How do I know if the CSA is taking too much?

July 28, 2010

My partner is paying for 3 children. He knows he has to pay something toward there up keep, but what the csa are taking a month is leaving him on the brink of poverty. Any help would be much appreciated as we do not have a clue what the rules are, or if there is anythin he can do about it.

He only earns £900 per month. The CSA are taking off him £232 per mth and we have just found out it will be going up to more. He is only left with around £630 per month!! He has a mortage to pay out of this, which is £350. Council Tax, tv licence which we all know has to be paid or you can be taken to court.

So how is he supposed to live, he simply doesnt have enough left to live off, and quite frankly would be better off quiting his job and claiming benefits – which would destroy him as he has always been a hard worker. I don’t understand why they do not take your finacial circumstances into account, because if they are taking everything from him how is he supposed to pay for a roof over his head and provide anything else for his children? To me it defeats the object. His ex partner and her partner earn more money than he does, none of this makes any sense at all.

Please help.

Comments

  • Chris says:

    Sounds about right if there are no children in his current household and he has care of them for less than 1 day a week.

    Low incomes are taken into account but the basic rate applies when you earn over £200 a week net income (after tax, national insurance, pension payments etc).

    £900 a month is about £260 a week so your partner falls into the basic rate.

    It’s calculated as

    15% of income for one child.
    20% of income for two children.
    25% of income for three or more children.

    25% of £900 is £225.

    There’s probably some arrears on the case being repaid too taking it up to £232.

    It’s all explained here…

    http://www.csa.gov.uk/en/PDF/leaflets/new/CSL303.pdf

    The parent with care income used to be included in the calculations among many other things, but was removed and replaced with flat rate percentages because there were complaints about the complexity of the calculation and nobody could work out why they had to pay what they did.

  • Brokenfather says:

    There is a discount on these rates if overnight care is more than 52 nights pa.

  • gemma says:

    I agree this is totally unfair. I am a resident parent getting nothing but I still agree the CSA take too much!!!

    Is there any way your partner can contact his ex and come up with a more fair mutual agreement??

  • david taylor says:

    my husband is paying for his cjild every week he only gets 260 a week and you are taking 80 pounds of him he is find it well hard his has too pay for his house and bills and food could you look in too it too see if this is right

  • kevin cottrell says:

    I’m now unemployed indirectly because of the csa and my ex and the sorry state i got myself into “nearly ending it all with a rope around my neck”.

    I’ve always been a hard worker and looked after my kids but cant any more and whats worse is I’ve a chance of getting a job which will pay 21k per year but will have to turn it down as i couldn’t afford to pay all my bills and csa and live.

    i feel bad now that I’m a burden on the state but if i worked then i’d loose everything and probably my life and the worst thing is there’s nothing anyone can do.

    from a loving dole dad who will eventually see his little angels on the 14th after 1 and a half years… the whole system is flawed

  • tony says:

    been paying maintenance through the bank (as agreed in court) each month for six years , csa got in touch and said i should be paying more , they are now taking money direct from wages , i have joint custody , can the csa tell me how i am supposed to feed my daughters and treat them, when i am struggling to pay my rent to keep the roof over my head ( not including the bills , as i cant afford to pay them ) the system is not fair , if the csa are concerned just about the children , they should make sure all the money goes on the children , and not on the mothers fags and wine , lets see some bills for clothing and shoes etc ,from a dad who has been paying from day one , even though you are accusing me of being in arrears .

  • Dry your eyes and pay for your kids!!! says:

    I am a married dad with 2 kids who has an average income,I look at the measly sums you whingers are paying the CSA for YOUR kids,it’s a bargain!!!

    If I was paying that little for my kids I would be loaded so get a grip and pay for YOUR kids cos I am fed up paying for yours and mine!!

  • lesley flynn says:

    same boat………..im working part-time, husband working fulltime he only receiving 250 quid wk,we have 4 kids here, his ex has had numerous daddys living with them over the 14 yr period he used to pay for him until ten yrs ago csa sent him a cheque for 36 quid as an” overpayment” they said, then last wk letter came he in 10,000 arrears first contact we have had in 10 yrs from csa, and we struggle, so they have arranged for his employers to take 65 quid from him weekly…well they say that he has a duty to his oldest child my arse, what about my kids going to suffer as a result of this….so to you that said that us people that whinge and sit on our arses u can swivel on it mate u dont pay shit all for me and i dont sit on my arse, not like my husbands ex

  • Rob says:

    well could be worse they take 40% of me for two children which i lost due to a cheating wife i couldnt forgive her and left her i was paying £200 per month into her account then she gave me so much grief when i went to see the kids i moved back to england.
    Of which i stopped paying and making a big mistake which i didnt pay anything it took csa to find out where i was working and now they take a amssive chunk i earn 17000 per year and now they leave me with 600 per month to pay 279 rent 106 council tax 150 for gas and electric not including my travel to work and food.
    My wife as been laid of work so we cant even depend on her bringing any money in yes i would be better of on the dole but have foudn a job i love.
    They think this is fair and will not help me by lowering the payments of the back pay.Lesson to learn from this dont get your women pregnant.

  • dene says:

    i dissergree with mr dry your eyes, we are all agreeing we shoul;d be paying for our kids, my mind is that its not my fault that after having a baby my gf decided to sleep around wich resulted in us breaking up, i see actively see my daughter every weekend (got discount of £4.57) what a joke costs more than £4.57 a week for a 7 year old girl especially when comes to xmass, im not married with another kid and been given discount of 37.93/week again shes 2 and it costs more than that to keep her fed and clothed. Paying 110/month to csa after rent/bills/debts etc is just leaving us near enough bankrupt. The thing i find most annoying is out of that 110 a month my ex only gets about £40/£50 and she spends it on herself on alcohol mainly and my daughter doesnt see a penny, her and her bf are living on benefits and just because the law changed to say mums have to get a job once kids are 6/7 she has got herself pregnant. Every system in this country is shocking, people who are lazy and on benefits get everything handed to them while us the hard earning tax payers get screwed out of everything. And yet theres all these MP’s etc getting payed millions claiming all sorts, it makes me so sick to my stomach.

  • dene says:

    Agree with rob wish i hadnt fallen in love with and got a girl pregnant only to find she had been cheating on me for ages…. i agree best thing to do is not to even start a family maybe or fall in love or anything, thats the message we are being sent.

  • anthony dalton says:

    I have three boys Gabriel is 6 and twin boys alexander and oliver I finished with my ex because of all the arguments and her unreasonable behaviour one of my sons has cerebral palsy Pauline would not live with me because of the benefits she gets sick pay for herself and three boys which amounts to 400 a week and a car. after I finished with her I met someone else and seen the boys at weekend till she found out and smashed my house up in front of the kids and attacked one of my friends causing 4000 pounds of damage which she got charged 300 off the courts at the moment I have the boys every week Friday 4pm till sunday 6pm I pay 260 a month the social pay for the boys to be after school club four nights a week because Pauline cant be bothered looking after them and has mental health problems she asked one of the boys to ask my partner to ask me if I would have the boys a few weeks a year I phoned her sister and told her I could not afford too feed them or take them out in them weeks I have a three bedroom bungalow which I need for alex and so I can have boys overnight which eats all my money so I asked for a personal agreement of 50 a week with me having them four weeks a year bank holidays and Friday to sunday every week my ex said no you will be paying csa till the boys are 20 there are no get outs I get depressed about all this and try to stay positive but its hard shes a crap mum and wish I could get full care of the boys my partner sais she would move in to help but what are the chances of a dad getting this?

  • anthony dalton says:

    oh she did offer me a food hamper to have them four weeks a year so kind !

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