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02
Nov
Harrogate dad paid child maintenance yet 'owes £8,000'
A Harrogate man has spoken out after being told he owes £8,000 in child maintenance, even though he says he's paid his ex-partner £200 every month since his daughter was born 18 years ago.
Rob Pratt said he has done everything he can think of to prove to the Child Maintenance Service that he has paid maintenance, including sending 17 years worth of bank statements, only for his appeal to be rejected.
Problems began in 2021, when he left his job of 15 years and was no longer employed.
He said:
I just kept sending the money as usual every month. I started getting loads of letters, and I'd only missed one payment, but the letters from the CMS said ‘you need to pay’. And it was £300 a month – I thought that’s a bit expensive.
He was also told his payments were £8,000 in arrears. When he enquired where the figure came from, he says he “didn’t get sent anything whatsoever”.
Unsure what to do, he wrote to Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Tom Gordon, who contacted the Department for Work and Pensions, which runs the CMS, on Mr Pratt's behalf.
Mr Pratt said:
They [the DWP] sent me this breakdown of where it comes from. But it's just gobbledigook. All the figures they've got are just nonsense. I was working full-time, and I've provided statements showing that I paid. And they just ignore it.
Mr Pratt has tried appealing unsuccessfully.
His appeal was rejected. When he asked why, he said he was told it was based on the mother disputing the figure.
'They were taking £700 out my account every payday'
Mr Pratt set up a payment plan with the CMS to pay £250 a month on the first of the month. However, last year one of these payments was scheduled for a Sunday, so the transfer wasn’t made.
He said:
They [the CMS] immediately put me on an attachment of earnings where they were taking £700 out my account every payday, because of arrears.
My rent’s a grand a month. I was only getting paid about £1,800 and it was like leaving me with nothing. Like, literally nothing every month.
Mr Pratt was made redundant August, and is now on Universal Credit. The CMS is now only allowed to take £7 out of his benefits payment, so despite not working he is better off. However, Mr Pratt is desperate to get back to work.
So what next?
Mr Pratt said:
There’s failings everywhere. You can appeal, but you can't win. It's already set up.
You can go to this people called ICE. They're independent case examiners. And they told me on the phone last week that even if they found all the CMS information on me wrong, that I don't owe the money, they can't change their decision - all they can do is give me up to £100 in compensation, an apology, but the debt still stands.
He doesn't want to have to wait years and years for a trial.
Mr Pratt’s last option would be to go to a tribunal, but that would involve the costs of hiring a lawyer as well as take a long time as there’s just a backlog of cases.
He said:
In the meantime, you're still paying. They’ve insulated themselves to a point where you can't get out of it.
They've got so much power. It is unreal. They can take your car, your passport, your house. You have to complain about them to themselves. So every time it just gets swept aside.
Mr Pratt accused the CMS of giving him confusing and contradictory advice, including nine letters in one week, all telling him what his payment plan is – but for different amounts.
More than anything, Mr Pratt is frustrated that financially it makes no sense for him to find work.
He said:
Instead of me contributing to the economy, by working, paying tax, paying [the mother], like I have been for however long. Now they're having to send me money instead of me paying. It just doesn't make sense.
Mr Pratt doesn't know what options he has left.
The Stray Ferret approached the DWP for comment about all these allegations.
After providing, as requested, Mr Pratt’s full name, address, National Insurance number, case reference number and permission to talk to us, DWP then said it would not comment on the specific case.
A spokesperson said:
Our top priority is ensuring children receive the support they are entitled to.
In the vast majority of the 820,000 cases we handle, enforcement action is not necessary, and we will only take it where evidence shows child maintenance has not been paid and arrears are owed.
Where a paying parent disagrees with a decision, they can challenge it.
It confirmed that DWP has powers to recover money owed to children, including deductions directly from earnings, benefits, and bank accounts, but that a paying parent can dispute a maintenance decision through the Mandatory Reconsideration process and then appeal through the courts if they remain dissatisfied with the outcome.
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