Unfairly treated by the CSA

February 23, 2012

I split from my ex partner five years ago,due to him being mentally and physically abusive,taking our four children with me.When i applied for benefits(i had a 2 year old at the time)i was told that if i didnt apply for child maintainance i wouldnt get benefits or i would have money taken from me.My ex who was on benefits at the time,had five pounds a week deducted from his jsa,for about 5 months,then he fell off the radar so to speak.Since then he has contributed nothing to the welfare of his four children,but three years ago my eldest daughter decided she wanted to go and live with him,after a long time spent trying to change her mind i let her go as i wanted her to be happy.

Last year my son who turned 16 went to visit his dad,who he hadnt seen for over four years,and never came back.I today received a call from the csa,saying he had made a claim and that they will be taking money out of my benefits,and that when i start work the money i owe will be backdated to today and i will have to pay the arrears as well as whatever they decide i pay alongside it.

He on the other hand gets away with paying nothing as they say they have no tax records for him,and if he is paid in cash there is nothing they can do,he earns around 500 a week,i get about 203 and by the time i have paid rent council tax, utilities and food,there is nothing left, i cant treat my girls,take them out or buy them new clothes, five pounds might not seem like much,but to me its an extra day or two of gas or electric,or extra food.

I am not trying to shirk my responsibilites, but im being treated like i am. I have two children with me that need food,clothes etc,their father doesnt care one iota,for him having the two eldest is extra income and his way of saying i have failed as a mother.i can barely afford to live as it is,and this is just making things worse,no one is considering the welfare of the two children i have with me.Its a disgrace.

Comments

  • Terry norris says:

    Get your arse out and work.then you won’t have too much arrears to pay,bloody people like you and your deadbeat ex expecting the taxpayers like me to keep you.yer I’m paying for you lot as well as my bitch of an ex on benefits and forced to pay her £320 a month for a daughter I never see and was taken away from me because her mother decided she didn’t want me anymore…lol….but the bitch is happy for me to support her and her blokes lifestyle, cause nearly £80 a week im forced to pay the bitch is not being spent on my daughter…no fucking way.
    Get out and earn a living like most decent people

  • shona ross says:

    Just to clarify a point,i am looking for work i apply for at least 3 jobs a week,if they are there,and i do voluntary work for a charity.So i do want to work,i just havent found any yet,i have worked since i was 16,so i think your comment is a tad harsh,not all women are like your ex,i dont want anything off my ex whatsoever,i dont need it,my point is why should i and the children that live with me go without when he is screwing the system and earning 500 plus a week? why does he need 5 a week off me? he is just being petty.Obviously if you and your ex were able to come to a reasonable settlement the csa wouldn’t have even been involved.You come to where i live and see what jobs are on offer,there is sod all,and alot of people here are in the same situation,its a bad job when even the staff at the jobcentre acknowledge that fact.So direct your vehemence elsewhere,i was merely making a point,and im fully aware other single parents,mums and dads,are in similar situations.If my ex wasnt such a scumbag,i wouldnt have any problems,he’d contribute to the welfare of his children like a parent is supposed to.I on the other hand,send clothes and money to my eldest children,when i can manage it,along with birthday and christmas gifts.I am a decent person,people who go around calling the mother of their child a bitch,amongst other things,are not what i class as decent.

  • chall says:

    shona,

    Unless your case against your ex was correctly closed, it should have remained open. In which case arrears should have accumulated against your ex at the rate of the last calculated amount. Now your ex has involved the CSA, he is no longer off the radar as they have contact details for him.

    If your ex is managing to live with no income, then that should surely give rise to lifestyle inconsistent with income, but you would have to apply for this and give evidence.

    chall ~ afairercsaforall

  • >