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HI All,
Just thought I'd share my recent experiences in the hope of getting any advice or maybe just warning others.
I pay maintenance for my Son who is 18 1/2, I've always paid under the CSA and it moved over to the CMS in June when I set up a family based arrangement for the amounts specified by the CMS, no problems there.
I do not speak to my Ex and my son comes and goes like a normal 18 year old. I was told by my Ex and my son in June that now he'd finished 6th form he was going to college full time to study, not a problem there so the payments continued.
A few weeks ago I was speaking to my son who said he never even started college in September and was now not living at home and has a job, I of course spoke to the CMS regarding this. They stated to me they had suspicions he wasn't and were investigating, they told me to stop paying so I cancelled this months standing order, they also told me they could not recover the money I had paid and had to do this via the small claims court.
This week I had a call from the CMS stating I still needed to pay and that if I refused they would go direct to my employer. I argued that my Ex was not eligible but they simply took the line that as child benefit was still being paid then I still had to pay. Today I had a message on the CMS online portal that they have looked at the evidence and still believe that my son is in full time education.
I spoke to my son yesterday and was told he's doing a home study course, which according to the child benefit website: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19 is not eligible as he's just started it (and I don't believe he's actually doing it anyway but that's another matter).
Anyway, I've replied to the CMS to ask them to provide the evidence, I've also reported my Ex to the HMRC fraud hotline, looks like I will have to remain paying for the time being probably with no hope of ever getting any of it back.
Just thought I'd share this, if anyone has any advise of course I'd be grateful.
Andy.
Hi there
Unfortunately this is more common than you'd think....there's little more advice I can offer, you have tried everything I could suggest, but if you reach another dead end with the HMRC you could try your MP.
Best of luck
the whole solution is wrong in my opinion, they were supposed to make it easier for separated parents and in the whole I believe they've gone some way to doing this when both parties are decent, unfortunately when one or both parties are apt to lie and cheat the system they are unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
the whole solution is wrong in my opinion, they were supposed to make it easier for separated parents and in the whole I believe they've gone some way to doing this when both parties are decent, unfortunately when one or both parties are apt to lie and cheat the system they are unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
I don't think it is accurate to say the CMS exist to "make it easier for separated parents". In fact, it is quite the opposite. Their main rationale is that a parent should not be "better off" financially separated rather than "together" - in relation to costs of rearing children.
Its quite a "sticky" area - not least because it could almost be construed as sanctimonious preaching. But as your example shows, because there are a very small minority of fathers who happily father children and care not for their "upkeep" - the rest of us are lumbered with this punitive "one size fits all" system.
The government view has evolved though. While it may have been all about "absent fathers" in the 90s - it is moving more towards a "sort your problems out yourself" model. This is behind the reluctance to use "collect and pay" and a default assumption of "direct pay" methods. Previously a Receiving Parent could simply ask CSA to collect the CM and pass it on to them - incurring quite a substantial cost to the Paying Parent (20% extra) - without any justification. Obviously this is simply a drag on tax payer resources - and many parents can come to an agreement if guided in the right direction. There have been other changes in legislation too making the CMS much more able to take money at source. Overall the rules have been simplified and relaxed (in places) - and the penalties when rules are broken are more severe.
While it is not a perfect system - it is hard to imagine how such a system could be perfect. Especially when being perfect or fair is not really the motivation.
I do agree with Mojo that your experience is rather common, though. And do agree there are certain things that could change to make the experience more aligned with "common sense".
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