How can we reduce our payments to the CSA?
I was wondering if you can advise me. I am a married mum of two boys who are not my husbands and 28 weeks pregnant. I am a student nurse on a year out so do not earn any money.
My husband has a 6 year old daughter who he was happily paying cash in hand to her till she stopped it and went to the CSA. He got his wages arrested for £500 a month since Jan 09 till what we got told was Sept 09 now we have found out its Oct 2010.
Every month we are living of off nothing now after the bills are payed, i am so depressed and scared for my children’s wellbeing. My husband is paying so much as its arrears and we are left with about £100 for a months food, electric and general living.
Please please can you advice me how we can reduce the payments before our baby is born in October…
Many Thanks
Ashley
3 thoughts on “How can we reduce our payments to the CSA?”
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Hi Ashley Rutherford,
As your OH daughter is 6 years old, I will assume that his cased will be on CS2 rules. As such his assessment should have a reduction for the 2, soon to be 3 children living in his household of 20% (25% after your baby is born) from his total net income before the 15% liability is calculated for his daughter’s maintenance.
How did his arrears accrue?
The max the agency should take for regular maintenance and arrears is 40% of his total net income.
Do you receive maintenance for son’s?
Can you please tell me how the CSA cannot send out payment schedules for 3 years, during which time, we have clothed, fed, watered, taken on holiday and provided my husbands son with everything he ever needed, and then expect him to pay all the arrears which has been accumulated?
All the mother does is allow the son to sleep there as she provides no rules and boundaries and it allows him to stay out to any hour. She has never brought him even a pair of shoes or school uniform but all the CSA are bothered about is what roof he sleeps under. Most nights he eats at my house or his girlfriends.
I don’t understand why the CSA is persecuting me as an ‘absent’ father when I have been in my sons live every single day!
Hi Ashley,
I’m sorry to say that there’s probably nothing you can do. I’m in a similar situation with my 2 children living in poverty because of the CSA taking a deductions of earnings from my husbands wages, because of supposed arrears. They refuse to refund previous overpayments and always base their calculations based on the date that his ex asks for a re-calculation (even when he doesn’t receive notification for over a month) and never from the date that he tells them about a change in circumstances which would reduce his payments. He’s been to the CAB who said that they have never had any success challenging the CSA and hate having to deal with them because of their intransigence (even when they make mistakes). What makes it even more unfair is that his ex gets more in benefits than my husband earns, and when he applied for residence it was turned down flat as Cafcass would rather see a child live off benefits than be properly provided for in a loving, tax paying family.