CSA: WHAT TO DO

[charlee09]

Im not sure whether i have placed this on the right bit, but i im in need of urgent advice requarding the CSA. I made a claim at the beginning of april this year for my exp to contribute towards the children. Due to violence and abuse he put me and dc through in our relationship i had to take out a non-molestation order to prevent him coming to house etc. Anyways I made a claim through CSA and they said he will have to pay £5.00 a week due to him being on benefits later, although i knew he was working. His mother has to intervene and said he lost his job because of me, by me putting the injunction against him in november last year. I cant see how I could be at fault at this as I just wanted to protect me and dcs. Anyways I manage to get through to CSA today to speak about my case (apparently their system was down) as I have only recieved 2 payments of exp and that was one in middle of april and one at end of april (the CSA gets the money of him and then put it in my bank account) As i have recieved no payment i contacted them just to ask whats going on and apparently exp is now within employment but never contacted the CSA. I asked would payments be backdated as to when he stop claiming benefits they said no as he never got in touch with them and now I have to make a new claim, and payments would only be backdated till today when i have contact them. I just feel it is unfair cause the money is not really for me it is for the dc's and they missing out on other essentials that the money could of buy. Maybe it just me wanting to rant and rave i dont know but how can exp get away with not telling CSA about change of circumstances cause I know if it was us mums that didnt report any change of circumstances we get into big trouble and have to face the consequences whilst exp's get away with everything. Has any other mums/dads experienced trouble with CSA. Any advice would be more than welcome sorry to go on.

This is normal for it not to be backdated till you contact them. Its best to get into the habit of contacting them a few days after a missed payment. My exp does the same not contacting them so i learned to play the hard way and let them know any information i had which is usually very little.
They'll have to contact him now to give him chance to prove his income. Igf he doesnt respond then they weill go through inland revenue which can take some time to find out where he is working. If he fails to comply they may well do a deductions from earnings order. So any maintenance will be taken from his wages each week/month and sent by his employers to the CSA. This has to be in by the 19th of each month so usually arrives around the 24th. If the employers send it on time some dont. Depending on when the calucation and order has been instructed to his employers it may be another month before you receive anything due to the cut off point.
HTH best of luck

Thank you for reply. All I want is what best for dc's you think exp would want that aswell although i would never let dc's go without essentials it always worth having the mat to get the extra essentials they could need out of blue, men!!! It just felt that I have to keep chasing and chasing when i first applied for payments because payments were always late by 10 days. hopefully everything will be fine with new claim if they do deductions of earnings fingers crossed. thank you for advice

Yes my exp begrudges paying but now its the deductions from earnigns order and has quite a lot of arrears he actually let them know when he changed his job last time. I've always made sure my ds has everything he needs you never know when they'll need new shoes lol.
It is a lot of chasing at times but you learn when the best time is to phone them after your due a payment its much better if you get a dedicated advisor. I had one a year or so ago who would phone me and keep me updated. It all depends on how helpful your exp is. If you have a phone number for him, which i dont think you will from your OP give it to the CSA aswell as any address you have for him etc. It can really help as they will have a starting point to contact him rather than having to find all his details

Well surely he should still pay the £5, as that is what they calculated. He hasn't told them he's stopped being on benefits, so I can't see why they wouldn't chase that up from him.

Ok so they may know that he stopped claiming them, but if he hasn't told them (just like he hasn't told them about his new job) why should they vary the calculation?? What is their explanation for that?

Anyway, make sure you put in writting (by recorded delivery) your phone conversation today and ask them to re-assess him.

He will still have arrears of £5 a week (that he didn't pay) up until the day you contacted them, so those arrears will transfer over to when the new assessment is completed. Those are their rules unfortunately. Its up to you or him to contact them to request a reassessment so they cannot backdate it to before you rang.

He will also now be accruing arrears of the new amount from the day you rang them, so in all likelihood he will end up with quite a bit of arrears. Depending on who he speaks to, they'll either let him pay by standing order/direct debit the increased amount including arrears (which they can take up to 40% of his net pay) or they'll go straight for a deductions of earnings.

Hardly anybody has a smooth ride with the CSA, unfortunately. Hope they sort the assessment out soon for you but be prepared for more messing around if the ex feels like it.