CSA - can they help?

[Melly]

I left dh a year ago and we have two children who I took with me. A year on we are now a few weeks away from being divorced, the family home has been sold and the money divided after we came to a mutual agreement. Dh done very well out of the agreement as I agreed not to claim any of his pension (extremely good pension as he is in the services) and I would have been entitled to a fair portion of it. Anyway, he is a senior naval officer on a very high wage but currently pays about half of what he should for maintenance. I reluctantly agreed to this until the house was sold because he said he was unable to pay any more because of the size of the mortgage etc. Now the house is sold I have emailed him to ask for an increase in maintenance. I have been on the CSA website and established the figure he should be paying based on his salary and the number of nights he has them per year. I have a feeling that he will not agree to what I am asking (It is about £100.00 per month less than the CSA calculate) and I wonder whether they could help even though he is paying some maintenence? Anyone know or had a similar experience. Thanks.

Hi. I have not had experience of claiming through the CSA when the other parent is paying something - my ex refused to pay at all which is why I had to take him to the CSA - however, I think that the CSA will still allow you to make a claim if you are receiving monies. There will either be a section where you can state how much you want or else in the additional information section which is at the very end of your online claim you can tell them how much you get and when. It may be that you have to stop the money from him at the same time as you claim - your claim will be back dated to your claim date. There should be a contact us section where you could email them your question.

contact the CSA. They are happy to take your case on board but you will need to tell them in writing that you wish them to pursue it. You will have to declare anything you are getting at the moment and they will take that into consideration when calculating what he should pay. He will then be contacted and told to pay and if he refuses could end up in ocurt if you pursue it.

I had to give my exes details when I was on state benefits but I'd come off them (started my own business) when they got him to agree to payments but he started making demands about the child (that hed not wanted to know for 10 years) so I wrote to the CSA and told them to cancel the claim and they did immediately with no problems at all so if you change your mind in the future then it will all be fine.

Give them a ring and explain your situation.

Thanks purpleparrot and giddyfeet. I did ring the CSA and they were quite helpful, they said they could definitely help me to get the extra maintenance if my ex refuses to increase the amount he is paying at the moment.