What Happens When the CSA/CMS Gets it Wrong?

Hello me and my partner are in need of serious help or advise regarding our child maintenance situation. they have completely messed up our calculation and the amount we owe just keeps increasing each month. despite the fact we have uploaded bank statements to prove we have made payments. we just don't know what else to do to get this resolved, we have written letters and calling so many times. But they just keep saying the same old rubbish to us that a re-calulation will be done, but when we log back in we just owe more and more money its insane. nobody there wants to deal with it. please any advise would be grateful. Kim and Nick

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Csa/cms charges me for 14 months while I was in prison when I was realised they used a deo to collect money I didn’t owe during Covid I was on 80% and universal credit and was being left with £80 a month to live on I contested my mp he said sorry carnt help u I made a compliant got no respond and u carnt move forward to independent review until u have done the proper speak process I stopped furlough and universal credit to try and get it sorted I was put on a nil assessment April came along and they decided to go back to my 2021 tax code to charge me now I’m not working and they’re are building up a debt for me so when I do go back towork they can rip me off someone more I got them to finally take me to court went to court and straight away the csa/cms told the court ur not aloud to question how we asses people but ur assessment is where ur scamming start I feel like killing myself sometimes they bully u they abuse u they use excuses to just put the phone down on u it’s a joke

The CSA/CMS are not fit for service. After taking 6.5k(LSDO) I got ICE involved and after 4 years got money back and compensation. They bullied and harassed me at every turn and the mistakes in their calculations etc etc cost the taxpayer over 40k to sort. If anyone out there needs advice get in touch and I will do my best to point you in the right direction. One thing you musky do is give up or give in .

I am a victim of the CSAfrom 2001 to 2019. The CSA continually made mistakes with my case in an attempt to criminalise me, and I was paying what they asked me to pay. As with the Postmasters, there are many of us who have been treated disgracefully by them, and Politicians should order an inquiry into the practices of the CSA. What happens between parents and their children should remain in the hands of legal advisors and the courts and not in the hands of incompetent grade 1 clerks.

I feel as though the system is biased and broken. I have shared contact with my two kids. 3 nights on week 1 and 4 on week 2. My ex has told CMS that I have them 2 nights per fortnight. The people I’ve spoken to at CMS have asked if I have a court order to prove when I have contact. Which I don’t. So they asked if i received the child benefit for the kids. Which I don’t, and I’m sure 99% of dads don’t. I’ve spoken to a solicitor who said if I try to get a court order regarding access that there would be a strong chance my ex would get more time with the kids. So they advised me that I should be happy having them when I do. I’ve seen recently in the news that the government plan to “crack down on dead beat dads”. I feel there are a lot of dads who try to do the best they can for their kids, however the system seems to let them down. I feel as though something needs to change.

Christmas 2020 I had to work 4 weeks mandatory overtime for Christmas I was doing 60 hours a week, cms used these 4 weeks to calculate my annual earnings but didn't notify me of the calculation till June the following year with an attachment of earnings letter, they calculated I was on 44k a year when really I was only on 24k, they were taking 627 pound a month out of my wages, it's took me nearly 3 years to get this sorted, but also I was going through a court battle to get shared care for my son, couldn't afford to eat never mind money for a solicitor ended up in debt and rent arrears, I'm still suffering due to this, I gt shared care December last year, they asked me to send the court order in as proof, I did so, then they rejected it. Ended up getting my local mp involved. They found 14 mistakes on my case, amd my ex partner has been massively over paid. They offered me 150 pound as an apology yet in still I thousands of pounds of debt because of them. I lost my job this year too and since I lost my job I've been on universal credit yet I've still acquired over 2000 pound arrears since I lost my job, they've been charging me more than I get each month! I have zero faith in this service

Christmas 2020 I had to work 4 weeks mandatory overtime for Christmas I was doing 60 hours a week, cms used these 4 weeks to calculate my annual earnings but didn't notify me of the calculation till June the following year with an attachment of earnings letter, they calculated I was on 44k a year when really I was only on 24k, they were taking 627 pound a month out of my wages, it's took me nearly 3 years to get this sorted, but also I was going through a court battle to get shared care for my son, couldn't afford to eat never mind money for a solicitor ended up in debt and rent arrears, I'm still suffering due to this, I gt shared care December last year, they asked me to send the court order in as proof, I did so, then they rejected it. Ended up getting my local mp involved. They found 14 mistakes on my case, amd my ex partner has been massively over paid. They offered me 150 pound as an apology yet in still I thousands of pounds of debt because of them. I lost my job this year too and since I lost my job I've been on universal credit yet I've still acquired over 2000 pound arrears since I lost my job, they've been charging me more than I get each month! I have zero faith in this service

CMS are not fit for purpose. I've been endlessly chasing them and getting nowhere. I escalated it to a formal complaint...no one called me back despite being promised a manager would call me. Next day I called again.... registered another complaint. I was assured a manager would call me today. It's now gone 11pm...CMS did not call. I have not put a formal complaint in with my Local MP. CMS have got my payment wrong and sat on the case for 31 days so far. They are inept, take zero responsibility and are not fit for purpose. Paying Dad's need to ride up against CMS and get things sorted.

In Jan 2016 I left my wife and our 3 children as I couldn’t put up with the arguments over the smallest of things. We also said that we would be amicable if we ever separated and that’s how it started. I had left once before in 2005 for 4 months and CSA was paid. I was making agreed payments of £75 a week for my 3 children (I wasn’t on great money) that was until I received a letter from CMS stating that I was obligated to pay child maintenance through their process from June 2016. While they worked my payments out, they advised me to continue paying what I was paying and they would take that into account. I received my first annual review end of July 2016 with the first payment due Aug 4th 2016. I made the agreed £70.72 payment which included £65 on-going maintenance and arrears. I contacted them and was advised to send them a bank statement which I did. The payments that I made was never taken into account. In November 2016, there was an adjustment of £4900 on the account meaning that there was a huge arrears. My payments shot up to over £200 a week. I contacted them and they stated it’s for a CSA arrears but couldn’t give no dates or details. After 3 years of arguing this, I finally got all of the records from the CSA case. The CSA hadn’t closed the case in June 2005, but did in April 2007. I finally got the arrears reduced to £612.15 in 2020. I had an overpayment on the case which was put as an adjustment on 27th Jan 2020 and was approved by a EO and HEO. The RP requested to close the case. In March 2020, the overpayment was reversed by a CW. In April 2021, the RP opened a new case. The CMS have refused to to move the overpayment and the difference of the original CSA arrears and the reduced amount over to the new case. In November 2021, the CMS system miraculously changed my status to in hospital, a default calculation was done and back dated leaving me with a £2500 arrears. This took 10 months to change back. In February 2023, the CMS changed the payment type from Direct Pay to Collect & Pay and then to DEO all on the same day. They sent the DEO to a former employer, they had confirmation that I didn’t work there. They then sent one to my current employer. They added £50 enforcement charges and backdated the collect and pay charges back to April 2021. In March 2023, every previous payment on the old case was removed. I had an account statement sent to me in April 2023, this is where I found the removal of payments. I have tried to raise a complaint on 5 occasions since October 2022 in regards to the overpayment, but never had a response. I have now sent in 2 more dissatisfaction letters on 20th July 2023, both have been received, yet I have had no response from them, even just to say that they have them. They have blocked me in every way and show how non- impartial and incompetent they are. I fee like I am banging my head against a brick wall with these people. I have counted 203 payment removals on the account, 7 other maladministrations,

In Jan 2016 I left my wife and our 3 children as I couldn’t put up with the arguments over the smallest of things. We also said that we would be amicable if we ever separated and that’s how it started. I had left once before in 2005 for 4 months and CSA was paid. I was making agreed payments of £75 a week for my 3 children (I wasn’t on great money) that was until I received a letter from CMS stating that I was obligated to pay child maintenance through their process from June 2016. While they worked my payments out, they advised me to continue paying what I was paying and they would take that into account. I received my first annual review end of July 2016 with the first payment due Aug 4th 2016. I made the agreed £70.72 payment which included £65 on-going maintenance and arrears. I contacted them and was advised to send them a bank statement which I did. The payments that I made was never taken into account. In November 2016, there was an adjustment of £4900 on the account meaning that there was a huge arrears. My payments shot up to over £200 a week. I contacted them and they stated it’s for a CSA arrears but couldn’t give no dates or details. After 3 years of arguing this, I finally got all of the records from the CSA case. The CSA hadn’t closed the case in June 2005, but did in April 2007. I finally got the arrears reduced to £612.15 in 2020. I had an overpayment on the case which was put as an adjustment on 27th Jan 2020 and was approved by a EO and HEO. The RP requested to close the case. In March 2020, the overpayment was reversed by a CW. In April 2021, the RP opened a new case. The CMS have refused to to move the overpayment and the difference of the original CSA arrears and the reduced amount over to the new case. In November 2021, the CMS system miraculously changed my status to in hospital, a default calculation was done and back dated leaving me with a £2500 arrears. This took 10 months to change back. In February 2023, the CMS changed the payment type from Direct Pay to Collect & Pay and then to DEO all on the same day. They sent the DEO to a former employer, they had confirmation that I didn’t work there. They then sent one to my current employer. They added £50 enforcement charges and backdated the collect and pay charges back to April 2021. In March 2023, every previous payment on the old case was removed. I had an account statement sent to me in April 2023, this is where I found the removal of payments. I have tried to raise a complaint on 5 occasions since October 2022 in regards to the overpayment, but never had a response. I have now sent in 2 more dissatisfaction letters on 20th July 2023, both have been received, yet I have had no response from them, even just to say that they have them. They have blocked me in every way and show how non- impartial and incompetent they are. I fee like I am banging my head against a brick wall with these people. I have counted 203 payment removals on the account, 7 other maladministrations,

Hello, It not just child maintenance that is messed up. Cafcass and the family courts are incompetent. I left my abuser and have been made to suffer his continue abuse for a further 7 years by the courts. Apparently full time mothers and abuse are irrelevant to a childs welfare so they gave him sole custody. After taking 5 years of full time work to pay of the financial abuse and start saving for a home. I was exhausted, no life at all, threats from my ex and a system that tells me off for even breathing. I paid my abuser child maintenance all that time. Even though his parents are paying for everything she wants and he pockets the money for himself. He managed to cause me to loss my job, I admit the complex post traumatic stress disorder caused by all this hell and his years of abuse didn't help much. I lost my job, child maintenance stopped. I decided to go back to university and since I started there they keep saying I need to pay over £340 per month to my abuser. I've not got an income at all, I'm a full time student. I have no home, I have no income, my brain doesn't function right anymore. There is no point to being alive. My course finishes in September, I was starting to think about what I would do then, but there is no point. He bullied his way to having the house and all the finances, I didn't get a single penny. Going back to uni was kind of my attempt to get a break from hell, it hasn't worked. The abuse doesn't end and child maintenance help reward highly abusive people who are wrongly in charge of our lives. The cafcass officer refused to look at evidence and court paperwork before writing her report. They don't care about children. My daughter screamed and clung to me when he got sole custody, because he had all the money and house. She screamed and was traumatised and they just say it is a normal reaction. The whole system is evil.I've told child maintenance to put me in jail for life. I tried my best and the authorities told me off - it is selfish for a woman to leave an abusive man. I should of stayed with my abuser and died. It would have been fair kinda than this horrid sentence they gave me. I wish he had killed me the day he assaulted me with his car. I want to go to prison or be executed for my crime of leaving an abusive man.

Child Maintenance have reduced my savings account to zero (11k) despite miscalculating what I owe. No prior warning given. Have had no calls either from them since I called in July 2022. Assessment started September 2016. I stopped working in October 2017 due to a bad injury. I informed them of nil income as per their A5 booklet. According to them I owed nothing 2 1/2 years ago. Then 2 years ago (April 2021) I went back to work and a month later 8 letters in the door on one day. Out of the blue they want £26000.00. No explanation, no how, no where from? Apparently I was earning £800.00 per week while off injured. Have asked for their evidence. Nothing sent. No answers depite promises of looking into it from a case worker and her supervisor. Never heard from those 2 women again. I was even threatened by another woman. My son is now 21. Assessment ended 3 years ago. They also didn't confirm he was still in school. His mother refused to adhere to multiple court orders over multiple years so haven't seen him for around 6 years. Child maintenance doesn't care about fathers not seeing their children. They are only interested in earning money from collecting and distributing. Last phone call to them was July 2022 and lost count how many times before to sort. Put so much info on their useless portal it became full. Nothing was actioned. No call backs actioned from their portal despite multiple complaints and requests. Asked for a calculation breakdown over 2 years ago. Nothing yet. Now when you call you get Triage snowflakes instead of useless case workers. But apparently I have a tone when I spoke to them.

Had a great job, was used for a baby without my permission. Lost my job due to stress and despair. Can’t and don’t want to see the child as was against my wishes. Used abused lost everything. Some women are liars cheats and thieves out to trap via love bombing and lying about contraception. The CMS are used by these liars cheats to line their pockets ruin lives and drive people to suicide. I’ve been close on the streets penniless unable to provide a roof over my head let alone someone else. CMS response to trapping a man which should be a crime by saying tough your the dad like it or not with the customary don’t care about the cost of you living or your mortgage. Aaaaaw now your unemployed you owe back pay, hang fire I told you the day I became unemployed I’d no income and sent my p45 plus letter from x employer as proof. Guess what according to CMS still working so we will take your savings as you now owe back pay for them months you’ve not worked. I’m still not working! Two years later them savings I scrimped and saved for fifteen years disappeared. Broken by the CMS with nothing in my pockets after seven hard years at uni all for nothing, I said mum I’m going out for a walk that was 18 months ago been in the woods since. Cheers CMS. And if people wonder how I can type this message guess what I’m on my friends phone who came looking for me I may get a meal tonight!

Had a great job, was used for a baby without my permission. Lost my job due to stress and despair. Can’t and don’t want to see the child as was against my wishes. Used abused lost everything. Some women are liars cheats and thieves out to trap via love bombing and lying about contraception. The CMS are used by these liars cheats to line their pockets ruin lives and drive people to suicide. I’ve been close on the streets penniless unable to provide a roof over my head let alone someone else. CMS response to trapping a man which should be a crime by saying tough your the dad like it or not with the customary don’t care about the cost of you living or your mortgage. Aaaaaw now your unemployed you owe back pay, hang fire I told you the day I became unemployed I’d no income and sent my p45 plus letter from x employer as proof. Guess what according to CMS still working so we will take your savings as you now owe back pay for them months you’ve not worked. I’m still not working! Two years later them savings I scrimped and saved for fifteen years disappeared. Broken by the CMS with nothing in my pockets after seven hard years at uni all for nothing, I said mum I’m going out for a walk that was 18 months ago been in the woods since. Cheers CMS. And if people wonder how I can type this message guess what I’m on my friends phone who came looking for me I may get a meal tonight!

This system is terrible, I urge you to challenge CMS decisions and behaviour, if it feels unfair it probably is. Once challenged any money paid goes into a holding account until the court decision. Court sounds scary, I sent my notes, did not attend court unfortunately as letter arrived late (typical) but the judge found in my favour, all o/s debt wiped. You can challenge, you can win and you can get your money back.

So sad reading all these stories. Child maintenance are a corrupt ‘business’. I put these in marks as I honestly believe they take money from earning so easily to profit from the collection fees. I am currently going through tribunal process as they have been assessing on nights spent but the day to day care is equal so the they never should have taken £3330 in total out of my earnings in the last year! The judge today said the service never considered the day to day care and were wrong to focus solely on the nights and have postponed for another date. To the single dads out there honestly pay the £200 for a child arrangement order to see your kids!! Demand mandatory reconsiderations, make a complaint, go through the tribunal service! It will all work out. I’m hoping I will get my £3000 back but I won’t hold my breath. This company take peoples money too easily and it’s so wrong! Something needs to change!

What can I do cms aren't contacting my exs employer. They keep fobbing me off telling me to ring back in a week. Fed up now. They declined my first request to get a deo back in May. I've received no money for 9 months. They sent a letter in October saying its finally gone to a deo and first payment would be December and its now February and nothings moving forward. Help with any advice please. Im at my wits end.

Case been dragging on for 6 years. CMS claim I earned moonbeams on say so of and x wife, said they contacted HMRC - they lied. Contacted local MP, hopefully referred to phso, CMS left me homeless, huge debt, unable to work because of deo. CMS not allowed to take all my UC benefits. CMS are a rogue department, not fit for purpose.

By now almost 82 weeks without seeing my kids. I want to say that this may be my farewell from all this problems because there's only one way out... My ex wife has her ?? clown she chose over me which earns a lot more than me. He wanted my wife so much so there will be the time that he will have to put his money ?? to know how hard is to be a family man. CMS it's a part of the unfair system that keeps punishment for good people who have never hurt these cheating liers ex wifes...

Me and my ex have tried to get the CSA out of our lives my ex has said on numerous occasions she doesn't want the arrears and time and time again both of us get pushed post to Piller they sent a letter out to my ex so she can sign to say she doesn't want the arrears the letter say she has to respond by the 29th how can she when she got the letter on the 29th CSA are just wanting the money for there pockets this has been going on for months they have it on record stating I no long what the arrears but they still play the dirty game CSA needs to be monitored properly it's a joke

I despair at the CMS, I get it’s not easy to administer something like this but at the very least there should be fairness and clarity. In my experience - Communication is terrible,what they send out explaining stuff is hard to understand ,they have over arching powerse.g DEO with very little accountability and a very very slow process to appeal their decisions .. which just aggravates matters - I am father of two, i have shared care - exactly the same amount of time with both parents, I provide a home and am equally committed and engaged with our children’s upbringing. I am their primary cater for half the time.I am to able claim child benefit for one of the children (as Hrmc accepts shared care, which is documented in a court order) yet according to CMSI am still liable to pay child maintenance. It has taken me two years and counting to try and go through process to make them understand that this is not the law…. In the meantime they can do whatever they like and once this done - there will-be no accountability for the stress , anxiety and life changing decisions resulting from their ‘unfit processes’.Would be curious to know how I can claim back all the money that CMS deducted from my account because they did not apply the law correctly… 2 years worth of payment .. I don’t want to claim from mother as it is the CMS that miscalculated so they should be made to put right what they did wrong. Ps I am happy to pay child maintenance, and do believe that it is fathers responsibility to provide but this is not a fair system and it is being abused

Im a dad and being treated like a bad absent father trying to cheat a poor ex wife that cries /lies to the CMS on the phone making them call me and speak disgustingly to me. They then disbelieve my truthful words and then lie on their system which only makes it even more difficult to sort out.BUT ONLY for one main fact: I am the pwc 100% and have court orders etc. The mother, could care less and doe not even want to see them - but she found that her abuse can continue if using a government agency that had a lot of sexism against men.Backed By “well meaning” agents.This is seemingly because of a systemic problem that means they assume all too often that the mummy says truthful words and cries truthful pain. And daddy is a bad person who doesn't do the ironing. However they're hoodwinked.Meanwhile i don't get ANY child support for my three. We suffer.And in addition I also get treated like i am a criminal by CMS who employ bailiffs to visit me to take money from me that i bet they will not do to the person that does actually owe it.Complaining doesn't work.No one cares.

The CMS are awful, the calculations are always wrong and the reject the appeals. I’ve not seen my son for over 11 years since he was a baby and these guys keep bringing up the bad memories but constantly getting things wrong and sending demanding letters. Yes I pay monthly but over last year they have got my numbers so wrong and now say they are going to collect direct from my employer. Surely there is a governing body that regulates these people? The mental health issues this causes me is awful.

To all responsible parents - your children are lucky to have you. Parenting single handedly is always a challenge, but unfortunately we all learn to be responsible in our own time and no amount of wishing, convincing, or repeatedly telling the other parent they should be doing better or more than they can offer, will ever make our evolution go any faster. Yet, our children have the capacity to love us unconditionally no matter what. An absent parent will always have a negative impact on a child's life and it is always the child that suffers. A stressed parent who loses their house, are hounded through rising debt, or who's children are alienated against them is at real risk of isolation and giving up. Your children will all grow up and they will find out how this 'service' (CMS) impacted on their parents and I cannot express how important it is that your actions do not cause the other parent harm by trapping them in a nightmare limbo with no way out. If you end up with blood on your hands your children will not only suffer, but they will never forgive you. You use this service because you think it's fair and works like all other services in this country, but you are wrong!!! Your ego's are simply lining the pockets of government who have no idea what it's like to struggle. Wake up people - you are damaging your children and they won't thank you for it. In Australia only 3% of fathers don't see their kids and in U.K 76% of paying parents have no overnight stays. You are a pawn in the biggest child abuse conspiracy there is. You don't need to like each other and you don't need to agree with one another but your kids have two parents. An absent parent will start showing up when they're ready, and they will have to make their peace with their children. Your child's relationship with their other parent is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!! With over 100,000 members in Fathers for Justice it seems to me that women need to get over themselves just as much as men who hop from woman to woman. If you want to understand the real damage of this service then check out upfederation.org and read the detailed report. If you are having your lives unfairly affected by this 'service' then rest assured you are not alone and people are fighting your cause behind the scenes. Hang on in there!!! If you think you're entitled to 'more' and are using your children as a means to get rich and hurt the other parent then shame on you!!! If you have been spending years waiting for money that has never come - make peace with it and move on. You will probably receive a letter in the future saying it's been written off. Your kids are lucky to have you! This is not a public service as it works for very few families without someone getting hurt, bankrupt, or dead. Wake up people - you're all being scammed and your children are watching and feeling your every move!!!

I feel for all here mistreated by the incompetents that keep the CSA running this way. I got emergency custodyof my child after her mother lost it. Well as well as paying for Solicitors, hotels and everything else while the case was finalised. They also insisted that I continue to pay the mother(who no longer had anything to do with my child) until they reviewed, which takes months as they are, well incompetent, so after they find that I should not have paid. they tell me that they cannot do anything about getting the money back. I guess it's due to their incompetence. So if they tell you to pay your lawfully obliged to do so. But when they find they were wrong. They will not do anything about it. Can this really be working?

Seeing alot of comments men are making on how unfair cms is on them makes my blood boil. I personally and I could say thousands of women like me are receiving nothing. Cms do nothing to ensure payments are made. Men like my ex husband get to job hop or bounce on benefits to stop ant payments being made and cms do nothing. 8 years of having to fight to get a penny from my ex and its still going on. Its disgusting behaviour and honestly those who fail should face high penalties to deter them from doing it any more. I'm raising boys whom constantly grow out of clothes and shoes which are beyond affordable these days but my ex gets to do what he likes with his wages. Tell me how on earth in this day and age that is acceptable?

I have literally had a decision this week saying that I have to pay my ex wife £400 a month despite me having the kids for 18 days of a typical 28 day cycle, and nights are split equally at 14 each. When they first asked us the questions I said exactly this as I'd calculated it. My ex first said I had them zero nights, then when they called her back to say our answers were different she upped it to two nights a week. Finally when they asked her on a third call she said three nights a week. And on this week when they made the decision the kids are with me 5 days and 4 nights from Monday to Sunday. They knew all this and rather than listen to the person who has only ever given one consistent answer they side with the person who has changed it twice and then admitted to me on a text that she has never even sat down and worked it out, she was just guessing. Added to that she told them I give her £200 a month already,which I do,but then said we split all costs equally - and they never said to her that cost cannot be equal if I am paying the first £200 that she spends on the kids every month. I have had so much misleading information from CSA, including what I thought was a positive chat with a Case Worker who said on Monday they were not my case worker but were picking up the slack and would not be involve do the decision,only to get a decision the on Wednesday and be told it was actually her who made it despite fully acknowledging on Tuesday that this would take a while because our answers conflicted and it would need revision. Don't get me wrong and I hate myself for saying this, but as a man, if you get a woman on the phone at the CSA,HANG Up and keep trying until you get a man. Not that they make better decisions but all the women I have spoken to have either hung up on me or lied through their teeth. And now I have to pay until I can get the decision reviewed and I will never get that £400 a month back that I have to pay until they change their decision. The CSA does not work and it is not fit for purpose and is certainly nowhere near professional enough to be making life changing decisions like these. They said that they make quick decisions because there is usually an urgency in the claimant case to get money -and yet no concern for the impact on all the men on this message board who are bankrupt becaue of this. And in my case my ex now has to go two months without the £200 she would have received from me and by the time my first payment is due in a month and a week, if I have successfully reversed the decision, she will be getting nothing more from me. So their argument for not taking their time to get it right is going to result in the person they thought they were helping suffering the most. Of course I won't let that happen because I have always been happy to pay the £200 and I love my children too much to have their other home struggle and become horrible, but that is the real consequences of the CSA thinking they can play God

Dear all. The CMS processes are simply unfit for purpose.I am happy that they provide a necessary service in many [maybe most] cases where a parent tries to avoid his/her obligations to thei children.However, there are many many cases where they do not.People woudl not board a plane which 'landed safely most times' or a train which probably arrived at the right location etc.. The CMS is causing financial harm to many men [primarily], and profiting from the financial distress and harm they cause.In my experience the problems fall into the followiing categories: 1. Establishing the veracity of the information they are given - just believing a woman and not a man [seems to be a recurring theme]. 2. Recognition of the needs of a parent with JOINT CUSTODY [that he/she also has a need to provide a home for their children whislt they are with them]. 3. Income recognition of both parents.. 4. Consistency and transp[arency in calculations and decisions. 5. indiffierence.. to the personal circumstances of both parents. But.. what lies at the heart [IMO] of their ability to 'be so wrong and illoogical and unfair or unreasonable or indifferent' in so many situations is simple:they have too much poweer and their decision can be implemented withoput 3rd party scrutiny or assessment of 'proportionality or reasonableness or accuracy'.They can and do simply issue deeductiosn from earnings and earn themselves their 24%... from a father [usually] in distress.I cannot see a remedy that does not involve redefining their remit and powers: so that this is addressed: A solution might look lik: 1. 3rd party scrutiny of decisions accessible to all instantly. 2. Removal of the power to deduct money from an employer [or even communuicate with an employer] without first passing some judicial or independent scrutiny/hurdle 3. Removal of the right to withhold passports or driving licenses, without a judicial process. 4. Formal Recognition of the needs of 'both parents' in any case. 5. Personal responsibility for the decisions being taken by CMS staff... My circumstances are hideous by any objective assessment. My wife and children live in the house which I bought in CASH and in which i invested over £250,000 from pension andsavings. The contribution calculation considered the pension withdrawals as income 4 years ago and this has not been adjusted. The assumed eroneous 'debt' has caused me to be unable to maintain 'their' weekly contribution: and so they have implementedDEO for my ;ast two employers. I am very well paid at £96,000 p.a. but am homeless and unable to make ends meet:this is because the CMS do not recognise mortgage, debt or other contributions and because of their insistence that the eroneous debt is paid [as i see in so many of the comments above]:and then they take 24% of the fees I pay for the privilege of causing such harm, due to their incompetence and indifference. I have surviv

I paid child maintenance by private agreement from 1995 to 2003. The CSA got involved but continually made a complete hash of the calculations, demanding money back to day 1 without taking into account payments already made etc. They drove me to a nervous breakdown and I had to give up work. They then failed to take into account the change of income. It was finally sorted and the CSA case closed by letter in 2001, a letter which I still have. Three days later I received a letter saying that I owed £12,000, with no other explanation. I then heard nothing for 18 years. Three years ago the CMS arrived on the scene demanding the 12k 'debt' be repaid immediately. I have sent copies of bank statements showing payments to the ex of nearly 12k. They refused to recognise them as they weren't referenced 'child maintenance' It isn't possible to reference a cheque. I then sent my tax codings showing an allowance against maintenance, no response and bank account frozen for 6 months. They didn't get a court order and eventually I got access to my money again. I paid a lot to a specialist NACSA solicitor, who said that although I am in the right I would probably lose! Another year passed with no responses to my letters, and now my bank account has been frozen again. I can't use my own money to pay my bills, buy food or fuel, and the CMS phone is never answered.I have emailed a formal complaint with all supporting evidence to Arlene Sugden at DWP, with a copy to my MP and a copy to the National Audit Office, who are supposed to be investigation the CMS for fraudulent accounting practices. Fortunately friends will see me through, but I have had to contact the mental health team as I simply can't cope with this.