[Solved] Cms = skint

Hi there

£370 sounds a lot, for one child the percentage of gross income is 12%, unless they are taking arrears.

Have you used their online calculator to see for yourself what you're liable for

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance

Hi There,
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I agree that sounds a lot, I am guessing that you must have some arrears that you are paying back.
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You may be able to negotiate a different payment plan, but if they are tacking it from your wage you possibly won't have much say in what they take.
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GTTS

No arrears.
I spoke to them on the phone and they said they only leave me 60% of my wage after tax and NI.i also used the calculator and it says £27 a week so [censored] ?

I'm not sure about the CMS side of things but if you're really struggling for food money, most councils have the ability to help you out financially and can even arrange food parcels. It's worth a phone call and the questions they ask for you to qualify usually on last a minute or so. Unfortunately you won't be able to choose which food items you want but they are quite generous. There are also several charities around the country such as P3 or turn2us if the council refuse to help.

You can also arrange to do this through your local CAB office.

based on a wage of 16k a year with child staying 2 nights a week is band a payment I believe. I pay 135.00 a month. So you must be earning 35k a year to be paying that amount of support.
Even if you didnt have the child overnight which would be the highest band it would still only be 145.00 a month.
You need to speak to CSA with there own Calculator at hand and go through it with them step by step how they calculated that figure as I did. Mine started at 220.00 a month which was impossible for me to pay, I managed to get it to 135.00 after 2 days of proving there complete lack of training and understanding of there own system.
I even got apology.

I am on £9.20 an hour for 40 hrs a week.it varies to wen i see her shes 15 and likes to go out with her mates on weekends she lives 30 miles away from me.so comes to me once a month for the weekend.when i speak to child maintenance services they dont care that im skint and they are not helpful at all.i have tried to contact my ex and she just ignores my texts and calls.cms charges me so all the money doesnt go to my daughter either.

Are cms and csa the same thing ?

So your just short of the 20k a year but you will be in the highest band due to overnight stays which will go in the less the 52 nights a year bracket which is high. When CSA contacted the tax office what did they estimate your earning for this tax year would be as thats what they would work it out on.
Try this link hope it helps
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321050/how-can-i-appeal-2003-scheme.pdf

I believe they get involved if paying through your employer or something

What scheme are you on? There are 3 running, claims that were opened pre 2003, claims that were opened after 2003 up to 2012 and the current scheme which runs from 2013 onwards. They are in the process of moving the older claims over to the new scheme, but it's a slow process.

Each scheme uses a different calculation to reach an amount. The first two schemes were under the CSA (Child Support Agency).and the current scheme is under the new CMS (Child Maintenance Service), they changed the name, but they are both the government body that sorts out child maintenance.

From what you say you are paying too much, you should ask them to put in writing how they have worked out your payments, once you have that you see what they are basing their calculations on, if you feel it's wrong, you can appeal and you can also go and see your local MP and ask them to help you.

Best of luck

Hey.i finally sorted it out with my ex.i am going to pay her directly.however the child maintenance service have taken over 28 days to close the account.i have phoned them a few times.but they just keep saying they have a back log of cases blah blah.and sorry its taking so long.they actually mean they want to charge me one more time etc etc.do i just have to wait ? Or is there something else i can do because they are taking the pi*$ now