Thousands of parents ‘overcharged’ child maintenance payments worth £4.3million – with some ‘driven to suicide’

THOUSANDS of parents have allegedly been overcharged child maintenance payments worth a total of £4.3million, with some “driven to suicide”. Some estranged spouses have been charged thousands of pounds more a month than what they actually owed, it has emerged. The massive errors are believed to be partly due to computer glitches by a Government-run agency, according to an investigation by the Daily Mail. At least 24,400 parents have been overcharged by the Child Maintenance Service (CMS), a branch of the Department for Work and Pensions which is in charge of collecting the payments and can take money directly from people’s bank accounts. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! Over 80 parents told the newspaper they had been overcharged by the CMS, but say their complaints were ignored despite years of battling to have the charges overturned. They described it as an “ongoing nightmare”, saying they continue to be hounded for payments after courts ruled against the charges. These incorrect payments, which occurred between 2012 and 2022, are believed to have led to the deaths of two fathers, who ended up taking their own lives after they were unable to pay their child maintenance bills. Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has accused the agency of “failing families on all sides” over the errors, and said the Government must “stop dragging its feet” over the issue. The issue has been compared to the Post Office Horizon scandal, with minutes from a CMS directors’ meeting revealing that staff had complained about “IT issues”. Child maintenance payments are paid by parents who do not live with their children after a relationship breaks down, and cover everyday living costs like food and school uniforms. Most read in Money Most parents pay between 12 and 19 per cent of their gross weekly income until their child is 20 or finishes full time education. They are currently paid by over 800,000 parents in the UK through the CMS. The DWP said it had attempted to contact all those who had overpaid, and had returned £2.7million by February 2024. The DWP was contacted by The Sun for comment. Comment now