CMS help needed

nedwina2020

Hi,
my ex has put in a fraudulent claim for child benefit and CMS - for context,our child lives with her nan as it was her decision to do so. We had a private arrangement in place. She is 18 and just finished college. 

Her Nan wanted to give her the child benefit money in cash and she said she wanted a bank transfer. She then messaged me this and said her dad was taking over the payments for child benefit - I told her he can’t do this as she doesn’t live with her dad. He isn’t on the birth certificate and has no parental responsibility. 

I then out the blue receive a CMS claim. I notify child benefit of the fraud and subsequently CMS and appeal the claim and provide all the information. 

Without warning, I am then hit for almost £700 straight from my pay. No letters regarding missed payments,no letters regarding an attachment of earnings,nothing. I call them up and ask what’s happened and why it’s not been dealt with. My appeal was never lodged by them. They told me five weeks ago to appeal and provide information and I did. I told them he’s also done this to avoid paying full CMS to his three other children (with his ex wife). I’ve told them it’s fraud and they are telling me there is nothing they can do. I rang child benefit five weeks ago to report the fraud and it was logged online. That’s not been dealt with. I’ve sent proof of my daughter admitting she’s not living at her dad’s,that he’s not on the birth certificate,that she’s registered at her nans for the doctors etc. They just don’t care. Child benefit can’t even tell me how they’ve allowed him to make a claim with him not being on the birth certificate. 

So I’ve paid out for a private arrangement and have had money taken direct from my pay. I’ve been screwed over by my ex. Who has no legal or moral responsibility towards our child and that was his choice. I can’t afford my bills or mortgage and I’ve been on sick pay. I’ve told them that the number of nights she stays with her dad was massively overinflated. CMS are aware of this and surprise,it wasn’t logged. 

What can I do? My daughter has finished college so I’ve been told the payments will stop in September. But I’ve got a few months of significant sums of money coming out direct from my pay and no savings to make up the shortfall. 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you 

Brie

Citizen's Advice.  Urgently.  They are the sort of gang that can help with this.

For yourself - food banks?  they can help sustain you through this mess.  They're busy with the holiday hunger bit since kids are out of school but that means they also have time to deal with individuals who have suddenly fallen on a rough patch.  See if they have a budget adviser to help you manage the money side for the next few weeks.

And check if your council is doing a household support fund application right now (do it immediately!!)  This might get you a voucher for a supermarket if you are in a negative budget (sounds like you are).  PM me if you need some help.

nedwina2020

Thank you. I’m not quite in the red yet but it won’t take much when I’m out £700 a month and I’ve not been able to work extra shifts to bump up my pay - especially when I didn’t know this was going to happen.

CMS have said they can’t even get the money back for me even though they managed to take it without even telling me. This has also screwed up getting a mortgage and being able to move house because of now not being able to cover everything. 

poppy12345

nedwina2020 said:

 They just don’t care. Child benefit can’t even tell me how they’ve allowed him to make a claim with him not being on the birth certificate. 

You don't need to be named on a birth certificate to claim benefits for a child. The reason they can't tell you anything is because you're not the claimant. 

Sprinter24sharp

The whole system needs changing , I hope you get sorted 

jlfrs01

One thing you can do to help yourself straight away is to extend the schedule on the arrears part of your payments. Call in at 8am sharp and ask to speak with a case worker to extend the schedule on your arrears to make them more affordable. As an example, I owe the Resident Parent £2500 on my case in arrears which I'm paying off at £45 per month. The DWP computer will default back to 12 months each year the case is reviewed so you'll need to call in every year. Secondly, DOE Orders are capped at 40% of Net Salary as I understand it. Check with your employer they're not exceeding this level, any balance will be added to your arrears.