paid in years. The cms does nothing. So can’t say I’m surprised

As soon as self employed ppl had to claim from the govt I was thinking "hmm, all those dads saying they only get 10k pa....karma.
Then I realised they are all still doing jobs for cash in hand regardless of lockdown .
This isn't a massive surprise for anyone who has had to use CMS, but it does show another angle the govt have massively misjudged.

Well you can't really be expected to pay when you're not earning. And they can't chase everything up as they are probably receiving more calls than ever and have less staff.

I disagree, I think they can be expected to pay if they're getting furloughed or a self-employed grant etc. What if the resident parent has also had their income stopped / reduced?!

I understand that every organisation is running with reduced staff but the priority for the CMS should be ensuring children get the money they are entitled to. They should not only be accepting calls from parents who are claiming their income has stopped or reduced without any checks or challenges and writing off any payments not made!

Are they writing them off? I really hope not! I had understood it that it would get paid / enforced at some point but just maybe not right now? But over time it would work itself out?

If they've been furloughed they should pay 80% of what they normally pay. But some people, like myself, have lost all income and qualify for no government support.

Aaah. This explains why after two failed reconsiderations and promised enforcement I’ve suddenly had a letter saying they’ve accepted his nil income assertion and he owes me nothing.

I had been baffled. Well maybe they’ll pick it all up again after the crisis is over 🤷‍♀️

On the plus side he’s bleating on FB about not being eligible for any grants for small businesses. Well, yeah, fudge your income and reap the repercussions.

By the way, to everybody who thinks that because the NRP is only getting 80% income means they only pay 80% maintenance, that isn't the case. It's on a sliding scale of 25% so if they're income has gone up / down by 20% only the maintenance stays the same. So furlough should still mean the same amount of maintenance due!

I couldn’t even get through and had to message and got told it ll be dealt with on 12 weeks not very helpful and the non resident parent can basically do what they like this is one area that should have been better staffed