Maths teacher John Hammond was only a few weeks into his new role when a routine check of his banking app revealed a shocking discrepancy. Instead of his first month's wages, he found that £20,000 had been withdrawn by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS). The discovery left him so stunned that he was visibly shaking, drawing the attention of his colleagues. Hammond, 56, from Peterborough, was convinced it was a scam, especially since his children were already adults, aged 25 and 28, and his child support obligations had concluded over a decade prior.
His experience is not isolated. More than 30 parents have shared similar accounts with BBC Your Voice, detailing instances of miscalculated child maintenance arrears, funds wrongly seized from bank accounts or wages, and protracted legal disputes with the CMS. A significant number of these reported issues, including Hammond's, appear to be linked to child support arrangements established many years, or even decades, ago. The CMS, which replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2012, is tasked with ensuring that a child's living expenses are covered when parents do not reside together. It calculates payments based on a parent's income and can enforce payments through deductions from wages, bank accounts, benefits, or pensions, and by recovering arrears.
The experiences reported to the BBC echo concerns previously raised with the government, as highlighted in a House of Lords report. Parents had informed the report's authors that money was taken "inappropriately" even when they were actively trying to meet their obligations. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which oversees the CMS, did not provide specific explanations for Hammond's case or other individual instances of incorrect bank account deductions. However, the DWP stated that it prioritizes voluntary arrangements for arrears payments and only resorts to enforcement measures when parents persistently fail to pay.
Hammond's ordeal appears to have originated in September 2002, when he received a letter from the now-defunct CSA indicating a debt of £947. Crucially, this debt was not intended for collection at the request of his ex-wife, and Hammond believed he had settled all his child maintenance obligations. However, in 2019, he received a demand from the CMS for nearly £19,000. "I was in complete shock," Hammond recounted, emphasizing that he disputed the demand and provided the CMS with copies of his previous correspondence. He described the process of trying to resolve the issue as frustrating, likening it to "banging your head against a wall," with CMS representatives unable to access his account details or citing conflicting computer records.
Despite Hammond's ongoing challenge and the DWP's acknowledgment in correspondence that it could "unable to ascertain why" he was informed of the £19,000 debt, the CMS proceeded to obtain interim and final lump sum deduction orders. In December 2020, a substantial £19,269 was withdrawn from his bank account. A year later, Hammond successfully appealed the decision, and a county court judge ordered the full amount to be repaid, also awarding him £8,000 in legal costs. However, Hammond reported spending £14,055 on legal fees and stated that he remained over £6,000 out of pocket. "Even when you're proved right it doesn't feel like justice," he reflected. "It just feels like you've survived it."
Richard George, a 63-year-old founder director of a fintech startup company in Devon, faced a similar situation, discovering that the CMS had taken £18,800 from his bank account. He described the experience as triggering a "horrendous adrenaline shock," likening it to being defrauded by a scammer. George's issues stemmed from 2016, when an appeal tribunal had overturned a CSA decision, effectively writing off over £16,000 in arrears related to maintenance for one of his children. He believed the matter was resolved, particularly as the CSA was being phased out.
Unexpectedly, in late 2019, the CMS contacted George and proceeded to withdraw £18,800 from his bank. He later discovered that correspondence from the CMS had been misdirected to the wrong address for several years, despite letters being returned undelivered and him repeatedly confirming his correct details via phone. It was not until 2023 that the CMS acknowledged that the arrears should not have been carried forward. "They paid the money back in the end – everything taken since 2019, including the collection fees," George stated, "but by then the damage had already been done."
Concerns regarding the CMS were formally raised with the government in an October 2025 House of Lords report titled "Reforming the Child Maintenance Service." The report included a parent's description of enforcement actions as "random, abusive and unregulated," asserting that such practices "punish the wrong people and ignore real avoidance." The government has committed to reviewing the CMS' calculation model, considering the report's recommendations as part of an ongoing assessment.
According to DWP figures for 2025, the CMS manages approximately 800,000 arrangements for 720,000 paying parents. The DWP maintains that its payment arrangements are based on a paying parent's income and that "assessment accuracy rates are consistently close to 100%." A DWP spokesperson added that decisions can be appealed, with independent tribunals making the final determination. However, parents interviewed by the BBC clarified that their disputes were not with the principle of paying child maintenance, but rather with the accuracy of calculations and the initiation of enforcement actions before appeals were resolved.
In 2025 alone, the CMS received 92,700 requests from parents seeking reconsideration of a decision. Of these, 21,400 cases resulted in the original decision being altered, either because it was found to be incorrect or because the parent provided additional information. This indicates that nearly a quarter of decisions were subsequently changed. The DWP has not published specific data regarding the number of appeals against arrears notices, bank deductions, or other enforcement actions.
Abigail Wood, chief executive of Gingerbread, a charity supporting single-parent families, has been a vocal advocate for CMS reform, stating that the service is "failing parents and children alike." While welcoming proposed changes, she urged the DWP to accelerate efforts to establish a "fair and functional system." Michelle Counley from the National Association for Child Support Action (NACSA) suggested that greater collaboration between the CMS and both parents could resolve many disputes early on, before figures are finalized and enforcement measures are implemented. She called for "serious investment and a joined-up way of working."
Hammond and George, among others who shared their stories with BBC Your Voice, expressed a strong desire for a complete overhaul of the CMS to prevent similar errors from recurring. "Getting the money back didn't feel like a victory," Hammond stated. "It was simply the end of a long fight to recover money that CMS had no right to take in the first place." George echoed this sentiment, noting that while he eventually recovered his funds, the process involved "years of fighting" and did not erase the detrimental impact on his health, work, and personal life.
The House of Lords report also critiqued the CMS's calculation formula, which has been in place for over two decades. The report described the formula as "neither fair nor transparent," arguing that it is "outdated and does not reflect the structure of modern families." The government has acknowledged these criticisms and committed to a review of the calculation model, incorporating the report's recommendations into its ongoing assessment process. The DWP's assertion of near-perfect assessment accuracy rates stands in contrast to the nearly 25% of decisions that are changed upon review, highlighting a significant discrepancy between the stated accuracy and the reality experienced by many parents navigating the system. The lack of published data on appeals against enforcement actions further obscures the extent of these issues.
Gingerbread and NACSA emphasize that the core problem lies not in the principle of child maintenance, but in the CMS's operational effectiveness and transparency. They advocate for a system that prioritizes early dispute resolution, clear communication, and robust safeguards against erroneous deductions and enforcement. The experiences of John Hammond and Richard George serve as stark reminders of the profound personal and financial toll that administrative errors within the CMS can inflict on individuals and families, underscoring the urgent need for systemic reform and improved accountability within the child maintenance framework.
