Incompetent CSA take more than they should to leave us in difficulty

December 10, 2017

My partner has a 14 yr old son from a previous relationship, for the last 7 year he has been paying to CSA, most months they take too much from his wage, for 7 year we have been telling them we have a daughter ( aged 7) but they have never put her on the system, they tell us we have never told them!! We sent a copy of her birth cert 5 year ago however they claim they never received it, for the last few month they have been taking 40% of my partner’s wage, last month we were left with £800, our rent alone is £600 , his ex partner received £588 , she claims benefits and has her rent, council tax ect paid for, this month they are taking 40% and it will leave us with less than £500 , we cant claim benefits as my partners wage was above the threshold last year, On top of this the child in question doesn’t live with his mother anymore, he lives with my partner’s mother and has done for a while now, I’ve told child maintenance service this and was told ” then you will have to prove that” my partner has wrote his notice out as we are in severe financial difficulty now, ie we have bailiffs knocking at our door, we will be £800 a month better if is he becomes unemployed, we are at our wit’s end and don’t know which way to turn, our local mp has wrote a letter to the complaints manager at child maintenance but this could take up to 6 month to even be looked at, can anyone please give us any advice?

Comments

  • Tim says:

    The CMS/CSA have far too much power over the fathers of children – as long as the mother is well off – f*ck the father’s needs.

    I’ve been in the same situation, and could see my savings depreciating due to how much they were taking – and what made it worse was the 25% salary change before they will reconsider payment amounts – to some people, like myself, that 25% can be a matter of being able to just about cope, or go into financial ruin and having to spend all your life savings just to put food on the table.

    The biggest problem is the British people – we are so happy at moaning amongst ourselves that sometimes we forget to actually do something about it – so hats off to you in getting your MP.

    What we could do with is a place where all the complaints can be logged, and then presented to them – this site serves the purpose to some extent.

    Things need to change drastically, and soon.

  • David says:

    Hello there

    So many sad stories on this site. I have been listening to complaints like this for nearly twelve years. Things are not getting any better because the system was designed that way; to make your life hell; to steal from fathers; to withhold money from parents with care of children. It will never improve unless the people of the UK protest and get CSA law change. The law (which is not truly legal) is itself draconian and defeats our human rights. It is a breach of constitutional law and the Magna Carta.

    Please seek help with this. The CSA/CMS can be defeated. They are not supposed to put a non resident father in a position which would force him to give up his job. Don’t let it happen to you. Finding a specialist in this area of law is extremely difficult but if you drop me a line at [email protected] or through http://www.selwynslaw.co.uk I will be able to assist.

    Regards
    David

  • Davinia says:

    I feel for you,
    I am being put in the position where I am going to have to give up my job because the csa are claiming arreas as they are saying they contacted me last year they didn’t they say they have been writing to me they haven’t as soon as I did actually get a letter I called them straight away so why wouldn’t I of done that before,
    My daughter lived with me until she was almost 18 she didn’t like our rules so caused lots of trouble left out home and lived with my sister,
    The first letter said they were taking £526 a month I called them told them I have 3 children at home etc and I get a letter today saying they are now taking £630.90 a month leaving me with sod all to care for my children I won’t get any other help nothing,
    And to top it off I have been told my daughter had an argument with my sister because my daughter is now pregnant and has left her home and is living with her boyfriend yet I get the letter today to say they are taking that much and it’s through deductions of earnings,
    From the day I gave birth to her I looked after her until she left home and am now being screwed by csa yet her father was no where to be seen never paid and yet they go after me,
    Now I am going to have to give in my job so that I can get help and look after my children,
    I did ask for a reconsideration and that was the result I will be asking for tribunal on this out of standing up to them and I will fight it but at the end of the day to be able to look after my children I will have to give in work which pisses me off as I actually love my job and the fact I support my family,

  • Ember says:

    I’m in a similar situation to you, although not to the point of bailiffs, yet. I’m currently on maternity pay and when that runs out we’ll find ourselves falling into arrears. The it solution we can find is to split up the house and live separately. Below is a copy and paste of bits of my story.

    **********************************************

    The joint household income thing isn’t one way discrimination. Everybody is subject to joint household income rules.

    My partner is now a NRP of three children, and his exes recent claim to CMS means he has to pay out 300 a month for them.. meanwhile I’m currently on statutory maternity pay as our first child is expected.

    When my maternity pay runs out we are in a situation where I either have to go straight back to work or we split up our household because the Universal Credit system entitles me to nothing under the joint income rules because of my partners earnings.

    What they don’t take into account is there’s 300 of his earnings that me and the baby don’t see, because they go to his ex.

    And that’s the least of it, he still has to pay 80 in petrol to see them and we rent a 3 bed as opposed to 2 bed so his kids can stay over here alternative weekends.

    Between the maintenance payment, the extra room, the petrol and my lack of benefit entitlement, we can’t afford the new baby due next month.

    Going back to work with a 6 month baby isn’t going to be easy for me because we’ve just moved to a new city, we have no child care or support network to help, and my partner works 40 hours a week and commutes 10.

    Therefore I can try really really hard to find 20 hours to cover the bills, or we split up the household.

    Don’t see why my baby should suffer, or why I should have to work for the 700+ combined monthly expense of his previous children… When we could just split up the household, and I’ll get full benefit entitlement as a new mother. (In retrospect his ex has never worked and probably never will work).

    That’s not how we wanted it to be, we want to be a family and be a part of all the kids lives, however even his (decently sized) pay check isn’t enough to cover our living costs and everything for his previous children.

    I’ve always worked so only recently looked into what benefits I can claim as a single mother, and it turns out that it’s more than ample.. I’d be better off than when I was in my low paid jobs working full time.

    There’s lots of inherent flaws in this system, both ways.. and I think it needs a radical over haul.

    As currently, it’s incentivising more families to split up rather than stay together.

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