I'm reaching out for some advice and support regarding ongoing issues with the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) and my pension contributions. Here's a brief overview of my situation:
6 years ago, my ex-partner left with our child with another man one day when I returned home. Since then, I've been consistently paying child maintenance and fully intend to continue doing so. However, at 47 years old, I need to think about my own future and retirement as well.
After trying to run a company for 3 years without success, I secured a fairly decent job in May this year. To secure my future, I started contributing 30% of my income to a private pension plan, as my new company required a 3-month waiting period for their pension scheme.
I reported my new job to CMS in June, but the calculation they provided was much higher than expected and did not account for my pension contributions. I've submitted all the necessary documents to CMS, but every time I try to call them, I'm on hold for an hour before being cut off. I've spent a total of four hours today alone trying to reach them without success.
Additionally, before securing this job, I instructed CMS to collect payments directly. However, Universal Credit also deducted money for CMS, leading to my ex-partner receiving double payments while I was barely earning anything. Despite having all the evidence and being assured that CMS would resolve this issue from two years ago, nothing has been done.
I'm at a loss for what to do next. Has anyone faced similar issues with CMS? How did you resolve them? Any advice on how to get through to CMS or get them to properly account for my pension contributions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Hi,
I suggest you try contact your MP and ask them to raise complaint with CMS.