Child Maintenance Service Reviews 

Terrible experience, I wanted to rep my brother who has mental health issues, they were very unhelpful. They were using tax returns from six years ago to estimate my brothers salary, but it was totally incorrect. They came up with a huge figure but wouldn't allow us to give bank statements going back. It had to only be everything from a certain date. So the debt still stood even though he had not earnt the salary. We are unable to provide them psychiatrist letters asking for compassion or financial records, so the matter is going to court. It's been an absolute witch hunt.

If i could give them 0 i would!! Never do anything they say they are going to do! They lie and spend their time defending themselves rather than try to help resolve issues. Arrogant attitudes think they are above anyone using this “service”
Not fit for purpose

5 days after my payment was taken from my bank (I checked) I received a message from CMS saying I haven't paid and they are considering legal action. Please check before sending out threats. Never missed a payment in 14 years.

Absolute disgrace of an Organisation, can't even tell me where my "arrears" have suddenly popped up from! Phone calls pointless after an hour + in the queue, told one thing , do another!
Website not worth the bandwidth it takes up

Wait times are disgustingly shocking almost as if it’s an extra layer of giving you more sense of powerlessness within your position as “an ordinary human”, when they do answer they are extremely limited to what they can offer, help or deal with, i think as the human race we ought to become more understanding about the world we live in and how our morals and rights are near to none after the higher ups are done taxing us and pushing into whatever crisis they have made. Soon we will awaken as a human race and overcome these pdf files who run our systems.

If I could give zero stars, I would
They're just an absolute joke. I put my own claim in to pay my ex. Directly because she kept demanding more, i've always paid for my child.I have done it a fair weight now.To pay what I need to pay, but i get a letter from CMS quite clearly stating that it's my ex that has made a claim against me. Now, this is absolute garbage, why us guys are always made out to be the ones that's in the wrong I do not understand.
And also to be told that if I pay by direct debits, I would pay an extra twenty percent, which is an absolute joke as a government, keep that mone

absolute garbage. clearly a Broken out dated system. robbing people blind.

So... she get nearly 500 off me.. them a free house off the goverment.... child benefit... she lied about my son being autistic and making him act certain way for extra cash ( he's fine I tested all the so called symptoms) then she get universal credit... oh aswel as a cash in hand work on the side.

She earns more than me and barely lifts a finger!

useless communication
Terrible customer service
very Bias
Corrupt

This has got to be one of the worst, most frustrating and utterly incompetent services I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
The moment you have a problem, a question, or simply need clarification about something, you're effectively left stranded. Want to email them? You can't. Want to speak to someone through live chat? Forget it. Your only realistic option is to telephone them, where you can expect to spend what feels like half your working day on hold, desperately hoping someone might eventually answer.
And yet, despite making themselves practically impossible to contact, they have absolutely no difficulty sending you cryptic, confusing messages that require you to log into their unnecessarily cumbersome online system just to read them.
When you finally manage to access these letters, you might as well be reading ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. The wording is so convoluted, unnecessarily complicated and poorly explained that trying to understand what they're actually telling you becomes an exercise in sheer frustration.
We're talking about child maintenance payments, something that directly affects people's finances and, more importantly, the welfare of children. You would think an organisation dealing with something this important would prioritise clear communication, accessibility and basic customer service. Apparently, that's asking far too much.
At times, the entire system feels almost deliberately designed to confuse and frustrate people. I genuinely find myself wondering whether making it this difficult to understand your obligations is intentional, because surely no organisation could be this consistently dreadful by accident.
And when misunderstandings can potentially result in missed payments, arrears and enforcement action, the complete lack of accessible support is nothing short of disgraceful.
Perhaps they could put some of the money spent pursuing people towards employing enough staff to answer a telephone. Although, judging by the service, I wouldn't be surprised if the Christmas party budget takes priority.
The Child Maintenance Service should be ashamed of the standard of service it provides. People are not asking for special treatment. They're asking for clear information, reasonable access to support and the ability to resolve issues without sacrificing hours of their lives.

An utterly shambolic, inaccessible and infuriating service. One star, and that's only because Trustpilot won't let me give zero.

Awful service they have taken 700 quid off my ex for missing payments. And only given me 375 hes still 670 in arrears. Im fuming 😤 they are useless take 3 months to sort yet still no physical money in my bank 😤 honestly a waste of time plus hes 7 months in arrears from last financial year which im still arguing over. I donrt want anything im not owed they ruin families. They should not accept any fee they get paid by the goddamb government 🙄 im livid

Dreadful dreadful service - passed around from pillar to post, three different "agents", none of who had the slightest clue about my case. Unwilling to listen to my point of view and their on line service is even worse

This is the worst service in history!!

Multiple time trying to contact them after listening to a pointless 2 minute long message only to be cut off everytime!

This service needs sorting out.

Just totally appalling for all concerned ruins lives and relationships between parents and children. A good idea that just doesn’t work in practice. A very blunt instrument applied to delicate situations that does more harm than good in so many cases. It’s actually made my son worse off as his mum spends his money in the pub.

If you are a parent going through a separation, do everything within your power to reach a private agreement with your ex-partner and avoid the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) at all costs.
The CMS played a significant role in ruining my daughter’s childhood and destroying my experience of being a father. Instead of keeping the focus on the welfare of the child, the system creates and feeds constant hostility between parents. It turned what should have been co-parenting into years of endless conflict, animosity, and severe mental stress for everyone involved—most tragically, for the very child the service is supposed to support.
To make matters worse, the CMS operates on an entirely flawed, "one size fits all" calculation model:
Honest, working parents pay full price: Because I work through PAYE, every penny of my income is visible, taxable, and taken directly. My wife and I work hard to build a life, yet we end up bearing the financial brunt of the entire system.
Self-employed loophole abuse: Meanwhile, the father of my stepchildren is self-employed, operates on a cash-in-hand basis, and declares next to no tax. The CMS relies on basic tax figures that are completely blind to cash earnings, allowing people to evade their real responsibility and get away scot-free.
The system penalizes transparent, PAYE taxpayers while doing nothing to hold cash-in-hand earners accountable. The CMS destroys working families, creates deep resentment, and fails the children it promises to protect. Avoid this service if you want any peace or fairness for your family.

As a paying parent, I have only been using the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) for a relatively short period, yet my experience so far has been nothing short of diabolical.
I have never had a call answered in less than 45 minutes. When I eventually get through to an adviser, I am frequently left questioning whether they fully understand how the system operates. There appears to be a serious issue with staff training, customer service and accountability. In my experience, caseworkers have been rude, dismissive and unhelpful. When I have challenged or queried payment calculations, I have encountered defensiveness, and on occasions, the call has been terminated before my concerns have been properly addressed. When I have requested a breakdown from the CMS showing the calculation they have used, I have received letters containing basic mathematical errors which I have forwarded to my local MP.

I have raised several formal complaints, including through my local MP. However, the responses received from the CMS have been vague, inconclusive and have failed to adequately address the issues raised. It is particularly concerning that the CMS has paid me compensation using public funds to acknowledge failings in its own service. This raises serious questions about accountability, the quality of its processes and how these failings are being addressed to prevent them from happening again.

I currently have an ongoing tribunal case involving the CMS. One of my key concerns is the apparent addition of arrears to my case that I have been unable to obtain a satisfactory explanation for. When I have questioned where these arrears have come from and how they have been calculated, I have not received clear answers. Instead, I have been expected to comply with a payment plan without being given a satisfactory explanation of the amounts being demanded. Parents should be entitled to transparent calculations, clear explanations and the opportunity to challenge errors without being treated dismissively.

The stress and frustration caused by these experiences should not be underestimated. A service responsible for managing such important financial matters should operate with transparency, professionalism and fairness. When calculations are disputed, communication breaks down and complaints fail to provide meaningful answers, the consequences can have a significant impact on people's financial stability, wellbeing and mental health.

If you are experiencing similar problems with the CMS, I would strongly encourage you to document your concerns, make formal complaints and contact your local MP. The more people who speak up and demand accountability, the harder it becomes for these issues to be overlooked or ignored.

In my view, the CMS is another example of a public service that urgently needs greater scrutiny and meaningful reform. Paying parents deserve accurate calculations, properly trained staff, respectful communication and a complaints process that genuinely investigates concerns rather than simply providing generic responses.

I fear that my case will now need to be referred to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE).

This is just another example of another dysfunctional and broken government service in the UK.

Child maintenance are holding my son’s payments that his father has paid. Tonight I spoke with a DISGUSTING human who said her name was Joy. After being disconnected from an earlier call I managed to get through to ‘joy’ just before 6pm. She answered the call with a can’t be bothered attitude. She then gave me false information about my payments, wouldn’t let me ask questions, repeatedly spoke over me. Told me there is no such thing as an emergency discretionary payments, she couldn’t put me through to a manager or anyone else and after me telling her I’m a disabled and distressed parent she put the phone down on me. I was not rude, I did not swear, I simply asked questions about my case. The previous advisor had told me that my funds would be released on the 17th but ‘joy’ said that I won’t receive either payment and just kept repeating over me my next payment date. I am now left completely distressed with contradictory answers and can’t get anymore information until tomorrow. My son’s father has shown proof that he has made 2 weekly payments that I have not received. I can not belive they allow people like this to answer the phone.

My Story: When It Becomes Too Much, Please Walk Away

I want to share my story because I genuinely hope it might help somebody else.

This about the Child Maintenance Service Vicky and Mia,and I am not interested in making things up or saying things that aren't true. I am simply telling the truth about my own experience and, most importantly, the impact the situation had on me.

There came a point where the stress, frustration and feeling of not being listened to became too much for me. I reached a very dark place and I took an overdose.

I am incredibly grateful that I received medical help and that I am here today to tell my story.

I have learned a very serious lesson from what happened.

So, if you are dealing with Child Maintenance, or any other situation that is causing you enormous stress, please remember this:

You are allowed to walk away from the phone.

If you're getting worked up, upset or overwhelmed because you feel you aren't being listened to, put the phone down.

Leave it.

Concentrate on yourself.

Concentrate on your wellbeing.

Get some rest. Speak to somebody. Take some time away from the situation.

If, when you are feeling calmer, you decide you want to go back and try to resolve the problem, you can do that.

But please don't allow a problem to become bigger than your own life.

And please, don't do what I did.

I don't want anybody else reaching that point.

If you don't have family or friends around you, that doesn't mean you have nobody. Reach out for help. Contact the Samaritans, Shout, your GP, emergency services or somebody you trust.

You are not alone.

Ultimately, only you can decide what is right for you. But my recommendation, from someone who has been through this myself, is:

When it becomes too much, step away. Protect yourself first. Your wellbeing matters.

I am sharing my experience because if my story helps even one person stop, put the phone down and choose to look after themselves instead, then something positive can come from what happened to me.

Please look after yourself. ❤️

Have nothing but issues with them. Overpayment not being returned so basically they stole my money and the government just let them carry on committing crime department of work and pension do Notting either been going on for years still to this day

Absolutele joke wanted £490 a month off me and now wanting £802 a month starting on December.. how am i gonna afford that absolute criminals horrible dirty robbers lot them…. Will probably leave my job and lose my house…

They tell you to call get first message before the options then goes silent and you get cut off been gpimg om for 3 days and no reports of issues cms a jokke my ex claims hr sonskint cant make payment he got more money than me goes luxury cruises constantly takes his new partner out every weekend pubs and a meal goes away for weekend aways in luxty hotels pays hos partner jhair and naols every month whilst my kids do with out have alwaus said he earning more than declaring .and.cms dont listen to thing aske for fiu asked foe everything to get him investigated and ypu know why he gets away with it because he is ex dwp employee knows loop holes knows how to play system and not dam tjing fets done

Don't even deserve 1 star .....you given the mother mo tha and months of time past the due date for a DNA test and you gave her multiple opportunitys but yet got nothing but your quick enough to put the money up I owe but not quick enough to close the account down when you have given the mother mo ths and mo ths of time way way past the due date ........us father's are worth nothing to you or social amd all your good for is ruining father's life and all money grabbing scum