I want to share this with you to encourage you if you’re in the same situation as I am: fighting to get child maintenance when your ex refuses to pay and builds up years’ worth of child support arrears.
I’ve just received £2072.63 in child support arrears.
It’s taken ten years, but I’ve finally received a child maintenance payment!
I can’t guarantee that by doing everything I’ve done that you’ll be able to receive the payment you’re due, but I know that hearing about a success story, no matter how small, can be helpful when you’re feeling helpless.
Why has it taken so long to get any child support arrears?
I wrote about my story in this post called the Child Maintenance Saga. In short, my ex-husband spent many years coming up with a series of excuses for the CSA as to why he wasn’t eligible to pay maintenance: in the end, he stuck with saying that he had a wealthy partner who supported him, and that he wasn’t working.
Eventually, I gave up out of frustration as so many do.
He was openly working for his partner’s firm, but I contented myself with the moral high ground, as the one who brought up her son on her own. Yet, this didn’t satisfy my sense of justice, and it surely didn’t help me financially; I’ve never earned much and knowing that my son had to do without just because of the CSA loopholes was an insult.
I did reopen my case in 2013 and faced the same brick wall, but this time, I kept going… and found weak spots in the wall, as he had been paying himself a nominal income as a managing director and diverting it back into his company.
How did I get this?
I started this process in late 2013. The major development in my case came at an appeal at a tribunal in mid 2015. That’s right – this payment in 2017 is largely the result of things I did two years ago, for a case I started three and a half years ago.
At the end of 2015 I was told the case was moving to the enforcement team – I kept on hearing that for over a year. The system moves painfully slowly if you leave it alone, but I learned that if you do certain things to keep the heat up, it can move more quickly.
What specifically worked?
Who knows exactly – it could be any of these:
- 3 and a half years of pressure, with the last year being sustained and constant pressure;
- the recent involvement of the CMS’s Financial (or Fraud) Investigation Unit;
- the threat of a liability order;
- worrying about negative publicity for his business and public position should the press get wind;
- or perhaps knowing that this amount is actually a bargain for him to get away with.
I may never know exactly.
What should you do to help collect your child maintenance arrears?
- Call every week and request updates. I used to call only when I had to – now I make it a matter of routine to call each week. Making it a regular formality takes away a lot of the stress that inevitably comes from it.
- Challenge decisions that are too low by requesting a variation, and if/when that is turned down as it usually is, appeal to a tribunal that actually has more powers. Insist on a financially qualified professional being present.
- Keep good notes and records of calls, letters and any evidence of earnings you find.
- You’ll have to become your own private investigator in a lot of cases – read this post for tips on how to be your own PI.
- If you have to go to a tribunal, remember that you are not the one being scrutinised; there’s no need to be nervous. However, you have to do your preparation. (Read how to prepare for a tribunal.) Whether it’s welcomed or not, I always write letters to judges ahead of any hearings laying out my argument and lines of evidence.
- Write to your MP asking for help with your situation. Write to the Minister in charge of the CMS to ask for help with your situation. Write to the CMS and HMRC with new information. Write letters to everyone! (See this article for help with writing formal letters.) I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to get your MP involved – it is unfair that it has to be this way, but until the system is changed, that’s what you have to do.
Waiting it out
Even after finding out that a payment had been made, I had to wait 5 working days for it to arrive. When it still wasn’t paid after a week, I called to chase it up, and was told that it had been sent to me on that day and would take up to 5 working days to arrive.
Yes, a week from receiving a payment just to process it, and then a week to actually receive it. Patience is something you desperately need to cultivate when dealing with the Child Maintenance Service, even when things are going right.
Advice from a pro
I was fortunate enough (as a direct result of writing about my child maintenance story on this blog) to be put in touch with a financial professional who has dealt with many CSA cases over the years. There wasn’t much he could do for me beyond the point I’d already gotten to, but he gave me some advice for carrying on that I’ll paraphrase for you.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so you have to squeak so loudly that fixing your problem is less of a hassle than ignoring you. Stop worrying about being the nice guy – you have to be a pain.
Advice from me
This journey is long, difficult and far from over for me. What helps is treating it like another job, not a personal failure.
I know that I have to call every week, and I’ll jot down the notes and the name of the person I spoke to in my planner. I know that for a set period of time each week and no more, I’ll do a bit of research to help my case. Doing it this way means that I experience less frustration. That doesn’t mean no frustration at all, but a lot less.
Of course, I would love to guarantee you success, but I can’t. I can’t guarantee my own continued success, but there is no way I’m going to give up either!
The only way to guarantee that you won’t succeed, however, is not to try at all.
What I will do is celebrate whatever successes I do have, whether it’s finally getting some of the arrears we’re owed or just getting through my weekly call without losing my temper.
Next step?
The next stage is the collection of over £1000 for which a liability order has already been granted, as well as the ongoing payments which are not being made (and assessed at only £6 per week). The threat of the liability order seemed to do the trick for the CSA arrears but the new CMS arrears are being ignored, strangely.
My ex-husband has folded his business and started another, but is claiming not to be working. If he claims to be working for his partner for free, this is diversion of income.
He’s currently being investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit, so discrepancies like this won’t be as easy to brush away (not if I have anything to do with it at least). There are several avenues open to me from here on, so I’m staying positive and I’ll continue to update my story here.
Although this is an amazing development for my family, think of this – this amounts to less than £5 per week over the last 10 years. It’s progress, but it’s nothing compared to the true cost of raising a child; this decade of non-payment was financial abuse.
I’ll be saving the money, earning interest on it and using it wisely, just like I use the rest of our income.
31 Comments
It’s such a shame getting the money you are owed was made so difficult for you but I’m so glad you persevered and have finally got what your child is entitled to. I’m sure this post will be so helpful to many out there in the same position,
Thanks Fiona!
Wow your blog has given me hope. My ex only started paying regularly when I contacted CMS in March of this year, since then his wages have mysteriously dropped over £2000 per month. He has told the children he has a new business so I know he is doing this to avoid paying money for them. I’m shocked at how common this is and how hard it is to prove and rectify! I’m struggling financially and he has just bought a new car, gone on various holidays and doing his house up. It’s exhausting waking up everyday worrying how the bills will be paid.
Please keep posting!!
Hi Sophie!
Thanks for your comment, I’m really sorry you have to be going through this as well. I hope I can provide some helpful information for you here, as I know how hard it can be to keep things together financially. Maybe some of the little money-saving solutions on the site can be useful to you. 🙂
I’m going through this now. It has been over a year with CMS telling me they are sorting it. A couple of months before lockdown I was told they had everything they needed to get the money and should start receiving payments low and behold I’ve not received anything. I’ve messaged them twice only to be faced with they arent taking action just yet due to the covid 19. That’s fine but in the meantime my son continues to grow and needing new things which I work to provide but it’s a struggle some months harder then others. I know he is working and travels but continues to not pay just to spite me. I left due to D,V and now hes controlling me financially too.
Hi there, Please keep blogging I too am going through the same thing with my Ex partner, he’s never paid a penny when it went through the CSA. My case is now with CMS and although small payments started when I done the ‘variation’ the payment tripled and since then have now had a payment and so I am constantly chasing ……so frustrating!!!
Hi, thanks so much for commenting and sharing your story – it really is one of the most frustrating things to go through isn’t it? At least we can encourage other people going through the same thing, I definitely feel encouraged when I hear about how you keep going 🙂 All the best with your case!
I requested a tribunal 4 months ago and am waiting on a date as the CMS have not provided the required paperwork in the requested time scales and my ex has moved house again! In addition he has recently changed his company details so that his partner is now director and he is tooling engineer, do you think this will have an affect? I’m thinking perhaps she gets paid instead of him for his consultancy work but who knows!! What information am I allowed to request about him and have access to? Thank you!
The change of job may have an effect as non-payers rarely make changes that don’t work in their favour. Still, you can request bank statements, company accounts, payslips, director’s loan details, details of all benefits in kind and expenses claimed. Make sure you ask for a financial professional to sit on the tribunal as well. If you haven’t yet, you would do well to make a formal complaint about the time it’s taken the CMS as well, and do it through your MP!
I just stumbled across your blog – you give me hope (sort of!) I’ve been battling for 6 years and currently arrears stand at £10k. I’ve been to 2 tribunals through that time, delt with bailiffs(useless – they take less than than the weekly maintenance!) and now moved over to the CMS. I had a call this morning from the fraud investigations team there which seemed a little more thorough but I won’t hold my breath! My ex partner sets up limited companies and closes them before tax returns are due. Only to open up new companies with slightly different names. I hope the fraud team are able to find something and help. My daughter wants for nothing though and she’s been brought up to understand the importance of hard work to have the things you want in life. His 10k won’t buy back the time he’s missed with her that’s for sure!
Hey Lucy, I really hope the blog helps in some way. I just wish we could get a real change in the system to close the loopholes! But what you said is right – the money they fight so hard to hide won’t pay for the damage they cause in their relationships with their children; it’s the worst false economy.
I too have been ‘fighting’ with the CSA for many years. My ex-husband has never attended any of our many tribunals and has sent in ‘incomplete’ income and housing information to try to confuse matters. At the last tribunal the Judge gave my ex one more chance to turn up and explain things he did not show. My case migrated to the CMS last week and the arrears are over £46,000 needless to say he is now saying he can’t pay anything as he only earns £5k a year (he is a Director at a well known large company). I am hoping the CMS will see through him and I will finally
I really hope your case progresses past this stage, Michelle! All the best from me.
My variation has been closed and is now being dealt with by FIU, but no one at the CMS can tell me any time scale to how long this will take! On the last phone call the guy was quite evasive or simply didn’t know what will happen next. Your blog has given me hope though so thanks.
I’m glad the blog’s been encouraging, Leigh, and I really hope the FIU helps to progress your case. Don’t forget to keep pestering the CMS as well as your MP!
Hi
Could you advise how the FIU become involved? At what stage? Thanks
Hi Donna, when I wrote to my MP I specifically requested that he pushed for the case to be referred to the FIU. It isn’t an automatic procedure; you have to be insistent that you want the FIU involved.
If love to know if anyone has had issues with an enforcement of earnings being deducted but the employer not paying it …… I am currently due £2106, which the employer has taken from my ex’s wage but never passed on its meant to be with fraud but they have never been in touch and when I call every other day I am informed there’s no notes fraud team don’t speak to clients direct and for the past 2 weeks my investigator has been in training ….. at what point does someone accept responsibility for there failings there is currently 5 people with that employer being affected by this ?
Ive been fighting 9 yrs for my ex to pay. Finally the FIU took up my case with a nudge from my MP. I have had to be the private investigator and gather enough evidence for the FIU to open a case. Yesterday I recieved a call from the investigating officer. She informed me that there were ‘ significant number of ‘red flags’ against my ex declared income he gave HMRC. Ex now has been invited ti interview to explain his income thats significantly higher than his declared one.
Im confident he wont attend. I will post when i have more info. However, the FIU have had my case for 15 months but it would appear have been very thorough. Fingers crossed. This is also a case of my ex robbing the public purse to avoid payibg fair tax. Hope HMRC get him too.
It sounds very hopeful! I hope things go well for you and your kids xx
I have well over 10k in arrears and 2 court orders via the CSA and the CMS. My ex was so rude and aggressive to the people at the CMS that he finally annoyed a lady so much she automatically referred my case to the FIU. The have been really great, 5 months and they’ve already found enough evidence to call him in for an interview. Has anyone got this far and if so what happens now?
Responding to Sarah & Lorna….I too have the FIU inviting my ex in for interview. This has also been a 15 month journey to get to this point. My frustrations are that just when I feel I am getting to the finishing line, the FIU process seems to have ground to a halt. they wrote to ex on 9th May inviting him for interview with a time limit of 20th May for response. They informed me that if no response, then they will action their findings. I contacted them after the 20th May, only to be told as he had not responded, they have to send out another letter in case he never received the first. I was told he would be given until 18th June to respond. I phoned on the 19th June, only to be told that they had the 18th June marked as a review date and had not sent 2nd letter. after I complained bitterly, they sed out 2nd letter with 30th June deadline. I phoned after the 30th June, to be told that they need to write a closure report and submit for case conference. in amongst these dates, my caseworker has had lots of ‘annual leave’. I have tried calling them again over last few days but goes straight to ansaphone. to say I am frustrated is an understatement. I would like to call the team manager to complain but cannot find a telephone number to call. does anyone have a direct number for FIU? I only have my case workers number, which as I said, goes straight to ansaphone.
I came across your blog whilst researching and preparing for a CMS Tribunal. I can’t thank you enough for this, because it gave me the confidence to go into the court (as prepared as I could have been) and finally watch my ex get the grilling he deserved. There was a forensic accountant on the panel and he rather expertly took my ex’s accounts apart with a fine-toothed comb and quizzed him on the need to keep several hundred thousand pounds within his company over the past 2 years!
You were absolutely right that you do not need to employ a solicitor to fight your case. The judge and the accountant did all the hard work. Having said that I have spent many hours tracking down information from companies house, on LinkedIn and YouTube to provide evidence of significant diversion of income.
I now await a decision, but the CMS representative who I spoke to thinks it likely that this will be in my favour. And it turns out they have significant powers to force payment. Firstly a CMS liability order which impacts on credit score. They can ask for Bailiffs to seize assets, place a charge on a property and even force the sale of a property. And now removing passports and driving licences.
So to anyone who has found this blog, please read it and follow the advice here. It’s a long road (3 years so far for me), but it’s worth it.
Hey Jennie,
Thanks for your kind comment, and I really hope things work out well for your case!
Hi Jenny I’ve been told this with my case. He even had bailiffs go round and try to get money from him. I was told he would have to pay £50 a month to them. CSM would take some of what he owes them and I get what’s left. The liability order was granted etc was told if he didnt pay he will be taken to court for the money he owes CMS.
My x husband works for one of the top banks in the country and is in receipt of £5000 per month after tax. For the past 2 years he contributed 0penny to my daughter and the court swallows his rubbish excuses and he still is not paying anything towards her cost.
As your husband is likely to be subject to PAYE his employer will have given him a P60( gives annual detail of pay and tax) . The CMS can access HMRC systems and should therefore be able to view the P60 details, if he submits an Icome Tax Return this will be on line also( husband will no doubt be in receipt of benefits (BIK),which all go toward the figure assessable for maintenance)
Failing that head down tribunal route and specifically request P60 and BIKdetsils for each year. Good luck
I did manage to get a lump sum of £12k in unpaid maintenance, so keep going you can do this
Hi, how does one retrieve child maintenance arrears? Ex has negotiated a ridiculous amount of money to be paid back in terms of the arrears. Does CMS have any powers to actually get the arrears? Currently we are on Direct Pay. Can I take my ex through the cicvil courts?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
this blog has given me some hope!! Does anyone have experience of FIU Rejecting a case for investigation?? I have been advised by cms I can ask them to review it in 12 months. PP Claims universal credit and they’ve said the only people that can investigate him are the dwp for benefit fraud (ive reported it to them already) apparently there is no paper trail evidence to support a cms financial investigation despite me providing numerous evidence of his high flying lifestyle. I just don’t know how I would get paper documented evidence of his income.
My sons father is Polish and went back to Poland when he was 5 weeks old . I put in for child support in November 2018 through Remo . I have given them the address that he gave me for contact I also informed that he had a business that he ran , he sent me a message in March last year to close the case it was causing him problems , they paused the case in Poland because he told the court that his business was registered at that address but it wasn’t making money and wasn’t paying tax . Then nothing till on Friday last week I had a letter from CMS to say that the court in Poland had closed the case because they couldn’t find him , he does live at the address he has nowhere else to go . Where to go from here , has any one used a privet investigator in their case .