[LookingForAWayForward]

I had something similar. Receiving parent doing their own calculations and insisting to CMS I had underpaid (I hadn’t, it was in fact due to reductions in pay and therefore CMS due).

After 18 months of trying to get CMS to do something proactive and review all paid income and evidence of payments made I had to write to 1) my local MP and 2) the Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions (CMS is part of the DWP) to get CMS to look properly at my case again.

It was only then escalated to the independent complaints investigation team in Northampton which did a forensic review of my income and payments for an 18 month period. It turned out that far from being in arrears I had overpaid.

The CMS wrote a long and lengthy apology and offered a redress sum of £50 for my 18 months of distress and inconvenience.

My advice: the caseworkers are not much help when the process they follow is at fault or has caused the problem, and having spoken to many caseworkers they’re not empowered (or interested?) in resolving problems.

Escalate to your local MP and whichever person is currently Secretary of State for DWP. A simple google search will find their emails.

 

[LookingForAWayForward]

Dear Richard355,

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the CMS but have been through something similar over the past 18 months. I had various complaints raised by the receiving parent (RP) and allegations of (1) underpayment (2) hidden income (3) diversion of income having moved from being self-employed to employed (therefore any and all income visible to the CMS via the data feed from HMRC to CMS) and multiple attempts by ex to move me on to Collect & Pay arrangement (to cause me a 20% penalty).

No amount of uploading bank statement evidence of payments and speaking with CMS case handlers would work. One lot of bank statement evidence CMS did nothing with it for 6 months.

I therefore escalated and emailed letters to (1) my local MP asking for her help  (her team raised my issue with CMS) and (2) to Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for Department of Work and Pensions (CMS if part of DWP) setting out that despite having provided payment evidence CMS had failed to properly look at my past payments vs income and CMS was being weaponised by RP.

End result of going down this route was an independent complaint handling team reviews the CMS handling of the matter complained about. In my case CMS undertook a forensic investigation of payments made over 18 months vs income and concluded that – despite the allegations of underpaying – I had in fact over paid. Lengthy written and phone call apology from the DWP complaints team and an offer of a (small) compensatory sum for the distress and anxiety caused by its mis-management of its case.

Sadly, I have little faith that CMS as a govt department works efficiently or effectively for either paying or receiving parents. My only advice would be to escalate it.

 

 

 

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