They doubled my payments based on two months of overtime – what should I do?

I was 17 when my ex fell pregnant, she had just left school with no qualifications and no intentions of getting a career, so she got herself pregnant (as far as I was aware she was using the contraception pill).

I was in an apprenticeship at the time and I supported her 100% but she didn’t want anything to do with me once she was pregnant. When the child was born I made vile try contributions but that was not good enough for her do she went to the CSA, it actually backfired on her as the CSA took less money off me than I was originally giving her. I have paid the CSA for the past 5 years now with no problems but in the last few months my ex reported me to the CSA saying my circumstances had changed (which they had not).

I live in a small town where everybody knows everybody’s business so my ex new I was working a bit of extra overtime to save for a deposit for a mortgage. I had only worked 2 months with overtime and the CSA did their new assessment based on those 2 months, I explained the overtime was only temporary and it is not a guarantee in my job but the didn’t care.

So now my payments have gone up from £230 a month to £500 a month. I now can not do any overtime and the CSA are taking nearly half my wage.

I have asked for a new assessment based on my wages with flat months and because I had an extra £80 in my wages from the April pay rise that was backdated to June the CSA refused to an asses end as the said it was not a true reflection of my wage with the extra £80. This is a bit of a contradiction when they see temporary overtime as a true reflection.

I don’t know what to do as whenever I try to get something sorted the CSA doesn’t want to know. I cannot afford a solicitor or to go to court to get access to see my child, while my ex abuses me and my family she has 3 convictions of assault against my sister and is currently up in court for intimidating a whiteness, the police have said she should of gone to prison a long time ago but she is using the child as a tool to keep out of prison. I am only 23 and I feel I can’t even start my life off because of a stupid girl who got herself pregnant because she had nothing going for her.