C.S.A.

wireman_2 · 24 November 2004 at 5:03PM

Hi

Hope somebody out there can help i am being re -assesssed by the CSA.

I don't mind as i think i should be helping my ex out but since i was last assessed my circumstances have changed. I have re-married and have another son but the CSA want to know all bout my new wife, NI Number, Work Details, How much she earns.

She is not happy about this. She does not mind looking after my other son and helping out when needed but what we want to know is why do they need all these details.

Does it affect how much i have to pay to my ex as we have 2 wages coming in even though my wife's is only part time.

Please if there is somebody out there who knows can you explain to us why.

Thanks

missprice · 24 November 2004 at 6:36PM

the csa have no need to know your new wifes details.

by law you cannot pass on these details without her permission anyway. so just tell the csa next time they ask, that your wife refuses to give you the details so you cannot pass them on.

the only reason you would tell the csa what your wife was earning is if it would giive you a smaller assessment.

if your new wife does not work and does not earn any money then you would be marginally better off telling this to the csa. personally i would not tell them anyway for the sake of a few quid.

there is such a thing as the data protection act and your new wife could concievably sue you if you disclosed any details about her to anyone.

if you need more help with the csa or a hand working out how much you will have to now pay feel free to pm me

simone

ccml · 26 November 2004 at 8:45AM

if you need more help with the csa or a hand working out how much you will have to now pay feel free to pm me

simone

Hi
I wonder if you can offer me any advice....

I recently split from the father of my 2 girls, ages almost 5 and almost 2 and although we did not marry, were together for going on 14 years.

He has left our home and is continuing to pay the mortgage, building and contents insurance and my car insurance comes straight out of his account as well.

I am wondering whether to try to claim income support as I hear that it is a requirement that you allow the CSA to arange maintenance from absent parents.

My dilema is that if I consent to this, he will most certainly stop paying the mortgage and related insurances and I assume that any monies the CSA deem acceptable will not cover those cost with a resulting repossession.

Will the benefits agency accept our standing agreement and allow me to decline the services of the CSA.

It would be great for a response over the next couple of days as I have an appointment on Tuesday and would much more comfortable and secure with the correct information to hand.

As a side issue, should the CSA assess my partner, who earns around £35K and decide an amount he should be contributing, will this total amount come to me for the support of my girls?

It is just that I heard (through hearsay no doubt) that a percentage of earnings is taken from the absent parent and the remaining parent is paid a pre-determined amount set by the government. Any remaining amount from the absent parent is put in the pot (so to speak) to help recoop / fund benefits paid to single parents where the absent parent is unwaged or can not be found or has not been named.

Thank you in advance for your speedy response

C

missprice · 26 November 2004 at 12:10PM

hi ccml

to hopefully answer all your questions

if you claim a prescribed benefit (income supoport is one)
the csa have to assess the absent parent. you cannot get out of this or round this. you cannot make a deal to prevent the csa from doing there job

when they assess the absent parent, they state an amount that must be paid, and if you are on income support you will recieve a whole £5 a week from the assessment (may be £10 a week now) on top of your income support. if you were not on any prescribed benefit then you would keep all of his contribution.

the csa will take no account whatsoever of any money he pays to the mortgage or other bills. and yes if you were to stop paying the mortgage ( a good possibilty on IS) the house would be repossessed.

i hope i answered all your questions if not please feel free to pm me too.

WIREMAN i have your pm, i wont be able to get back to you till maybe monday. sorry but i am at work and not meant to be on here.

simone

Fran · 26 November 2004 at 3:30PM

Hi ccml,

What are you living on at the moment? If your ex is on £35 k it may be the case (this is a guess) that he would have to pay out a fair bit more than the mortgage and a couple of insurances to you if it goes through the CSA. As you are not together now you really have to think of yourself and the children and how you are going to live. If he won't come to a reasonable agreement with you - and I would advise that you make this official rather than just a verbal agreement - then I would go to the CSA for assessment. If you apply for Income Support you would have to declare sources of income which would include the mortgage and insurances.

missprice · 26 November 2004 at 5:20PM

assuming his salary really is 35k and the only children he would be paying for are your 2 girls.

he would only pay you £7000 a year.
it easy to work out because the amount assessed goes in increments. for one child it is 15% of net wage, 2 kids 20% and 3 or more kids 25%. btw net of any pension payments too, which i have not taken into account.

you have to work out if its better he pays the mortgage and all related or should you go on IS and get the £5 or £10 a week that the gvmt lets you keep.

can you not go to work even part time?

simone

jellyhead · 26 November 2004 at 9:23PM

is it 20% of the gross or the net salary he'd be paying? if it's net it would be less than 7000 a year i think but i'm not an expert. as far as i know from other people if the CSA assess your hubby and decide the amount he should pay is more than they're giving you in income support you don't get any income support and you just get the money from him, then the income from him is assessed if you are trying to claim for free school dinners, prescriptions, housing or council tax benefit, etc.

what are you living on at the moment? do you work? if not then i assume you'll have to do something for food money etc. you can't go on income support without the CSA getting involved although i have known of certain people not identifying the father of their children. i knew a woman in the school playground who said she got pregnant by a stranger she met in a pub and she had no idea of his name or contact details. she was telling the truth too. the CSA couldn't really get incolved as there was no way of tracing him really. of course you can't do this if his name is on the birth certificate! i believe you can also refuse to name the father and they punish you by taking about a quarter of your income support away. somebody i knew at school did this, she said she couldn't name the father because he was married and his wife didn't know they'd had an affair. she had a private arrangement where he gave her money to make up for the lost income support.

i'm not on benefits but know a lot of single mums who are. as far as i can tell you will get no help with your mortgage, or if you do it takes about a year before they will start helping you with the interest. income support isn't concerned with keeping mortgages paid, if your house is repossessed you'll probably get a 2 bedroomed council house and then be able to claim housing benefit. do you have mortgage insurance that covers this type of situation? would your ex perhaps be able to pay the mortgage on the house if ownership is transferred to him and he can sell the house once the youngest child reaches 16? that's the arrangement my aunt has with her ex, he's paying her maintenance and also paying the mortgage until the youngest goes to uni then they're selling the house and she'll have to find somewhere for herself.

filigree_2 · 27 November 2004 at 5:35AM

You might be a lot better off getting a 16 hour a week job and claim tax credits. They offer you a contribution to childcare costs, too. Then get your ex to pay you enough to cover the mortgage payments (more if he's willing). Maintenance payments do not affect how much tax credits you get. You would have a slightly better income than someone on Income Support alone, and the mortgage would be safe.

Depending on how much the house is worth, and how big the mortgage is, would it be possible to sell up and buy a smaller flat outright without a mortgage?

Don't get excited about the prospect of council housing. If the home is sold and there is any equity, you are expected to move into private rented accommodation and pay for it with the proceeds of the house sale. I approached my local council and was told that as I'm selling a property, I can't get social housing.

If you really can't afford to keep up the mortgage, then sell the house because repossession costs hideous amounts of interest and you'll have a lot of trouble ever getting another mortgage.

YoMikey76 · 23 September 2010 at 6:00PM

Can anyone please advise me about my exasperating predicament. I am currently on the "old" scheme that is before March 2003 and pay £700 per month this as you can well imagine leaves me destitute, with only £900 per month left for bills etc, no real quality of life. I have had numerous frustrating phone conversations with the C.S.A to ask when i will be transferred to the latest scheme, bearing in my mind there was a scheme before this. All I'm told is unless myself or the mother of my child has another child and a new claim is made I will stay on the "old" scheme, or if she makes a new claim herself. This in todays society of equality seems very unreasonable that I am unable to file for a new assessment, all this on top of her denying me access to see my child. I did go through the courts and CafCass, but she made it difficult every step of the way including ensuring he was upset and scared to spend time with me because " she did'nt want him spending time with me and his extended family ". Help please!!!

13Kent · 23 September 2010 at 6:10PM

You won't be moved to CSA 2 - we have tried and tried even via our MP. We are paying approx double on CSA 1 than we would be paying if we were on CSA 2. If you were by any miracle moved to csa2 then your assessment would be phased in, and only change by something like £10 a month (I think - someone might correct me on that) to allow the PWC to get used to recieving a lower amount so it could take years before you reached the CSA2 level of payments anyway.

Sorry not to be more encouraging.

kelloggs36 · 23 September 2010 at 8:28PM

13Kent is correct - you will have to remain on CS1 for the remaining time of your case - unless either of the 2 scenarios occurs that you have already been told about - sorry!

C.S.A.

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