'They took £20,000 I didn't owe': Parents hit by child maintenance errors

John Hammond, a maths teacher from Peterborough, discovered that nearly £20,000 had been wrongly taken from his bank account by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), despite having no outstanding child maintenance payments. Hammond’s child support arrangement had ended over a decade earlier, with his children now adults aged 25 and 28. His case is one of more than 30 reported to the BBC by parents who have faced similar issues involving miscalculated arrears, wrongful deductions from wages or bank accounts, and prolonged disputes with the CMS. The CMS, which replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2012, is responsible for ensuring that non-residential parents contribute financially to their children’s living costs. It calculates payments using a specific formula and can enforce payments by deducting money directly from wages, benefits, pensions, or bank accounts. However, many of the reported problems relate to long-closed child support cases, with some parents being pursued for debts dating back many years. These concerns echo findings from a House of Lords report, where parents described money being taken "inappropriately" despite their efforts to comply with payment arrangements. Hammond’s ordeal reportedly began in 2002 when he received a letter from the CSA stating he owed £947 but that no collection would be pursued at his ex-wife’s request. He believed his obligations were settled until 2019, when the CMS claimed he owed almost £19,000. Despite his attempts to dispute the debt and provide evidence, the CMS was unable to clarify the basis for the claim. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which oversees the CMS, declined to comment on individual cases or explain why erroneous deductions occurred but stated that enforcement actions are only taken when parents fail to pay voluntarily. This situation highlights ongoing challenges within the UK’s child maintenance system, raising questions about the accuracy of arrears calculations and the effectiveness of dispute resolution processes. For affected parents, such errors can cause significant financial distress and undermine confidence in the CMS’s ability to manage child support fairly and transparently.