Always worked for 16 years, now I cannot afford to work

November 21, 2012

My ex stopped me seeing my kids and i was paying maintenance directly to her.

In April I married my new partner and my hell started.

CSA put in for payments from my wages, after a severe bowt of depression and seeing councillor for it I was off work for 4 weeks, CSA took payment (lower than agreed) as I had 1/2 full wages and 1/2 ssp for 2 months has sick spell went across 2 weeks of 2 months.

I have just picked up my wage slip today for CSA to have left me £684 and taken out £494 from my wages.

My payment is £39 p/w and plus some arrears while they were sorting stuff out was agreed at £53 p/w, My work recieved an e-mail which they showed me with 1 payment of £289 followed by monthly payments of around £220 each month after.

CSA have taken £494 and now I can not pay rent and council tax has I do not have enough left, I also have 3 kids living in the marital home and CSA say its a shortfall from when I was on sick, yet when I questioned why should I pay a shortfall when I had a shortfall in income if csa payments are income based??

They refuse to answer this and are now thinking my options of working or not, Im 32 years old and worked since I was 16 and I can not even afford a new pair of trainers now has mine have ripped.

Comments

  • Carol says:

    Welcome to the world of the CSA!!

    The CSA will have 2 calculations on the DEO to your employer, one being the amount they will take, and in the event of a shortfall the minimum your employer is allowed to leave you with. CSA and your employer if they know what they are doing, should not take more than 40% of your salary.

    On your assessments have the CSA took into account other children in your home?

    If you are thinking about giving up work bear in mind that the CSA have the right to keep an assessment in place if they believe you have given up work because of CSA payments.

    As you are paying ongoing maintenance this cannot be reduced but the payment towards arrears can be negotiated on. Let the CSA know your income (not your wife’s) and the household expenses and try to have them reduce the payment towards arrears

    It’s unfortunate that this ridiculous Agency do not see the fact that they are causing poverty to the nrp and their 2nd families.

  • neil says:

    i have payment of £39 p/wk but have some arrears (not massive amounts) but i agreed to pay £53 p/wk till arrears were paid off, may take 12 months to pay them off but i can be left with enough to pay bills and have around £30 p/wk for myself for working 45 hours, not much but its something.

    I have been off work for 4 weeks and on s.s.p due to depression bought on via bullying in the workplace by a manager and racial harassment etc..
    i notified csa of this and they contacted my work to take the equivalent of my % payment on my sick pay after the protection of earnings came in.
    This left a shortfall of around £46, yet this month instead of taking £227 what is agreed they took £494 and left me with £680 (P.O.E) and have to look after 3 kids and pay bills has my wife is out of work.

    Only option for me is to give up work, CSA wont send money back, my work wont give me back earnings I have paid on that Ive not earned so Im shafted big time.

    I set a fb group about them http://www.facebook.com/groups/204256966364149/
    feel free to add it

  • Alice says:

    Did you inform the CSA when you went onto SSP? If you are going to be on reduced income for more than 3 weeks then a re-assessment will be looked at and if there is a 5% or more reduction in your income this will be processed.

    If you did not inform the CSA that you were off sick and on a reduced income at the time then the original assessment remains in place.

    If your Employer was unable to deduct the amount requested by the CSA due to your lower income (the protected earnings is 60% of your net income) then they are obliged to make up any shortfall when your income allows.

    If your arrears are low then it may be possible to renegotiate the amount being taken each week, it will take longer to pay the arrears off but it would avoid financial hardship in your household

  • stuart mitchell says:

    Alice since when have the CSA taken financial hardship into account? when enforcing arrears caused by maladministration?

  • Mr and Mrs Toon says:

    We completely understand what anyone who has to pay CSA is going through! My husband has two children from his Ex who for the first 3 years of us being together she would not allow access to, My husband spent almost two years travelling on 3 trains to a contact centre every Saturday just to spend a couple of hours with them! Then we my husband was out of work we were able to take her to court and finally were given split access! We now have the children every other weekend and half holidays although their mother makes it very difficult! the CSA are taking £267 a month from my husbands wage and we too are also in arrears with our rent and council tax and even utility bills and yes it is a very stressful and worrying time! We have 3 children at home with us and I have even had to take a on a second job just to try to catch up!!!! What annoys me is that the CSA don’t look at individual cases as my husbands ex has a new partner who earns good money, she still gets all her tax credits and child benefit money and then our money on top of that! Whereas my husband earns a minimum wage and my ex partner pays nothing for two of my children! The CSA finally took into account that we were having the children and all they took off the amount was £25 a month!!! But then added an extra £11 to the arrears? Without even asking us? So all in we get £11 a month towards having two children every other weekend and half the holidays! Although the petrol to pick them up and take them home actually costs double that!!! There are so many family’s out there struggling to just get by day to day and doing their best to work and earn and then the CSA just kick you down even further. And one other thing that annoys me about CSA money is the fact that it very rarely even gets spent on the children? My step children never seem to have new clothes and always have trainers and clothes for their birthdays and xmas!!! And as she has a baby with her new partner it worries me that our hard earned money is actually most probably going to support their baby!

  • neil says:

    Or and Mrs toon please feel free to add the group mentioned above in the original post by me.
    Myself or Stuart who has commented above or another admin member will directly put you into the group.
    We have helped people get on top of the csa and are causing a bit of a stir as our members are after fair treatment.
    I will get an auto notification so once you add yourself I will accept it straight away.
    Post your story on there and watch the help flood through.

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