going through the CSA

[isheisnthe]

has anyone got any positive stories about going through the CSA - exp does pay me already, however, I know he could pay more, based on his wages, and now following the break down of our relationship and having been in my own home for 6 months I am finding what he pays not enough.

He has said I am being a "greedy bitch" and maybe I am, I get 425 a month but he earns 70k a year! I earn 10k, mortgage I pay is around 750 and I just got a electricity bill for 325 for 5 months! I can not do this if he doesnt start payhing more :-(

Yes I would definately advise going through the CSA. If you're very lucky you may get as much as I do.

After 3 years of nothing I got the grand sum of £7.50 a week which he has now stopped paying.

So go for it!

Oh and that was after many many phonecalls, numerous complaints, letters to mp, chief exec of csa, one private detective and bailiff action

Are you claiming all the benefits you are entitled too? WTC And CTC, help with childcare costs, free prescriptions, dental and eye examinations etc?

You're earning slightly more than I am but you should still get all those. I'm afraid you really have to be brutal and go through all your expenses and cut them any way you can. Your electric sounds about the same as mine for a period including electric heating.

CSA can be good if your ex is willing. Though it doesn't sound like he is. I would suggest negotiating something with him if you possibly can. Ask him to look at the CSA calculator on their webpage and tell him that is the minimum he should be paying and can he honestly say you are being greedy when he uses that calculation?

It's not a matter of greed anyhow. The CSA calculation is designed to keep teh children in the lifestyle they could have expected if you had stayed together as a couple.

I would say try your best to get him to see reason, ask him to think carefully and consider the children. And if you really think you'd be a lot better off then by all means use the CSA, but expect a long hard slog to get anywhere. He could stop all payments until the CSA calculates the amount, and then he can drag his feet providing info and you could be left with little money for several months.

Course, he might turn out to be one of teh better dad's and pay up what he should without making any fuss.

Best wishes
Gilly

I get £13 per week! So doing a little better.

You can claim 15% of net earnings for one child but it all depends if he has other children and if he declares all his earnings or can get away with being economical with the truth.

he declares about 55K - phoned the CSA and they said based on that he should give me 690 - I told him this, and asked if would consider upping the money, he said they I should just "get on with it" as he has - yes, he has got on with it, by retaining the house (bought me out), having a fully expensed (inc fuel) company car without being taxed on it and not having two kids living with him, so he only pays for shopping for one person and having lodgers, and claiming single occupancy for council tax. I have cut everything to the bone - the only way I can sede out of this is to leave my job and then get some assistance, nursery fees for ds2 are 350 a month, until he goes to school in september and ds1 is due for school holidays, which he wont help with - am banging my head against a brink wall really

You said you are earning, I assume working at least 16 hours. You can claim 80% of those nursery costs via CTC if you are.

Also if you need to put ds1 in holiday club you can include that as part of the childcare costs too.

Is the £55K figure you quoted net or gross? If he fills in a SATR then you can ask for him to be assessed on that. If he has lodgers then he should be putting that on his SATR, but only if it's over a certain amount.

2 children = 20% of net income. Net being the issue as he can increase his costs and reduce his income, especially if a landlord. He still gets taxed on his company car via a P11D. P11D income is declared on a SATR so this will all go towards his net income figure. Also if he gets a bonus or anything that will show up on a SATR, whereas a couple of payslips can be juggled so the one with teh binus doesn't get shown.

Remember though that if he has the children overnight the calculation will be reduced by 1/7th for each full overnight on average per week (rounded up) he has them. Have you taken that into account in your calculations?

Go to CAB and ask them to help you with figures, both budgeting your finances and also on what you should expect via CSA.

Best wishes
Gilly

I have only got positive experiences with the CSA, he is self employed earns quite a lot. The ex always appeals etc so it does take 18 months in which to get the new amount and then they get 2 years to pay of the areas etc.

What does your ex do and why is he getting away with such a large amount of undeclared income? Report him to IR?

he gets away with it because he works for a crook and P11d - pah - he doesnt do those! last tax year (when we still together) his boss had been paying as self employed, he spent the lot, and in April his boss said he would fill out a p60 for him and how much did he want it to say he earnt.

He is renting the rooms out to mates, they are paying cash, no trace there!

I work 22 hours and I do get some tax credits etc - its a case of why shoudl I struggle - I didnt chose for him to go off and fuck someone else and end our realtionship and family life - he did!

Well you could shop the company to IR but if your ex lost his job then you would get nothing

stuck between a rock and a hard place

I think that you are quite lucky to get what you do, if you do put in for a re-caluclation and his boss is that much of a crook and manipulates his accounts you could then end up with less, your mortgage seems the biggest burden is the house suited to your needs or could you downsize ?

£425 is more than some people get in a year in maintenance so you should count yourself lucky.

If your mortgage is so high you must have bought an expensive house when you moved, maybe you need to look at downsizing to a more suitable mortgage for your needs. If you only earn £10k your mortgage payments seems way out on affordability.

425 may be more than some people get - but in relation to his earnings it is not. I live in the south east and my house was bought through a housing association, I'm not counting myself lucky for anything, christ - the life style my children did have is far removed from what they have now, and through no action of my own - I'll be buggered if I am going to move them to a shit area - if he should be giving 20% of his earnigs thats what he should be giving, besides the point if 425 is more than others get!

I don't think you should consider yourself lucky to get what you do. Yes it is more than a lot of other people get, and I'm sure we'd all love to have a reasonable amount of maintenance, but the CSA calculate in a way that a child can expect the same kind of lifestyle they would have had if the parents remained together.

Struggling to pay the bills is horrible. Yes we all have to do it and I'm sure if you took a long hard look at your finances and budget that you could cut back in some areas. You should also ensure you are claiming everything you can with regard to benefits, particularly WTC & CTC. Be active in helping yourself here. But if he is not paying the amount he should then you should certainly take steps towards ensuring that he does.

Just be prepared for it to backfire on you in some way though. From what you've said he may well make his income look less than it is, it's not hard to do. Also if he's already under declaring his income (as you've said he is) it wouldn't be hard to reduce it by a bit/lot more on paper.

Or he might use the CSA beurocracy against you and you could be left with no money for several months while it is all sorted. He might request more overnights simpy because it will reduce his payments rather than because it is in the children's best interest.

If he's the kind of person who likes a battle then he'll probably quite enjoy playing the game with the CSA. So I do think you should look very carefully at how much betetr off you will actually be, and if it's not by a great deal then maybe re-think.

If it's a lot more and you're prepared for the battle and can handle a big drop in your cash flow for a while and an uncertain outcome but one which will leave you better off in teh long run, then certainly do it.

I strongly believe parents (both parents) should meet all their responsibilities to their children, including the financial ones. That might mean your ex paying more for his children. But that might equally mean you looking at ways of increasing your income now that your circumstances have changed. As I advised before I do suggest you go and see your local CAB and talk through it with them. They can crunch figures for you. And write down everything you spend each week/month. You'll be surprised at where it goes and it'll be much easier to see where you can cut back.

Take care
Gilly

You don't need to move your children to cack area to downsize ishe, you own your own home, have 2 lovely children, work part time and get maintenance, although you may feel that you should get more sometimes its better to appreciate what you do have rather than what you dont. There are some lone parents on here who have to live in rented accommodation because they aren't even lucky to get council housing and cant even get a £5 out of their ex as they have jacked in their jobs, yes you are entitled to more as you can get 20% but then you could lose the money you get at the moment, have you actually talked to him properly and told her how you are struggling at the moment or have you just demanded more money ?

Nothing positive to say about the CSA here either. Have had to involve MP and Independent Case Examiner. Still no money coming through.

I have downsized - we are in a 3 bed semi while he remains in our vast 4 bed detached, renting out rooms to pub merchants.

The only things I pay are the norm, I have got rid of my mobile, do not have cable tv, spend 30 -50 quid a week shopping (depending if we have run out cleaning products, then its closer to the 50 mark).

I have spoken to him, I have told him the ammount he CSA calculated he should be paying, which is around the 700 a month mark, stated that I didnt want him to pay that much but that I was stuggling, we had plucked 425 out of the air when we seperated and had agreed to review it when things settled down and asked him if he would considering upping it a little following what the CSA had said.

The response was that I was a "greedy bitch" - no, not greedy, just realistic. To be honest, I wouldnt give a crap where I lived if it was just me, and he better start thinking about that, as the other solution I have for him is shared residency - which I know he wouldnt want (and neither do I - but I would be able to work more hours if that was the case)

You can work more hours if you can find an after or pre school club or childminder who will pick up from school maybe 2 days a week. You will get 80% of those costs paid for if you are on CTC.

If you do that and then he argues that he should have the children instead then you'll save on the childcare costs too. Look at your options. You don't have to work full time to be better off. But if you work over 30 hours a week your WTC has a big jump up I think.

i have asked my employer for more hours - as its NHS theres no "budget" at present. I'm not saying I am skint - but I just feel that he should contribute more than he does, especially when he states that he is not willing to help out at all with school holidays ect.

Hi again, sorry some people have not understood your point of view. The other thought I had was that as he has other dc to support as well then if you went through the CSA you may not get the 20%.

I'm very grateful to recieve the amount I do it is significant to our budget but we always save it because I never want to rely on it. I'm sure it is far less than 15% of his income but the difference for me is that he has NO relationship with his dd and never has. I find it stomach churning that your ex cares so little about your ds's having a reasonable lifestyle just because he ended his relationship with you. He is so cold hearted.

Are you job hunting to see if you can get more hours elsewhere, I can't remember how old your youngest is.

youngest is 4 and will go to school in september (my god - time flies!!!) as soon as that happens I will look, as his nursery is attached to work and I get it significantly cheaper - I couldnt afford for him to go there if it wasn't subsidised so I am waiting for him to go to "big school" as he calls it.

His other children are not paid for through the CSA, he has a private arrangment with EW which the CSA say they would not get involved with (unless she then claimed through them, but she wont as they are good friends and he has those children an awful lot - just doesn't feel the same about the ones he had with me it seems)

I just can not decide whether its worth the agro - might wait for him to go to a decent corporate employer who WILL NOT lie and then hammer the worthless piece of crap - I really wouldnt mind if he made an effort with the boys and if they came home without telling me about the latest 20 year old they have seen in his bed and without telling me of the smack that DS2 regularly gets (I know this is true and not stories - had it confirmed by a neighbour) - and when I tell him its unacceptable to deal with ds2 like this I get - I can parent how I want when they are my home - you are ruining them and let them get away with murder

TBH I think I would be empted to shop his employer to the IR because then he'd have to go get a proper job! Systematic, planned defraud really gets to me.

If your child is 4 they should be getting up to 12.5 hours free nursery place for 38 weeks of the year, paid for by the government.

Also if you work 16 hours a week you will get up to 80% of your child care costs paid (capped at £175 for one child and £300 is you have 2).

As you have a work nursery on hand there it really would be worth your while trying to get your hours upped to 16 per week as soon as possible.

Gilly

may weel do that - it pisses me off to, hate cheats and benefit frauds!

GB2 - I work 22 already - I want 30 hours to fit school hours but there is no money in the budget at the moment

Well as I said before make sure you claim the full amount of benefits you can, including the child care element of WTC. It makes a huge difference. I couldn't afford to work without it!
Gilly