CMS query if paying parent doesn’t pay full amount due

[Castlecould]

Hi all

Can anyone confirm if CMS will chase up lower than amount due payments if the payment is circa 80-90% of what was due?

TIA

Is your payment being processed via CMS, or is it your partner paying you directly? If through CMS remember that they charge both the sender and the recipient a fee for their service, the recipients part of the fee is deducted from the amount they would receive.

If the amount is via a private agreement it depends what the amount was. If the amount is court mandated or is at the minimum based on the CMS calculations then yes you can get them to chase, but in the long run it might not be worth it. If the amount you received is over the statutory and not part of a court agreement then they will not do anything as there is no legal basis for them to do so.

Have you asked your partner why they underpaid?

Thanks for your quick reply. Unfortunately I am unable to speak to the other parent directly. It is a private arrangement paid directly and is the minimum amount based on CMS calculations.
I know that I am in a much better position than done by getting any child maintenance at all but as a full time student single parent when the other parent is a high earner the amount missing would make a difference to me whilst not impacting the other party iyswim? Frustrating but I’m not sure it it worth the stress of trying to take it further if it is unlikely CMS will do anything anyway.

It is really difficult as going through the CMS cost quite a bit, but it is still less expensive than going to court. Do you have any way of indirect communication with them? What you probably need to establish is was this just a one off, or is it likely to happen again and/or lead to greater shortfalls in the future.

The other parent will want to avoid Collect and Pay as whilst you only lose 4% of the incoming payment the paying partner has to pay a 20% surcharge. The only other thing is that if you are not in communication with them then they may have adjusted the amount due to a change of circumstances.