Child Maintenance Service Reviews 

Yet another system not fit for purpose. Had a case with them for roughly 20 years. Owed thousands in arrears, nothing appears to be done about chasing the non resident parent for payments. All these things they say they can implement on the non resident parent if they don't pay never happen. My son is now grown up and has kids of his own but I'm still waiting for someone to chase up the vast arrears I'm owed. Also not heard anything on any kind of progress for months. Least the pointless letters have stopped, could have wallpapered my house with them numerous times with the amount I've had over the years all amounting to nothing.
I'll probably die still waiting for a penny. Absolute joke. This system could learn alot from how it's done in Germany!

Theses are meant to be hear for both parents, load of rubbish gladly took over £140 from my universal credit by accident, but been trying for over a year to get in back and keep getting past from pillow to post.

Very disappointed with a government service waiting time on hold can take up to about 1 hour to 2 hours bad experience with customer service teams in past can’t explain how the amounts are broken down when you ask found there is no help when you need support and help overall a very disappointing experience would advice any one that is not involved not to get involved caused more problems than good also found lots of harassing mail from them

I have repeatedly provided all required documents, including my end-of-year tax return, and completed every form as requested. Despite this, the Child Maintenance Service continues to make repeated mistakes, resulting in ever-increasing bills. The persistent errors suggest a systemic issue that needs urgent resolution. On top of this, I am told not to pay directly but to follow their unclear payment system. This level of service is unacceptable and needs immediate attention.They don’t do their job properly.

The worst public service in England
I was paying over £900 a month for 2 children that i have with my ex, then remaried and declare my third child in 2023, altough i submitted all requested document, they refused to add the child in the calculation because she was born abroad. I chaĺlenged them and for over a year. The case fowarded to the tribunal and the judge made the decision in my favour in November 2024 and the CMS to make the calculations and reimburse the overpaiment. I am still chasing them as the refused to pay, stating that i do not meet the criteria for reimboursement.
I have contacted the Unbudsman 3 months ago and they are asking for the final decision that shows the amount owed and i have been chasing the CMS for the past 3 months . I spoke to several advisors, the last one i spoke to was called Mark, he promised he will make things right and sent me the requested document and I still haven't receive anything . I wish we could rate minus 1 star because that's what they deserve

Absolutely disgusting service (Genuinely need a 0 star for this service) and anyone working for this department should genuinely be ashamed of themselves.

I have been added as a representative to talk on my partners behalf as the level of prejudice and sexism the staff of this service have shown him actually makes me sick.

My partner is a disabled, highly HIGHLY decorated war veteran that would give anything to see his boys but is blocked by the mother then penalised by this disgusting service that should genuinely not be allowed to operate.

FALSE and FAKE fines applied. Stone walling to prevent complaints being made. Blocking phone numbers so you cant call. Dropping the call when you do get through!

Any other service would be completely overhauled but this still exists?? How is that even possible at this point?

The communication route has become so poor by these deviants that we are having to now get our local MP involved to even get a response from them!

They sent our company a letter requesting information about an employee. We were told to ring them on 0800 171 2345 to provide this. Their telephone number has 3 options (after listening to lots of useless drivel) but not a single one of the options is relevant to an employer/company

Poor communication. Completely wrong with paying parents calculation . Refused to look into his earnings thoroughly

1 star is generous for them. I had my child 3 nights a week a saw him every day to and they feel its OK to steal 192 a month give to my horrible ex partner and keep some cash for them selves for a direct pay service which I never agreed to and refuse to chance it or anything inless ex partner agrees. I've explained what there doing is barely leaving me enough to eat each month let alone buy myself clothes or trainers if needed. The staff seem really inconsiderate for my miss fortunes as ex is doing alot more evil and legal stuff to. I thought they were meant to be a neutral service but feels like they on the side on the enemy as in ex partnet

I explained to CSM that my expenses per month are more than how much i make and that CSM payments have left me unable to eat and borrowing money.
They sent me a letter with local soup kitchens.
I explained to them that my mental health is extremely effected, they offered no assistance and did not care. The only out i can see is to go on benefits.
On top of all this the figure im paying is incorrect. I have submitted evidence to prove this and they ignore me. Even one of the agents agreed with Me and wasn't sure how this was happening. Unfortunately the agents are just powerless company men.

Dreadful service, have used them twice and been let down both times. Still trying to get money owed for my first son and he's now 30 years old!
Never give clear answers to any questions and even when they do they constantly contradict what you were told before. Complaints aren't addressed appropriately. In summary, its a pointless service that doesn't support the parent caring for the child one bit. They claim to have all these powers to ensure absent parents support their child financially, but seem completely unable to use said powers. A complete and utter joke of a service.

Very poor, absolutely no help whatsoever and have zero interest in doing the right thing. Taking money off parents who have had their child taken away from them with no consideration of the financial implications. Gross income is used as a starting point and they don’t care what disposable income you actually have.

Treat men like criminals and there is absolutely no responsibility on the receiving parent to spend the money on the child.

Take forever to answer the phone.

Absolutely the worst.
Arbitrary decision making, stress inducing and not fit for purpose.
Killed more dads via suicide than you'd want to imagine.
Government should be ashamed of this mess.

As much use as t!ts on a fish, mt wages dropped by 35% it took nearly 17 weeks, and I phoned them every week for 13 of those weeks for them to change my payments, when my wages went back to normal and they could take more money it was done within 5 days, and they claim to help both sides😂😂 19 years and yet still waiting to find a useful member off staff, they could not care less about you just the money

10 years of maladministration. RPs received nothing I had all monies paid back plus consolatory payment. The CMS stresses people over the edge. The DWP disclosed the CMS mortality rate which shows 3,X The national average in the Paying Parents demographic, higher in some age groups.
IT Systems that make Post Office Horizon seem good as accuracy and disparate systems produce errors across the nation.
This is Horizon MK 2 on steroids. The users know it, the staff know it ( see Glassdoor), the politicians know it and the civil servants are hiding it. The big issue here is that it's not that parents are failing to support their children, but are no longer here for them.
You must complain, you must go to ICE and to your MP. It is clear from the reviews urgent reform is required and justice delivered for those harmed as I and the RPs were.

Everything takes ages to process. Also they have an utter mess in their office. The web service looks being updated by hand. While calling their number, every consultant says different things. The only good thing was that after a long wait they have managed to deal with my case.

God help anyone that has to deal with these muppets. Completely incompetent. Never provide back up to assessments. I've been trying to to resolve arrears for over a year now.

This company is creating fraudulent arrears against people then producing fraudulent evidence in court against them. They force the courts to be biased using section 33 which states the court can't question the calculation. How can peoples human rights be removed so easily by a government that claim we can't stop illegal criminals entering our country because of human right. This system is a joke and is killing hundreds a year. It is a extremist group made to terrorise people.

Absolutely shambles I pay £270 pm for 2 boys which I absolutely love to bits but haven't seen them since June 2025 apart from there Nativity play in primary school at Xmas 2025. It should be £250 then the robbing gits take £20 of for charge. I get roughly 1230 pm take the £270 of then rent and other bills there a discrase.

Lots of disgruntled fathers taking up issue with an EXTREMELY important organisation. Without them, I would not have received a single penny. I AM SO GRATEFUL!!!