Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hi everyone
I'm new here and was hoping I could get some advice.
I had a case which moved over to the CMS in February and they completed a calculation based on my salary and sent this out to me. The calculation was £75 a month. I also have dividend income as I am a company director so I knew my ex would apply for a variation as she has done in the past. With this in mind, I carried on paying her the £200 a month which I had been doing previously, not wanting my son to miss out etc.
I had a phone call from them to tell me they had received a variation application based on the dividend income and that a letter was being sent out. That was the 26th May and by the 5th June I hadn't received it. I then had a weeks holiday and to be honest had forgotten about it. When I got home on the 11th June, I read the letter and realised that I only had until 10th June to respond. I logged on to the portal that night to send them a message to explain the reason for not responding yet and that I would get some evidence from my accountant (my 2016/2017 tax return) and send to them asap.
I got a call from them on 16th June to say the calc had been completed and was on its way to me. I told them that I had the new information to send and would upload it. I've now seen their letter and it's called a mandatory reconsideration notice and the calculation has been based on the old 2015/2016 tax return so is a bit higher than it should be. It has come out at £246 a month. That aside, they have also said I owe over £900 in arrears! I rang them to query this and they said that as I am a direct pay case, any overpayments are between me and the ex and they don't get involved. So they are making me pay the difference between the £246 and the original £75 backdated to their involvement in February, so I am effectively paying twice over for those months (aside from the £46).
I tried to do the right thing by paying the £200 a month, and I feel like I'm now being penalised for it.
They have said I have no choice but to appeal through the Tribunal service - is this correct? I've read their complaints and disputes leaflet and this seems to say I can dispute the decision before appealing...
Hi
I'm afraid I'm not overly familiar with their procedures but you should usually have an opportunity to dispute before having to appeal.
Give your local MP or CAB a call and they should be able to assist you.
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.