New CMS case - need advice

I am divorced from my husband who is living with his new girlfriend.
I am the carer of our two children.
When we got divorced the agreement was that he pays £300.- per month and has the kids for two nights per week.
He at some point shortened it to £200.- and told me that's all I am getting. Financially I could cope with this reduction and left it at that to avoid any hassle with him. He then paid £200.- on the first of every month but started to have the kids less than 2 nights a week, he would have them willy nilly when it suited him. I asked him to stick to the agreement or pay more maintenance. He declined to do either and told me to sue him if I wanted anything.
I decided to start a case with the CMS and paid £20.- for the privilege. They assessed his income and his personal circumstances and decided he should pay around £90.- more per month, based on him having the kids for at least 52 night per year. So he has been told to pay me £289.- on the first of every month, but starting on the first of December, not the first of November.
So I am now a bit concerned that he won't pay anything on the 1st of November, which would leave me short that month. His last payment was on the first of October. So going by the CMS he doesn't have to pay anything for eight weeks.
If he fails to make a payment on the first of November and says the that's in accordance with the CMS, can i still pursue the missing payment for November through other channels, i.e. Small Claims court or would that be a waste of time ?
Strictly speaking he has underpaid for a while and now he gets a free month on top of it ?

Comments

  • Gpod
    Gpod Posts: 27 Forumite
    The CMS will calculate his liability from the date which you opened a case with them, you do not mention the date which you contacted them.

    The £289 per month he is liable for may include a payment towards arrears for the month of November spread over 12 months. You should receive a letter from the CMS detailing what his liability is, and any payments towards arrears, the £289 figure may go down after 12 months when any arrears are paid off.

    If CMS haven't sent you a letter, you should ask for one which explains what the monthly £289 figure includes.
  • Sorry, I contacted them on the 16th of October, they concluded their assessment on the 26th of October. I had a letter from them yesterday, it says he should pay so much per week based on his income of just under £600.- per week. There was one dependant child in his current household where he lives now. It says the first payment is due on the 1st of December though, when I think it should be on the first of November. It doesn't say anything about arrears in there at all
  • I_told_you_so
    I_told_you_so Posts: 29 Forumite
    edited 30 October 2016 at 6:51PM
    It could still be that he will pay his £200.- on the first of November but I have a feeling he wont, as it will basically pay for the first two higher amounts then without him having to dig deeper into his own pocket, i.e. it will pay for the increase on the first of December and the first of January.
  • If he is paying monthly then he will be paying in arrears so the payment you get on Dec 1st would be for the period 16th Oct to 15th Nov and then for what I gather he can then choose which date is more convenient for him (so the 1st in your case?). Although by the same token when you get your last payment (whenever that will be) it would be on the 1st of the month AFTER it closes.
    Total Debt:
    Dec 2015: £20,090.87
    Dec 2016: £16,320.85
  • The first page of the letter which tells you the monthly payment plan should tell you a weekly amount and the date that was payable from - the effective date.

    Later on in the letter, it should tell you the annual amount that should be paid for your first child maintenance year.

    For example, if on page 1 of the letter it says £50 a week from 23/10/16, later on it would give an annual figure of £2,606.10 which would be to cover the maintenance due from 23/10/16 to 22/10/17.

    Child maintenance is paid in arrears through CMS, and the payment plans are meant to ensure the annual figure due is cleared by the preferred payment date following the annual review date.

    So continuing with the above example, if the preferred payment date is the 1st, the 12 monthly payments would run from 01/12/16 - 01/11/17. You couldn't have the last payment date for the year as 01/10/17, as child maintenance is collected in arrears and the child maintenance year is ending in 22/10/17. So, the last payment date must be 01/11/17 for that child maintenance year, making the first collection date 01/12/16 to make 12 monthly payments.

    He might volunteer to make an additional payment to you on 01/11/16, but I don't think there is anything you can do to force him to do it. To claim through small claims court you would have to demonstrate he owes you this money - have you got anything in writing in which he has committed to pay you this sum?
    I often use a tablet to post, so sometimes my posts will have random letters inserted, or entirely the wrong word if autocorrect is trying to wind me up. Hopefully you'll still know what I mean.
  • OK, I didn't realize it was paid in arrears, I thought it should be in advance.
    As his last payment was beginning of October it would mean he pays nothing and I receive nothing for 8 weeks and he will be saving the £200.- he should have paid tomorrow. So he'll be laughing again and I will be borrowing.
    Funny world.
    Never mind. Thanks for the replies.
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