I’d be better off on the dole

I hadn’t heard from the CSA since 2005. The case over as far as I and my ex were concerned. Unbeknown to me, the CSA contacted me at a guest house where I was staying , and was registered there with my employer. I had no forwarding address with the guest house when I moved on.

When the CSA withdrew cash from my wages I was amazed. They told me my son had gone into higher education and that I was obliged by law to inform them of any change of address until my son was twenty, even if I hadn’t heard from him or the CSA for years. From my net income of £1142, they have taken £360 for the past two years. £280 for child support, and £80 for the arrears when they couldn’t contact me. I protested to no avail that I had no idea that they would be contacting me in a million years!

They accepted my rent, council tax of £400 plus £80 for utility bills would leave me with £300 to live on. They said this was plenty to keep a job and live on. I would get £300 on benefit and free rent and council tax on the dole! As I didn’t want to be unemployed, though better off, I took a loan out to cover me for the two years it would take before my son reached twenty. All seems a bit severe to me when I consider that guys under the CMA post 2003 plan only pay £140 in the same situation as me.