Will I get more money from my ex if I go to the CSA?
My ex husband and I haven’t been together for over 10 years, originally a court order was made for him to pay £50 (toward our only child) but he said he couldn’t afford this and after various forms and hearings it was reduced to £25 (£30 for a while to backdate times he hadn’t paid at all).
My son is now 14, £25 only covers the cost of the fuel i need to get him to school (one chosen on recommendation because he has mild asperger’s syndrome).
My son is already 5 foot 9 and to be honest apart from eating us out of house and home it is costing us a fortune in clothes.
I have never asked for anything extra at all – not for clothing food bills school holidays – nothing. This week I texted him to see if he could pay half to yet some more school shoes, pe kit and jumper. I think after 10 years he should be paying a bit more toward the upkeep of our son. As I thought – he hasn’t even bothered to reply.
Even though I have a maintenance order can I apply to the CSA to retrieve money instead and thus increase the amount? Or is it a simple process to go through the court and get them to increase it?
9 thoughts on “Will I get more money from my ex if I go to the CSA?”
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Leech.
The CSA would definitely make him pay more and yes you can go to them.
However I would strongly urge you to not go to them as they will cause so much trouble between you and your ex it will not be worth the hassle.
Talk to your ex and warn him that unless he is reasonable then you will be forced to use them, give him a chance before you use the nuclear option of this abhorrent agency.
– Money, money, money.. £££! They love it.. Kids are now cashpoints! Happy Mothers Day to all the good ‘uns that don’t withhold contact, obey court orders, and promote fair parenting!! x
OP …while yes I would agree that your ex should be paying more, I also have to stop and remind myself that I dont know your ex’s financial position (and technically neither do you), and that also you may be in receipt of extra state financial help due to your sons condition.
Going to the csa is a decision only you can make. However, you risk driving your ex into losing his job, and you would then only get £3.75 of the £5.00 they would take from his benefit.
I am not criticising you here, as my friend is soooooo skint and never put csa on her ex, and she asked him for £20 to help to feed them (as her son lost college place and cant sign on until may when hes 18 which meant she lost everything she had been trying to build as self employed with the state financial incentives in a flash) You know what her ex said? He couldnt help as he was saving to go on a pirates holiday. Pathetic, and my friend doesnt ask for anything unless she is seriously in the shit. So I do sympathise with you also. But I just dont know all of the facts either.
If you.have a maintainance order through the courts thats all csa will give you anyway, the courts will have asked him for income expenditure, thats obviously all he can afford, no offense you sent your lad to that school, thats your reaponsibility, you will get DLA no.doubt and extra tax credits to cover.these.costs, whats betting you go to csa your ex will probably give his job up, it happens to many times, seems to me like PWC is now starting to use the ex as a walking bank, he is paying whats the problem
There is no guarantee that you would get more by going to the CSA – they will assess your ex on his income, how many children he is liable to pay maintenance for, how many children are living in his household and how much overnight care he has.
There is a calculator on the CSA website which you can use to see what the CSA assessment would be but you would need to know your ex’s income details.
I’ve seen cases where a PWC opens a case with the agency as they thought they would get more but the calculation was less than they were getting via private agreement, equally I’ve seen cases where the CSA assessment was much higher.
Hi Victoria – I’d agree with Gem… Do not go to the CSA unless absolutely necessary because they will cause more trouble than good…
Alice talks a good story and will tell you what should/shouldn’t happen but if you read some of the stories on this forum you will find that the CSA staff are either idiots or lazy… Either way they will not help you, they will help their statistics… They do not care about the welfare of you or your child…
I’d suggest you speak with your ex first….
I’ve also seen cases brought to the agency by a PWC thinking they will get more money than they are getting via private agreement, and when the assessment is completed the figures is less than they were previously getting – the PWC then decides they want to go back to the private agreement and the NRP either either does not agree to private agreement or agrees to private agreement but at the amount of the CSA assessment.
*I have never asked for anything extra at all – not for clothing food bills school holidays – nothing. This week I texted him to see if he could pay half to yet some more school shoes, pe kit and jumper*
The above should all be covered by maintainance, not by you thinking he should pay more, if you want holidays or extras like more pe kit etc child benefit and tax credits cover those essentials also, thats what normal mums do