Travel costs - flights, accom, car rental etc

hi

When a paying parent can apply for variation

If you are a paying parent you can ask for certain expenses, which reduce your gross income, to be taken into account. These are called 'special expenses' and are for:

• the cost of keeping in regular contact with the child or children you pay child  maintenance for – for example, the cost of fuel to travel between your home and the child’s home
• costs to support children who live with you if they have a disability or a long-term illness
• repaying debts from the former relationship – for example, if you are paying a car loan for a car the receiving parent has kept
• some boarding school fees for the child or children you pay child maintenance for – but only the everyday living costs or ‘boarding’ part of the fees
• making payments on a mortgage, loan or insurance policy for the home you and the receiving parent used to share – the receiving parent and the child or children must still live in the home and you must have no legal or ‘equitable’ interest in it

All the above special expenses, apart from supporting children who live with you if they have a disability or a long-term illness, must be for more than £10 per week.

If your gross income is less than £7 a week or you are getting benefits, you can’t ask for any special expenses to be taken into account.

Receiving parents cannot apply for a special expenses variation.

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/other-financial-commitments-child-maintenance-cases#:~:text=These%20are%20called%2 0'special%20expenses,or%20a%20long%2Dterm%20illness

A dad recently told me he has been paying £250 for 2 hours in a contact centre, twice a month. I told him to claim this as special expenses from CMS, and they accepted it.

Thanks Bill,

So would it be advisable to call CMS and ask them exactly how much of the costs would be discounted should I move back to the UK? From reading through the website it seems that not 100% of travel costs are accepted by CMS. 

@ols hi, if CMS case is open, you could try contacting them and give them an idea of how much your travel costs are, and if they would accept as special expense and what this amounts to in reduction of your maintenance payments. also if child spends minimum of 1/2 nights a week with you, then you would also get reduction.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance

@bill337

Thanks Bill, I'll give them a ring as even though the case has been suspended due to not living or working in the country, that could change. 

I totally get your concern about the potential CMS payments if you were to move back to England. It's frustrating when you want to spend quality time with your son, but financial constraints can make it challenging. Regarding the 'special variation' and deductibles, I suggest reaching out to the CMS directly for accurate information tailored to your situation. They'll have the best knowledge and can guide you on what expenses might be deductible.

@ols bear in mind, as Bill said above, any expenses are deducted from your gross income, not from the amount you pay in maintenance, so you won't get anywhere near your full expenses deducted.

Hi guys, 

Thanks for the replies. I did manage to get through to people at CMS after a couple of hours on the phone. The general gist is exactly as you say, they lower your annual salary and do not deduct based on your monthly costs, so for instance if you're eligible for £520pm payments to your ex partner via the matrix, then despite paying a thousand a month in travel costs you'll still have to pay about £500pm. Farcical really. 

Even if the rental property I take each month on airbnb is X amount, they will still check to see what the cheapest Etap hotel is and go on that, as an example. 

The way the agent explained it to me was that essentially they work on commission from your payments so it's in no interest for them to lower your payments. Incredible system, genuinely surprised it's legal. 

I guess I was expecting a logical and fair system. 

Posted by: @ols

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Hi guys, 

Thanks for the replies. I did manage to get through to people at CMS after a couple of hours on the phone. The general gist is exactly as you say, they lower your annual salary and do not deduct based on your monthly costs, so for instance if you're eligible for £520pm payments to your ex partner via the matrix, then despite paying a thousand a month in travel costs you'll still have to pay about £500pm. Farcical really. 

Even if the rental property I take each month on airbnb is X amount, they will still check to see what the cheapest Etap hotel is and go on that, as an example. 

The way the agent explained it to me was that essentially they work on commission from your payments so it's in no interest for them to lower your payments. Incredible system, genuinely surprised it's legal. 

I guess I was expecting a logical and fair system. 

 

 

This is the first time I've heard it said that they work on a commission basis - if that's the case, then that is appalling. They should be operating on a set of rules which they apply in every case (granted, the rules are imperfect, as above for the travel expenses), and if they refuse to apply those rules, then there are grounds to appeal.