More advice please

[zmandaz]

Sorry to keep asking questions but I'm finding this whole lone parenting thing a minefield!

I just got a letter from the CSA saying they've calculated how much my ex-hubby should be paying in child maintainance and that he should have been paying it since she was born. Therefore he already owes aprox £1500. I know that I only get £10 of each payment whilst I'm on benefits and that I'll get the full amount once working but what happens about the money he already owes? From my calculations, I should have had about £350 off him so far. Do the CSA make him pay the arrears in one go or can he pay in installments and if so does that mean I would get what he owes so far in installments? I know it's not a huge amount but it would really help towards our cost of living plus it's the principle that he's supposed to have been paying and it's his own fault it's taken this long as he insisted on a DNA test.

I'll stop ranting now!

[Tinkerbel5]

he will probably pay the arrears in instalments and the csa will only pass on to you what they have collected, I wouldnt rely on any maintenance and if you do receive the £10's treat it as a bonus