What a horrible bitch :(

[mumtobealloveragain]

Sorry, I have to have a rant.

We have my two DSC 50:50. We pay half of everything and sometimes all of the cost of a school trip or activity/club for them when she moans she can't afford it!

Their mum has just put a claim in via CSA for child maintenance from DP. She's lied saying we only have them 2 days a week, and she forgot to mention the other children living in our house! We've just had a baby and we really we don't have the money to pay her!

He's called her and she refuses to discuss it. We have the Child Benefit for my other DSS so he now has to make an application via CSA for maintenance for him from her, but we will get loads less as he's not willing to lie and she works less and earns less than him. The lies she told are easily disapproved (the residency order shows we have 50:50 not two days a week) and my children's birth certs prove they exist but I'm absolutely livid!

But how did the CSA know your DHs income? Normally the claim is called in by the RP, a form is sent to the NRP for them to complete regarding income, no. of DC in the household and number of overnights which the NRP then completes and returns with proof of income. All this has to be done before a decision and payment schedule can be issued.

There's no form for DP to be sent to complete- they've done the whole thing over the phone. He does need to send payslips for their records but they've made the decision without the payslips as the RP told them his income and he as the NRP has agreed that what she said was correct. He will get a decision notice in the post apparently.

Mumtobe - are you sure about that? That would be utterly daft if it were true. I could ring the CSA and say "my child's father earns £3000 a week" and he'd have to pay the maintenance until he appealed.

I thought under the new Child Maintenance Services system, they use the income from HMRC showing last tax year's details to make their assessments on. So technically they could make an assessment without the NRP sending in pay slips.

I would be making a complaint and finding out what the hell is going on. They cannot take the PWCs word for it when it comes to an NRPs income. Most wouldn't have a clue. Your partner needs to get to the bottom of this and normally involving an MP gives them the kick up the back side they need.

That will teach me for not reading the post more carefully. I notice now your partner agreed with the income amount the RP gave.

Lol Molly. She knew how much he earned and he wouldn't be prepared to lie so he confirmed it and therefore they could make a calculation before his payslips are received. He still needs to send them though so perhaps the "new" system isn't implemented yet? He hasn't even told he has to pay extra in fees/charges either which we were surprised about as we had read that the new system was in place already ..

There's a lot of misconceptions about the CSA appeals process - it certainly isn't the first/only way to resolve a disagreement about circumstances such as the one described by the OP.

The NRP will receive a written schedule of payments (which will also be sent to the RP), with details of how they have agreed to pay (DD or salary deduction is preferred but it is permissible to send a cheque every month). The schedule also sets out the deductions that have been made - and asks the NRP to make contact if its inaccurate.

This is not the appeals process - which is a totally different beast. in the process of setting up a claim, I have received as many as 4 different payment schedules in the space if 6 weeks in the past as my ex has corrected errors in the CSAs calculations/information. Similarly, if circumstances change, a new schedule is calculated. As recently as last year, my DH contacted the CSA about a 'small' increase in income, and while they agreed/confirmed on the phone what the increase in payments would be, they didn't send a schedule out and increase deductions until they had receiver copies of three payslips at the higher rate of pay. Of course, DH was then in arrears as they had continued to deduct the lower amount for those three months.

OP, your DSC mum may well be a bitch for contacting the CSA and lying to thrm (if indeed she did, they do get things very wrong). But, given the unconventional nature of the residency arrangements for your DSC (and DCs - they're 50:50 too, aren't they?) and the high conflict nature of the relationships I think it's worth ensuring that you are familiar with all the possible legal options that your and your DHs ex have regarding maintenance and benefits so you don't get caught by surprise when it happens.