Child Maintenance Service
Complaints and appeals
Make a complaint
Follow the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints procedure if you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received.
If you disagree with a decision
You can challenge a decision about your payment amount. This is called asking for ‘mandatory reconsideration’.
You must ask for this within 30 days of the date on your decision letter.
Appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal
If you’re unhappy with the outcome of the mandatory reconsideration, you can appeal to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal within one month of getting the decision. If you submit your appeal after a month you’ll have to explain why you did not do it earlier.
Download and fill in form SSCS2. Send it to the address on the form.
You’ll need to choose whether you want to go to the tribunal hearing to explain your case. If you do not attend, your appeal will be decided on your appeal form and any supporting evidence.
After you submit your appeal, you can provide evidence. Your appeal and the evidence will be considered at the hearing by a judge and sometimes a financial expert. The tribunal will then make a decision.
It usually takes around 6 months for your appeal to be heard by the tribunal.