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As many people seem to be, I have been plagued by the CMS for years. They are incompetent, unfair, unjust and do not listen to reason.
I have been to a tribunal with the CMS recently because they applied retained profits from my business to my income, putting my income up and creating a ton of arrears. They claimed I could have paid myself this and it was diversion of income (even though the company would have gone under if I’d paid it to myself).
anyway two years later I have basically lost the tribunal and the arrears are in five figures. Obviously there is no way I can pay this as I don’t have the money and never had the money.
then I discovered a small bit of text inside my “customer portal” (what a joke) that allowed me to close the case, because back in 2015, I was the one who opened it - not my ex. And amazingly, the CMS have now simply closed the case.
ive since had a letter from them saying my ex has now opened a new case, but there is absolutely no reference to the old case, and the new case says there is nothing owing. Nor has there been any contact from the CMS since the tribunal/closure.
so … silly question, but does anyone know if they just write the arrears off if a case is closed? I can’t believe that they would but so far it seems that way.
As far as I am aware, a new case is just that, not a continuation of an old case. To be honest, if you are looking at 5 figure arrears, I'd try to find a solicitor who specialises in CMS cases and pay for a short consultation to find out the position.
Thanks for your response but to be honest, I am reluctant to pay for a solicitor because in the course of my divorce and various child litigation proceedings, I've given them tens of thousands of pounds, and I don't think I'd have done a much worse job if I'd done it myself. I guess I'll have to just wait and see what happens.
hi,
you could contact these people and see if they would do a free consultation: https://www.nacsa.co.uk/
were you paying direct pay to your ex in the past? am surprised CMS would easily close a case if they were taking 20% enforcement fees from your money.
Yes, direct.
They've been a complete pain in the [censored] since day 1, constantly taking mothers' side on everything even in the face of evidence - for example, she would say that I haven't paid here, I'd upload bank statements proving that I had, and they would still dispute it. Complete joke.
Thanks for the link, I'll have a look at that.
Hi Snickermunch
Can l ask what the outcome of this was? I have a very similar situation as you and, if possible, would like to close my case. I am the parent who opened it.
Thanks
Hi Snickermunch
Can l ask what the outcome of this was? I have a very similar situation as you and, if possible, would like to close my case. I am the parent who opened it.
Thanks
@markmc There is no 'end result' as yet. I closed the case, they closed it. But the arrears apparently remain. I've written to them several times asking for clarification on their figures. Basically as I see it - I've done the maths - they've taken my 2016/17 salary and dividends and simply applied them to every year since, hence the massive arrears. They want all the profits but won't take into account the years when there are company losses and the previous profits paid my dividends - which they've already calculated a liability on. So effectively I would be making payments twice on the same amount. There's no way that is either legal or morally right, so given that I am entirely confident that they are wrong, I have told them I'm happy to go to court. My ex hasn't told them about over £7.5k worth of maintenance that I've paid so that's included in their figures, although fortunately I have bank statements proving what I've paid. If I did not have that information to prove it, I was told I would have to pay it again, so that's a word to the wise.
I honestly don't know what the next steps are; I suppose I'll wait for either a summons or for them to write back with revised figures, which I've calculated to be about £1500 if they go by the book. I'm not worried about a summons at all because I'm wholly confident that their numbers are wrong, but you can now only write them a letter, or ring them up and be on hold for an eternity - or wait. They're complete muppets as far as I'm concerned, so I'm happy to wait.
@snickermunch hi, I would recommend this support group for paying parents: https://www.facebook.com/groups/239699060076601
@snickermunch wondering how this went. Similar situation myself, potential tribunal coming up. Wondering to hit the close button just before. Avoid years of hassle. Will have it one way or forms again. Just need a breather at moment.
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