Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Lone parents

Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

CSA may start to charge single parents for their "service"

111 replies

CubaCat · 09/01/2011 21:28

I saw this article in the paper at my parents house today and quite frankly, am disgusted. How the CSA can expect us to pay for their shoddy service is beyond me. Not only that, but the Govt are being spectacularly naive if they think that this will stop couples splitting up, which according to this article, is their aim. People will still split up, but all this will do is allow non resident parents to get away even more with not paying maintenance because their ex may not be able to afford the CSA's fee, especially as they'll already have to deal with the costs associated with splitting up and becoming a single parent, such as moving house, dividing finances, hiring a lawyer etc.

If they start to charge us I for one will have to withdraw my claim, as it won't be worth my while paying the CSA just for them to administrate the measly £6.25 per fortnight that I get from my twat of an ex. It took three years for the CSA to get that out of him, even though I gave them his address at the time, his full name, d.o.b, employer details, his bank details, mothers address, where and when he played his sport and even sent them a photo of him when they requested one. I rang them fortnightly (at my own cost, to their expensive "helpline"), wrote to my MP three times to complain about the CSA and see if she could hurry them up, and kept the pressure on them so my DS would get the maintenance he's entitled to. In short, I more or less did their job for them - they should pay me. There's no way on God's earth I'll be paying for that "service".

I just hope this dickwad of an idea doesn't become reality.

OP posts:
evolucy7 · 13/01/2011 11:28

If a father refuses to pay the amount as per the CSA Calculator which I would assume would remain on their website, why should the mother have to pay to use the CSA to get the payment? The father should be made to pay the CSA charge, and especially if even once the CSA tell him what to pay he still refuses and it has to be taken directly from his wages. This is what happened to me, we had an arrangement agreed informally during the split by solicitors and then he stopped paying and said he wanted to do it through the CSA, but then just decided not to pay anyway. This created more work for the CSA in arranging payments from his employers, why should I have to pay for this?
Anyway now is a different story, now he runs his own business, is employed by his business there are no other staff, and he has claimed that he earns and lives on £88 per week. So I have had to apply to the CSA for a variation, I have been told that it has been successful and they are now recalculating. Why should I pay when he deliberately tried to pretend he lives on an unliveable(?) amount?
For some people to receive the bare minimum from non-resident parents they have no choice but to use the CSA, if the absent parent will not pay any other way, he/she should be made to foot the CSA charge.
Has anyone said or heard that this charge would apply to existing cases or just new cases? That is if it went ahead, I can see a lot of uproar.

sunshineandbooks · 13/01/2011 11:32

All this charge is going to achieve is a whole load of (largely) men who get away with paying nothing because their exwives/partner's cannot afford to pay a fee in the first place, let alone a fee for a service that may not get them anything back anyway. This is so depressing. Sad.

corlan · 13/01/2011 12:53

This is an absolute disaster for single parents.

I have 2 children by 2 XP's and I don't think I would have got a penny out of either of them if it hadn't been for the CSA.

This has nothing to do with keeping families together and everything to do with cutting public services. It is yet another attack on one of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society. I don't think the Tories give a damn about us - that is becoming very clear.

ChocHobNob · 13/01/2011 13:48

There's more about this on the BBC website.

Victims of DV won't be charged.

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 14:17

ITV news said working parents pay £100, there was also £50 and £20 charges.

HerBeatitude · 13/01/2011 14:25

Can we re-charge it to the deadbeat dads?

Can we claim it back when they fail abysmally to get no fucking money?

3/5 of NRPs do not pay maintenance.

3/5.

That's how shit the CSA are.

evolucy7 · 13/01/2011 14:28

Here's the Government Consultation Document in full with all charging proposals and services to be offered before choosing the full paying services.
It also says that existing cases will be closed over a 2 year period and the order prioritised starting from this summer.
Oh how fantastic! Yet another problem!

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/strengthening-families.pdf

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 14:29

I think there is an ongoing fee also along with the one off fee. I don't know if it is for new cases or all cases. There is nothing on how they will charge ongoing, be it a percentage or a set fee? I gather from the other day that both parents will be charged.

The bbc site said they will not charge for dv, I wonder if emotional abuse and what evidence you will need, will they take your word for it, or will you need evidence and what evidence is enough for them?

HerBeatitude · 13/01/2011 14:30

Well also, why should the government want to keep families together, if one of the parents in the family, is such a pathetic, irresponsible loser, that s/he doesn't understand one of the basic responsibilities of being a parent: that you have to financially support your children. If someone doesn't understand that basic, then surely there's a whole host of other parenting issues and responsiblities they don't understand, in which case, why on earth should anyone want them to be in the same home as their children? They're obviously apppalling role models, so why is it in the public interest, to inflict them on their children?

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 14:32

It is not about keeping families together it is about saving money for the government in anyway they can to sort the national debt out. If parents could agree they would. The csa is for parents who can't agree or one won't pay up.

bytheMoonlight · 13/01/2011 14:34

The worst thing is this government don't back down even when their ideas are proved to be flawed .. Look at the child benefit disaster.

HerBeatitude · 13/01/2011 14:36

"Tory MPs think charging parents to help them break up could force them to stay together"

Is that just the Daily Mirror making that up?

Surely even Tory MP's aren't that stupid/ evil?

2rebecca · 13/01/2011 14:53

Looking at the BBC website now they've changed things and now say it's a consultation. The link to the document is www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/strengthening-families.pdf
All interested should read it and then reply to the questions at the end. It will probably carry more weight if several hundred individuals respond than if mumsnet send a supposedly collective response.

evolucy7 · 13/01/2011 14:56

Yes I put the the link above!

HerBeatitude · 13/01/2011 14:58

That link doesn't work for me.

Firepile · 13/01/2011 14:59

I am amazed that more people have not posted about this lunatic proposal.

This government really hates single parents, don't they?

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 15:00

If you go to bbc news and then the uk news, the headline gives a link to the paper in the article, it is quite long, I haven't got the time to read it through now.

sarah293 · 13/01/2011 15:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 15:01

Divorced/seperated/single parents are not going to get much sympathy from the public, so an easy target.

MummieHunnie · 13/01/2011 15:03

They have removed legal aid! blimey! I could not get any, so had to get into major debt and then self represent in various court cases to do with exh, poor judges will have an avalache of parents self representing, they don't really like it! The government will save a fortune as it will put a lot of people off court proceedings.

2rebecca · 13/01/2011 15:22

I don't know why links don't work on mumsnet, must be the way the site is set up. Just copy and paste the url into your computer instead. Sorry didn't see link above me.

Firepile · 13/01/2011 15:27

Absolutely,Riven! But as you already know, this Government believes that single mothers and their children should be punished for their fecklessness.

Depressing isn't it?

HerBeatitude · 13/01/2011 15:32

"How excatly is this going to help mums (generally) chase irresponisble arses to pay for their kids?"

It's not. But that's not what the govt. wnats. It doesn't actually see any problem in irresponsible arses not paying for their kids, because it believes that NRPs (co incidentally 90% men) should have rights with no responsibilities.

They must know that it's not going to stop families splitting up.

sarah293 · 13/01/2011 15:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

corlan · 13/01/2011 16:02

It would be worth going on to the Gingerbread website to give your views as well as it would help them put together a response to the government's proposals.

Swipe left for the next trending thread