Unexpected £20,000 Deduction Shocks Teacher John Hammond
Maths teacher John Hammond was only a few weeks into his new role at a school when, during a lunch break conversation with colleagues, he checked his banking app expecting to see his first month’s salary. Instead, he discovered that £20,000 had been withdrawn by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS).
"I was so shocked that I couldn't stop shaking,"he recalls.
"Other teachers could see something was wrong and asked what was the matter."
Hammond’s children were aged 25 and 28, and his child maintenance arrangement had ended over ten years earlier.
"I was convinced that it was a scam,"says the 56-year-old from Peterborough.
More than 30 parents have shared with BBC Your Voice their experiences of miscalculated child maintenance arrears, wrongful deductions from wages or bank accounts, and protracted legal disputes with the CMS. Many of these cases, including Hammond’s, relate to child support agreements that concluded many years or even decades ago.
The CMS, which succeeded the Child Support Agency (CSA) in 2012, is responsible for ensuring that a child’s living costs are met when one parent does not reside with them. It calculates payment amounts using a formula and, if parents cannot agree privately, can enforce payments by deducting money from wages, bank accounts, benefits, or pensions. It also has authority to recover arrears if payments fall behind.
The issues reported to the BBC reflect concerns raised in a House of Lords report, where parents described money being taken "inappropriately" despite their efforts to comply.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which oversees the CMS, did not comment on individual cases like Hammond’s or explain why money was sometimes wrongly withdrawn from accounts. The department stated it attempts to arrange voluntary arrears payments and only enforces deductions when parents fail to pay.
John Hammond’s Ordeal: A Decade-Old Debt Reappears
Hammond believes his difficulties began in September 2002 when he received a letter from the now-defunct CSA stating he owed £947, but that collection would not proceed at his ex-wife’s request. He believed he had no outstanding child maintenance obligations.
However, in 2019, he received a letter from the CMS claiming he owed nearly £19,000.
"I was in complete shock,"Hammond says, who disputed the claim and sent copies of previous correspondence to the CMS.
"You phone up and explain everything,"he explains.
"They tell you they can't access your account or that the computer says something different. It felt like banging your head against a wall."
Documents reviewed by the BBC show the DWP admitted it was "unable to ascertain why" Hammond was told he owed £19,000.
While his dispute was ongoing, the CMS obtained interim and final lump sum deduction orders and in December 2020 withdrew £19,269 from his bank account.
Hammond won his appeal a year later, with a county court judge ordering the full amount to be refunded and awarding him £8,000 in legal costs. He had incurred £14,055 in legal fees and remains over £6,000 out of pocket.
"Even when you're proved right it doesn't feel like justice,"Hammond reflects.
"It just feels like you've survived it."
Richard George’s Experience: Mistaken Arrears and Lost Correspondence
Richard George, 63, a founder director of a fintech startup in Devon, discovered £18,800 had been taken from his bank account by the CMS.
"I won't forget it, how I felt - it triggered in me the most horrendous adrenaline shock,"he recalls.
"It's a bit like your last money, everything you've got left, is taken by a scammer. That's what I thought had happened."
George’s difficulties date back to 2016 when an appeal tribunal overturned a CSA decision against him, effectively cancelling over £16,000 in arrears related to maintenance for one of his children.
He believed the case was closed, especially since the CSA had been phased out.
However, in late 2019, the CMS unexpectedly contacted him and withdrew £18,800 from his bank account.
George later discovered that CMS correspondence intended for him had been sent to an incorrect address for several years, despite letters being returned undelivered and his repeated confirmation of his contact details by phone.
It was not until 2023 that the CMS acknowledged the arrears should never have been carried forward.
"They paid the money back in the end - everything taken since 2019, including the collection fees,"George says,
"but by then the damage had already been done."
Concerns about the CMS were highlighted in a House of Lords report titled Reforming the Child Maintenance Service published in October 2025. One parent described enforcement as "random, abusive and unregulated".
The report stated,
"It punishes the wrong people and ignores real avoidance."
Issues with CMS Calculation Formula
Separate from enforcement errors like those experienced by Hammond and George, the Lords report criticized the CMS’s calculation formula used to determine payment amounts. The formula has been in place for over 20 years and was described as "neither fair nor transparent".
"We believe it is outdated and does not reflect the structure of modern families,"the report stated.
The government has committed to reviewing the CMS’s calculation model and is considering the report’s recommendations as part of an ongoing review.
According to DWP figures for 2025, the CMS manages 800,000 arrangements involving 720,000 paying parents. It sets payment amounts based on the paying parent’s income and claims that "assessment accuracy rates are consistently close to 100%".
If parents dispute a decision, they can appeal, and an independent tribunal will determine if the decision should be altered, a DWP spokesperson added.
Parents interviewed by the BBC do not dispute the obligation to pay child maintenance but question the accuracy of calculations and the timing of enforcement actions before appeals are resolved.
In 2025, the CMS received 92,700 requests for reconsideration of decisions. In 21,400 cases, the original decision was found to be incorrect or was changed due to additional information supplied by the parent, meaning nearly a quarter of decisions were altered.
The DWP told the BBC it does not publish data on the number of appeals against arrears notices, bank deductions, or other enforcement actions.
Calls for Reform and Support for Affected Parents
Abigail Wood, chief executive of Gingerbread, a charity supporting single-parent families, said the organisation has campaigned for reform of the CMS, which she says is "failing parents and children alike".
"We welcome the proposed changes, but the DWP needs to go further and faster to ensure a fair and functional system."
Michelle Counley from the National Association for Child Support Action (NACSA) stated that if the CMS worked collaboratively with both parents, many disputes could be resolved early, before figures are imposed and enforcement begins. 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, want to see a comprehensive overhaul of the CMS to prevent such mistakes from recurring.
"Getting the money back didn't feel like a victory,"Hammond says.
"It was simply the end of a long fight to recover money that CMS had no right to take in the first place."
George adds,
"Although I also got my money back, it came after years of fighting, and it didn't undo the impact it had on my health, my work or my life."
Additional reporting by Will Dahlgreen.
