to wonder why the minimum amount of maintenance paid through CSA, £5 per week, has not increased?

[maristella]

Everything else has gone up: wages, benefits, rents, utilities, driving expenses, food.

Yet somehow my benefit scrounging claiming twat of an XP pays a lower proportion of his income than he did (or was supposed to) 10 years ago.

And there is said to be a cost of using CSA being introduced.

Is this not important enough for politicians?

Not that XP does pay it of course....

Good point.

My payments have not changed in 14 years!!
The only thing stopping me getting on to them about it are the absolutely fucking awful twunts ineffective employees on the end of the phone who couldn't give a toss.

It does really depend on circumstances I suppose but I understand you asking.

We are on benefits at the moment so Dp only pays £5 pw however, we where (before dss told us he wasn't interested in coming here anymore) paying £120 out of the benefits per fornight to pick him up for access weekends. We wouldn't have been able to pay more than £5 per week.

Thankfully Dp will be starting work soon so he'll be able to pay more CSA.

I am sympathetic to OP and MilitaryWag.

£5 a week is a pitiful amount especially when it is split between more than one child.

Yanbu. Pitiful amount.

tbf the csa can only take money based on what the nrp is earning and if they are on jsa then that is a pittence in itself and calculated on what the law requires minimum a person can live on so by rights no deductions should come off it for anything although im aware things do, sometimes the csa's hands are tied

I am sure CSA is just following the law. Talk to your MPs and get it indexed to inflation or GDP or GNP or something.

yanbu, even if it went up 10p a year it would reflect the inflation, it seems daft that in april 2009 the rate for an over 25 was £64.30 it is now £71.00 so gone up £6.70. Yet CSA payment have not gone up

I am another parent who only receives £5 a week between 2 children. Its an absalute joke, what exactly is £2.50 per week per child meant to do?
My ex hasn't seen kids for over a year, he keeps saying too busy.
He did recently send me an email though to ask if I would contact CSA to ask them to stop taking that payment as he has a cash flow problem.
Wen I ignored the email he then sent another to tell me how greedy and selfish I was being!!!

I feels as if the NRP's income has been increasingly protected by policy.

I can't see the situation improving, it's hardly going to be a tory priority.

But when I was first awarded £5 per week, years ago, it was a pathetic amount, but would have roughly covered school dinners for a week. Now it wouldn't cover 2 days worth of lunches.

Wow Mili was it still £5 14 years ago??

alphabetti i am gob smacked at that

Oh my goodness, I didn't know that it would be divided up between the children. That is terrible

So my 1 DS could get a burger and drink
2 DC could get a very posh packet of biscuits each
3 DC could get a packet of sweets each

I'm obviously not used to factoring my sporadic fivers for anything remotely essential :)

greedy and selfish ??

Would you like me to have a chat with him??

My ex has recently left his job deliberately because after almost six years of -me-- chasing it, they finally caught up with him. He didn't want to pay so left his job, went on benefits and now only has to pay me £2.50 per week (£5 divided between me and the then-teen he screwed behind my back). That will just about cover DS's Dr Who Adventures magazine each week. Big fucking wow.

i got a call from the CSA on Friday saying my ex has had a £47k DECREASE in salary. So I am off to fight for my daughters mony- that's £250 month....

Hang on... Was the £250 per month before he lost 47k??? If so why only £250??

There should be a minimum amount per child not per parent

It's so fucking insulting

I now get £250, not £700

He has his porsche under his company but it is now not his company as he resigned as a director and is now a part time employee. I've taken him to court many times and won. The money has ALWAYS paid for dd education so I am an Angry bunny!!!

I support the increase fully and think you should do a petition on it?

Yes, I feel a campaign coming on!

It's the bloody fiddling of the figures that some XP's do that also really annoys me. The CSA told me that XP and his new family are all on maximum benefits, which I do not think they should have told me. Yet he has told me several times by email that it is not worth him working in this country because of the CSA . He emailed to gloat about having been overseas for 6 months with work a matter of weeks before his already sorry alleged income dropped. CSA can only investigate if I provide them with his overseas employers etc. I'm not the fucking CSA, I can't access his bank accounts etc

They are proposing to increase it with the next CSA changes to come into force in 2013 I believe, the minimum payment will rise to £7 if I remember correctly.

Still awfully low, and still probably to be divided between however many children there are though

I shouldn't stress myself out so much at this hour!!