CSA Arrears Advice

When non resident parents are contacted by the CSA they often don’t realise that they begin accruing arrears right then and there. The CSA will make an estimate on what the non resident parent has to pay, and even though the non resident parent (the father in most cases) will often dispute the calculation, arrears will start amassing straight away.

This means that when the Child Support Agency eventually starts taking payment, arrears will be added on to the amounts that they want. Of course, if the case has taken a long time to sort out, the arrears could be very high – making the monthly amounts the CSA wants to take very high indeed, often too high for many people to afford.

If you have one child, the CSA will demand 15% of your earnings after tax. They will also demand that any arrears that have built up since your case began are paid back, within a two year period. As most non resident parents will again dispute this, because the amount demanded by the CSA will be so high, they will often take this money in the form of a DEO (deduction from earnings order), which means the money will be deducted direct from your pay before you receive it.

You have a protected income of 60% of your salary, meaning the CSA can only take a maximum of 40% – but that is often more than most people can afford.

Non resident parents are advised therefore to put money aside for the payment of their children as soon as the CSA make contact with them. The CSA will try any means possible to claw back any CSA arrears as quickly as possible, and having savings put aside for this will alleviate much of the stress involved.

You can read a lot of stories on our website from people who have experienced problems with the Child Support Agency and how they dealt with CSA arrears problems. Their stories and their arrears advice could prove the difference in your struggle with the CSA.

If you need help dealing with the CSA, arrears advice or any advice about being a non resident parent, you can find it all here.