Why isn’t the PWC means tested?

April 30, 2013

My partner has not seen his 2 kids since Nov 2010 as their mother has poisoned them against him to the point she had the eldest on the phone telling him she no longer wanted to see him. Yet the ex (kids mum) rings the csa constantly asking for reassessment. the latest was 11 feb 13, when she told them he was working.

We both get esa as a couple and do not work. I am disabled he is my carer. The CSA take whatever the PWC (parent with care) says as gospel and I have had to contact them to tell them no he is NOT working. the csa can check this info by accessing the DWP datatbase, yet did not check when the ex phoned to tell them an out and out lie! Yet, until I rang the csa and told them he’s not working, they were already going through the process of change of circumstance/reassessment! My partner would have had to pay a default maintenance amount, which we can ill afford.

We get 113 a week, and the CSA take 5 of it. I have a 17 yr old out of work son who cannot get job seekers or a job. i get NO money for him, yet 5 a week is taken for my partner’s 2 kids. We are left with 35 a week for food for 3 of us, after gas, electric, water is paid for! How is this fair??

The ex is working 30 hrs a week, gets tax credits and in total 1800 in her hand every month!! the 5 a week is NOTHING to her. I want to know why the pwc is not means tested??? she could be on 1 million pounds a year and still get the csa money even though the money taken from us is precious. Why? Also, she wants my partner out of the kids lives, so why should she get any money? she stops him seeing them and has poisoned them to the point they dont want to see him. why isn’t there a law stopping this? the csa should be ONLY given if there is access to the kids available. unless there’s abuse issues. although parental alienation (which is what she’s done to my partner) in itself is abuse, emotional abuse, the pwc (in this case the mum) is abusing the kids!!

Comments

  • Sally says:

    I completely disagree with you on thie one Melinda!! The CSA criteria for child maintenance is 100% wrong and bias towards the PWC!!!

    Both parents should pay for the upbringing of their child but if one parent does not have it, as is the case here, he/she should be able to have a variation of earnings done just as the PWC can do when he/she believes the NRP has more money then he/she is admitting to!!!

    If both parents were means teste it would be a much fairer system… PWC get child tax credit, working tax credits, child benefit NONE of which they work for!!!! NRPs get no help whatsoever!!

    The NRP cannot purchase a house in the USA without the CSA being able to take it away (as assets when CSA says the PWC is owed money) so why should the PWC be able to???? Both parents should have the same security!!!

    I’m afraid I will be judgmental, especially whe we have to abide by an unfair system and are then victimised by the CSA to ensure they are meeting government targets!!!

    Both parents should be treated equally and FAIRLY!!!

  • BLEEDING HEART says:

    Although in principal Melinda you are correct that the father has a responsibility, I think in this case you are being a little harsh. The NRP has little or no money to live on each week. He does not have a job that pays hundreds of pounds a week and is a carer for his disabled wife. He also like a lot of people who comment on this site has a second family but the CSA do not recognise this fact. If you look at how the CSA calculates the percentage allowed for both first and second family children what this in effect says is that the children from your first marriage are entitled to receive more money in maintenance than you may be left with to spend on your second family children after all your monthly outgoings.
    Please bear in mind the CSA are a corrupt and incompetent organisation who self regulate themselves and are not answerable to anybody. The child support law cannot be challenged.. Both PWC & NRP are both fed up with an organisation that just doesn’t work. The CSA was originally formed to chase up NRP who didn’t pay. This proved too difficult and now the agency spends its time harassing fathers who already pay and have always paid through private agreements but the PWC has become greedy or bitter and decided to make life hell for the NRP. Support the DISBAND THE CSA epetition due to be submitted shortly.

  • melanie says:

    To everyone aopart from Melinda, thank you for your comments, I can’t believe the csa get away with what they are doing. And whilst I agree that the PWC has extra cost bringing up children, then surely this could be taken into account when the PWC is means tested and financially assessed?? The csa have a set rate minus living expenses (debatable as to whether or not the NRP can actually survive on that, I would argue mostly all can’t survive on it!!) for the NRP before they assess how much they should pay towards their kids, so why not do the same with the PWC and do a ‘household income’ assessment. Therefore if the PWC is getting 1800 a month (in her hand!! as in my case, the PWC gets) and the NRP is only getting a household income of 489 (113 x 52 weeks divided by 12 lol) then it is only FAIR that the NRP cannot afford to pay anything!! Surely you agree with that Melinda??
    ALSO IF THE PWC POISONS THE KIDS AGAINST THE NRP AND THE NRP IS FORCED OUT OF THE KIDS LIVES THEN WHY THE F####K SHOULD THAT PWC BE ENTITLED TO ANY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE NRP????
    Courts are NO GOOD btw, as the PWC doesn’t have to abide by the order, and even if she does she can ‘programme’ the kids into saying sorry we don’t want to go with you or see you daddy…..THIS SHOULD BE A CRIME its emotional abuse by the PWC and it happens over and over and over….

  • Lisa says:

    The CSA only side with the PWC this has always been the case, the place is very biased and the staff dont care a jot about you or your family, everything the mum says will be taken for gospel, unfortunatly things wont change unless we fight them, join our group to help us fight for whats right, fairness and equality,
    https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/204256966364149/

  • Melanie F says:

    basically the PWC can commit emotional abuse (poisoning the kids against the NRP), tell the csa lies about the NRP and get believed, not have to declare their income, yet use the NRP as a bank, and drain them financially, emotionally, hurt them by using the kids as a weapon…pay or you don’t see them (pay if you dont too!!). Its meant to be to support and protect the kids isn’t it?? Not encourage the PWC to use it as a powerful company to back up their campaign of terror on the NRP!!
    Am I right??

  • Lisa says:

    @ Melanie F Well said,

  • Melanie F says:

    this govt bangs on about welfare reform…aren’t these PWC’s using the CSA as a ‘benefit’ they think they should get….no matter what cost to the kids or the NRP….it’s disgusting and child abuse….encouraged, and enforced by the actions/policies/proceedures/lies/corruption by the csa
    @ Lisa…thanks, and it’s true isn’t it. Sadly

  • Carrie says:

    Of course nrp’s should contribute towards their children that is only right & fair.
    I’m a nrpp and feel the CSA don’t give any credence to anything we say !The pwc’s word is taken as gospel.She is denying she has received CM ,we have all the bank statements which prove money paid into her bank account every month.They say that doesn’t mean anything as pwc could have been left in debt & these could be repayments to her .WTF.. she wasn’t & all debts were paid when they split she even had a generous amount from the house in cash. They won’t even look more into it !Why wont they believe us ? Where is the justice in this ? She gets tax credits ,wtc, all the benefits of being a single parent,wages from work,council tax reductions ,free school meals/trips etc She gets more for doing minimum hours than than my husband for full weeks work & as tax credits are calculated before nearly 30% of our wages goes to her !(arrears on account because she wont say what we paid was CM)our son is hardly left enough to live on in our family ! SO MUCH FOR CHILD SUPPORT!!
    She has alienated the 4 children of the marriage & means they no longer come to us like they did EVERY WEEKEND for years ! Our young son is at a loss to understand….They (CSA) should take a look in our photo album ,see what we did with AND for the children and then see if they think we were absent parents !!!

  • Sally says:

    Well said Carrie!!! My partners ex was (is) a greedy parent who has lied, hurt her own kids tried to emotionally blackmail us…. All for money!!! The CSA believed everything she said… Even when we proved time and time again that she was lying….

  • Carrie says:

    Thanks Sally ! The CSA don’t want know so long as it brings the money in .They don’t want to believe us and this is happening all too frequently to too many nrp’s.Contact is reduced to mean more money & CSA are being biased in taking the pwc’s word for it . What are the pwc’s going to do when the child support ends when qc are out of full time ed & the children realise that the pwc has destroyed the relationship between the nrp & their children.It is psychologically damaging and can affect the ability to form relationships of their own in the future.Something needs to be done soon!

  • Jayne Plester says:

    My daughter is 18 and going to uni in October…my ex poisoned her and blackmailed her into living with him in his 9 bedroom house and currently earns £10 grand a month after tax I however take home £1000 per month of this I pay £305 to the csa ..i don’t dispute paying towards her expenses but I do dispute the fact its not means tested on both parties….

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