CSA arrears leaving me with no money

November 27, 2010

I hope you can help- I am at my wits end.

I have 2 children with my ex wife. They are 16 and 17.

We split 7 years ago and my ex moved them to Barnsley from Sheffield.

I have now got quite a lot of arrears which the CSA want back over a 12 month period so are taking £450 per month leaving me with just over £600 for the month.This is for arrears and to pay for my 2 children.

However my 16 year old daughter now lives with me and has done since 07th October 2010 but the CSA are taking maintenance from me and paying it to my ex wife for both my children.

Last month after the CSA took their money and I had paid my bills I was left with £105 to last me and my daughter all month.

I have spoke to the CSA who have advised that until my ex wife cancels claiming child benefit for my Daughter they cannot reduce my payments and only if my ex wife agrees to have the arrears paid back over a longer period of time they cannot reduce my monthly payments for my arrears.

I am getting increasingly depressed over this situation and to be honest I do not know where to turn.

My daughter came to live with me after being very depressed herself as she is not getting along with her mother and her mother was constantly telling her to leave and come and live with me.

I do fear however that as I cannot provide for her to live with me due to lack of money I am going to have to send her back to live with her mother but I am concerned she will do something stupid as she is adamant she does not want to go back.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you help me or advise me where I can go for help???

Thank you .

Darren

Comments

  • Brokenfather says:

    This is the CSA’s definition of the PWC

    “Parent with care
    The parent or carer who the child normally lives with and who therefore pays for most of the child’s everyday living costs. In some cases this can be a grandparent, guardian or other family member – who is known as the ‘person with care’, rather than the parent with care. ”

    As you can see who receives the CB has nothing to do with it. As far as I am aware that is only relevant if the care of the child/children is equal, and then the PWC is deemed the parent who receives the CB.

    You need to point that out to them.

    Furthermore, if the previous PWC failes to notify the CSA of a change in circumstances whereby the number of children in their care reduces the CSA can take them to court and they can be fined up to £1000.

    You need to point these facts out to the CSA because they never seem to know or care about their own rules ……

  • Damien Doherty says:

    I had to move back in with my parents as i couldn't afford to pay my bills when they decided to increase the amount they take off me. They are unreasonable

  • Jem Pogue says:

    Your only hope is contact your MP and insist your case is forwarded to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, they are the only people with the power to sort this abhorrent agency out, even the courts do NOT have the power to sort out there incompetence !!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Peter Anderson says:

    Did you notify the CSA when she came to live with you? Did you also apply for the Child Benefit to be transferred? They must act as soon as you notified them. It's got nothing to do with your ex. Are they taking the money from your salary by DEO? Send me a PM / friend request. If there is a DEO you need to apply to your local Magistrates Court (Family, so might not be your nearest) to have the DEO set aside. Have a look at earlier messages on CsaHell including those to Phil Marsh.

  • Lorna Smith says:

    you d not have to pay the arrears back over a year. We chose to pays our off over 18 months! This is just a scam tac tic they use to claw your arrears back quicker. On talking to our local m,p to get our case sorted we were told that there is not really a set period as long as you offer to pay a reasonable amount. Get in touch with your m.p and get them to escalate it higher and ensure you let them know if you have not had the child benefit handed over to you that your ex is frauding the system by claiming for a child she does not have in her care! They are after all supposed to be cracking down on fraudsters! Also if your ex claims benefits of any form she will have it based on 2 dependants which is no longer the case! They should reasses your case due to now having a dependant which means by law your protected income should be increased as you need to provide for the child now in your full time care. If you are living with a partner that works do yourself a massive favour and DO NOT tell them if you can help it as they Will take her wages into account as well and you could get stung for more money as we did!! Disgusting really as they dont give a shit about the fact that that person may also have a dependant of their own! Tell them only the bare essentials they need to know or you will get screwed over every which possible way they can!Best of luck and whatever you do don't give in and make sure you are constantly chasing your case as they do not rush themselves.

  • Chris Russell says:

    do try your mp, it worked for me ps the time to pay the arrears back is policy not law salos show whynthe arrears build up

  • Ally says:

    Help!
    My two girls have been living with myself ,my new wife and daughter for past 6 Years
    With no contact from there mother . I was paying arrears at 26 pounds per month but stopped when they said they had no record of payments. They now want 300 pound a month .

  • Emma Yeomans says:

    I am sorry that they are putting you in this position. They anger me – why do people suffer for their mistakes and incompetence. It always seems that they can do what they want and they have no regard for the mess they leave behind. They are the most incompetent company I have ever known. They don’t support children they rip off all the dad’s that are willing to pay and those that run away and evade get away without paying anything. It stinks………..

  • joanne shier says:

    You need to ring up child benefit who will then alert the fraud team, thus is what we had to do, hope this helps.

  • Rob says:

    I hear you….Ive just been told i have amassed arrears of £13000. They have upped my payments from £500 to £900 a month, this they take via a DEO. They havent discussed this with me, and when i questioned where the arrears have come from all they would tell me is “you owe this money” I have asked for a statement of account 3 times over the phone and twice by writing. Im still waiting after 4 weeks. Because of their almighty c£$k up after i have paid my silly bills like rent, council tax etc etc i will be left with a grand total of £18 for food and toiletries etc.

    I explained this to them and they said (and i quote) ” have a drink to get over the shock!!!”

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