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Hi everyone,
Unfortunately I am being made redundant in January. I don’t plan on claiming any benefits as family are going to help me out until I can get another job and back on my feet.
At present I pay child support, do I need to continue the payments even though I am not working, have no savings?.
My fear is they come after my property I currently own with my partner. Any advise would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Hi there
You need to contact the Child Maintenance Service for advice and to find out what your new liability will be.
The same happened to me a few years back. I phoned the CMS the day I left my job to notify them (did not tell them why, they don't need to know). they wanted evidence, so sent in my P45 that my employer sent to me and this was accepted. I did not sign on to benefits straight away as I done some travelling.
They were very critical of me on the phone and kept asing how I am going to support myself. I said that is none of their concern. I think they were fishing around to find out if I had savings
At this point my assessment was £0 to pay, the letters went out after my evidence was accepted, but was backdated to the day I left and reported it to them.
I then signed on to benefits about a month later. At this point my liability went up to £7 per week, this was automatically generated as the CMS must have a link in with work and pensions to report that I was on benefits.
Seemed that the system worked well in my situation, but it is imperative that you report it to them the day you are made unemployed.
What is the property you own? Why do you think they will come after that? They can't touch your residential place.
They won't touch your property, assuming it's your main residence.
I know you said your family are going to help you out, but you may as well claim benefits - you've been paying national insurance while you were working, so why not claim what you are entitled to?
hi,
if you end up out of work for a long period, it is better to cover yourself and claim benefits. then CMS will make you pay £7 a week maintenance. but be careful. because when you return to work and e.g say you been out of work for 6 months, then CMS will expect you to make back-dated payments for 6 months. i am not expert on this but this is how they seem to operate. try to avoid these situations where you only end up making back-dated payments.
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