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I’ve an amicable relationship with my ex and have paid Child Maintenance directly for over 7 years. Never missed a payment and always over payed. Never really had a need to log into CMS.
I logged in last year and discovered I’d been substantially over paying so I reduced the standing order. My ex phoned CMS and complained I hadn’t paid. They wrote to me at an old military address and I didn’t see any letters, when they decided I was non cooperative they raised an attachment of earning inclusive of 2 years arrears (as I hadn’t provided proof in defence - oblivious this was going on). First I hear of it is a call into the office for a welfare check with my boss (military) as they had been ordered to act on an £840/month attachment!
Several weeks of phone calls later and the uploading of years of bank statements and it’s all cleared up. Back to direct pay. However, they botched sending the STOP notice and the attachment is still in place despite the money not being paid forward to anyone (they claim they’ll send it to me but that has yet to happen). I still pay my ex directly but it’s crippling me financially and has caused a house purchase to fall through, not to mention embarrassment at work. Every time I call CMS they assure me it’ll get sorted out but nothing appears to be happening outside of the call. My portal says direct pay yet the attachment persists and they are just robbing me and holding a significant percentage of my wages at this point. Can I sue them to recover this plus compensation?
Hello Pete87RN,
You can apply to the court yourself to challenge or stop the Attachment of Earnings using form N244. Apply directly to the court. I would assume the the CMS document, which can be used as evidence. State you should no longer be on the attachment.
You can take them to a tribunal filling in SSCS2.
You can make a complaint directly to the government and departmental ombudsman regarding the use of maladministration / abuse of power in the handling of your case. Information on how to do this can be found online.
You can make a complaint to the police but they will probably not even investigate. But may bother to provide a crime number.
You can go for a privet prosecution for fraud and modern day slavery. (As the CMS, are forcing payment outside of the legislation and calculations that permit them to do so, that define the difference, and outline you rights).
Your employer cannot stop paying, because of legal penalty.
You can also get information on your balance through CAPS, of what the court has as a record as your alleged debt.
I hope you find a way to get this sorted out. I hope some of this is useful to you.
Good luck.
CMS told your employer to set up the attachment of earnings. I think they are able to challenge it or cancel it.
this is what CMS sends to employers:
https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance-for-employers
you can also try complaint route with your MP.
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