When Things Go Wrong with Child Maintenance
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) helps separated parents arrange financial support for their children. These payments can help with essential expenses, from school uniforms to household bills.
Most cases run smoothly, but problems do arise. A calculation might seem wrong, payments may not arrive, or you might feel the CMS has handled something poorly. When this happens, you have options: you can complain, ask for a mandatory reconsideration, or appeal to an independent tribunal.
Each route serves a different purpose, and knowing which one applies to your situation will save time and frustration.
Answer a few questions about your situation and get a clear summary of your child maintenance rights and options.
Try our Child Support Rights Checker free, here on this site →Making a Complaint
A complaint is the right step if you are unhappy with how the CMS has treated you or handled your case. This could include poor communication, unreasonable delays, staff behaviour, or administrative errors that caused problems.
Start by contacting the team that normally deals with your case. Many issues can be sorted out at this stage with a phone call or message through your online account. If the problem is straightforward, it may be resolved immediately.
When the team cannot fix things directly, your complaint will be passed to a dedicated complaints team. They aim to respond within 15 working days, though complex cases can take longer. You should receive updates throughout the process.
If you remain dissatisfied after this, you can escalate to the Independent Case Examiner. This free service reviews complaints about the CMS and certain other government agencies, but will only consider your case once the CMS's internal complaints procedure has been fully exhausted. The examiner can recommend remedies, including apologies or compensation for poor service.
You can also ask your MP to refer your case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman once you have exhausted other routes, though this is not guaranteed to influence the outcome.
Some families also find mediation helpful for resolving ongoing disputes about child maintenance arrangements, either before or alongside formal processes.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Challenging a Decision: Mandatory Reconsideration
If you believe the CMS has made an error in calculating maintenance or reached the wrong decision on your case, a complaint is not the right route. Instead, you need to request a mandatory reconsideration.
This is a formal review of the decision by a different CMS officer. You must request it within one month of receiving the decision letter. Extensions may be granted in some circumstances, but these are not guaranteed and usually require a valid reason or new evidence.
When making your request, explain clearly why you think the decision is wrong. Include any evidence that supports your position, such as payslips, bank statements, or documents showing your living arrangements. The more specific you can be, the better.
The CMS will look at the case again and send you a mandatory reconsideration notice explaining whether the original decision stands or has been changed.
Appealing to a Tribunal
If you disagree with the outcome of the mandatory reconsideration, you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support). This is an independent body, separate from the CMS.
You will need to submit your appeal within one month of receiving the mandatory reconsideration notice. The tribunal will consider your case based on the evidence and the law, and you can submit new evidence that the CMS did not previously consider. The tribunal can change the CMS decision if it finds an error was made.
While appeals are free, some individuals choose to seek legal advice or hire a solicitor given the complexity of the process. Citizens Advice and other organisations can provide guidance on preparing your case.
Tribunal hearings may be held in person, by phone, or by video. In some cases, the tribunal will make a decision based on paperwork alone, without a hearing.
For current information on time limits, forms, and procedures, check GOV.UK. The rules can change, and official sources will have the most accurate details for your situation.
They decided that as his wage had increased, that he should pay more. They notified him and he said he wanted to make a direct payment as opposed to take from wages. I asked for it to come from wages because I knew he had no intention of paying. They said they had to give him a chance.
While this was going through, the CSA's attachment order was still in place. Understandably he did not want to pay any additional money until that was cancelled. CSA said they had sent the appropriate paperwork through and it should have been cancelled. CMS said they didn't have the paperwork through to cancel it. Eventually it was cancelled and CSA gave the money they collected to CMS. I was told by CSA the money was to come to me, CMS gave it to him. Over £2000. After weeks of chasing I received £800 and he was not making any regular payments.
After months of messing around, I asked CMS to deduct payment from source. They did eventually get something in place, however it was for the same amount and then they deducted their fees from it. I contacted CMS and complained. I was robbed off with 2 week investigation which found I received the correct amount. I questioned again if I should be paying his fees, was told no. Another 2 week wait and no-one got back to me. I called again and was told no I shouldn't be paying and was left in limbo again while waiting for a case handler to call me back. Then all payments stopped. I rang and again a case handler would get back to me.
Before the case handler could call me back, my daughter received a message from his sister saying tell your mother she won't be getting another penny from your dad, he's left the country. I informed CMS, who insisted they had no knowledge and would investigate. Months pass and the feedback I received was that they believed he was still in the UK. I asked for the fees I paid back and was told it should be returned and needed authorising. It never happened and I gave up trying to contact them.
Today I received my yearly statement through reminding me that my children are owed thousands of pounds and that the CMS had sent the paperwork to his address, which we know he doesn't live at anymore. I have issued a complaint through the online service but once it was submitted a message appeared stating that due to Covid 19, complaints are not being routinely looked at and someone will be in touch as and when there is time. I am frustrated and let down by the system. He is never go to pay. The best they could do is return the fees and freeze the account until he is located. They yearly reminder that we've struggled without help is seriously damaging my mental health.
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