CSA Confusion
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swingaloo
Posts: 2,749 Forumite
Wonder if anyone can shed any light on this please.
Hubby has been paying maintenance for his child (now age 17) for last 15 years. I am not sure what CSA system he is on, he pays the mum direct.
He was last contacted by the CSA about 8 years ago when she wanted a review of his situation. He was told what his payment should be but has constantly since pad £40 a month more than the figure they gave him.
However, he has not worked since 2010 when he was retired on ill health grounds and is now disabled so on benefits. But, he has continued throughout to still pay full maintenance as we have been able to manage it between us and he didn't want his child to go without.
About 12 months ago his ex rang to say she wanted more money as her husband is no longer working. My husband explained that we couldn't manage any more as he is on benefits and she got angry and said she would contact the CSA again to which he told her that as they didn't know he was no longer working it may work the opposite way and they would advise a lower payment than she was getting. She then chose not to contact them.
Now we have an issue, I have retired, I am 11 years older than my husband so this has had an effect on our household budget. My wage has always made the difference and allowed us to be able to keep up full maintenance (which was based on when my husband was working as well).
We need to lower the payment but know she is going to hit the roof.
Presumably my husband should contact the CSA himself to find out what payment would be due before telling her?
Ive heard people say that the payment is as low as £6 a week if you are on benefits (we have no intention of just paying that) but surely it depends what benefits you are on.
Is the payment based on a set amount when you are on benefits or, does the payment vary based on the amount of benefits you get. I ask because he has just been given the higher rate for mobility which would enable him to get a mobility car, but, if his assessment would be based on him getting the cash figure than we are better not getting the car and keeping the cash towards the maintenance payment.
in a nutshell I suppose what Im trying to work out is if it would be batter to struggle on paying the amount we are currently paying so as to not rock the boat.
Adding all his benefits together alongside the small work pension he gets he has £278 a week but of course we are now going to lose my wage. even though I will get my pension we will still have £600 less a month coming in.
As I said earlier, even though my husband had to stop work in 2010 and up until 6 months ago he only had £156 a week coming in we have still continued to use my wage to pay full maintenance for the child but we now need to cut down.
Any advice appreciated. thank you for reading.
Hubby has been paying maintenance for his child (now age 17) for last 15 years. I am not sure what CSA system he is on, he pays the mum direct.
He was last contacted by the CSA about 8 years ago when she wanted a review of his situation. He was told what his payment should be but has constantly since pad £40 a month more than the figure they gave him.
However, he has not worked since 2010 when he was retired on ill health grounds and is now disabled so on benefits. But, he has continued throughout to still pay full maintenance as we have been able to manage it between us and he didn't want his child to go without.
About 12 months ago his ex rang to say she wanted more money as her husband is no longer working. My husband explained that we couldn't manage any more as he is on benefits and she got angry and said she would contact the CSA again to which he told her that as they didn't know he was no longer working it may work the opposite way and they would advise a lower payment than she was getting. She then chose not to contact them.
Now we have an issue, I have retired, I am 11 years older than my husband so this has had an effect on our household budget. My wage has always made the difference and allowed us to be able to keep up full maintenance (which was based on when my husband was working as well).
We need to lower the payment but know she is going to hit the roof.
Presumably my husband should contact the CSA himself to find out what payment would be due before telling her?
Ive heard people say that the payment is as low as £6 a week if you are on benefits (we have no intention of just paying that) but surely it depends what benefits you are on.
Is the payment based on a set amount when you are on benefits or, does the payment vary based on the amount of benefits you get. I ask because he has just been given the higher rate for mobility which would enable him to get a mobility car, but, if his assessment would be based on him getting the cash figure than we are better not getting the car and keeping the cash towards the maintenance payment.
in a nutshell I suppose what Im trying to work out is if it would be batter to struggle on paying the amount we are currently paying so as to not rock the boat.
Adding all his benefits together alongside the small work pension he gets he has £278 a week but of course we are now going to lose my wage. even though I will get my pension we will still have £600 less a month coming in.
As I said earlier, even though my husband had to stop work in 2010 and up until 6 months ago he only had £156 a week coming in we have still continued to use my wage to pay full maintenance for the child but we now need to cut down.
Any advice appreciated. thank you for reading.
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Comments
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Your husband should contact CSA and ask for a reassessment. The amount he has to pay will depend on the which scheme he is on. It is important to get the reassessment because at the moment he is liable to pay the full amount (and will be until there is a reassessment) so if you now struggle to pay he will end up in arrears. Once you have the new assessment he can choose to pay more if he feels able to but that will be his choice and there will be no possibility of arrears.
It sounds as if you have both done the best you can for his son and I'm sure you will continue to do so. I can understand that the mother will be unhappy about her income going down but circumstances change. The boy is old enough to know that his dad has done his best for him and with luck it will not damage their relationship.0 -
Thank you for the reply.
We are still paying the amount which he was paying when he was working so there are no arrears.
In effect, he has been over paying for the last 4 years as he has carried on paying more than the CSA figure even though he has stopped work and now only gets benefits.
What worries me is that because he now gets the amount of benefits he does Im worried they may up the payments (as he now qualifies for the higher rate mobility). The benefits have increased in the last 6 months but we are now losing my wage.
Is every benefit taken into consideration when they do the assessment? I ask because we really could do to get the mobility car as our is on its last legs and he does need a car to be able to get out of the house He cant manage public transport any more as he cannot even walk from our house to the bus stop. But, if the mobility money is classed as income for the csa assessment then we cant use it for a car.0 -
Your husband should contact them and ask for a reassessment based on his current income. If your husband then chooses to pay more then the assessment then great. He will probably be put on flat rate of £5 a week.0
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Don't worry about the DLA, it will not make the assessment higher and if he is on CSA 1 proof of DLA will add a disability premium to the calculation so it will lead to a lower assessment.0
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Thank you for the replies. we just tried the CSA calculator and it shows a flat rate of £7 a week. However we are not sure what CSA he is on as its from about 15 years ago.
If he asks for a reassessment will he automatically be put on a new CSA or am I right in thinking only the parent with care can get it closed and reopened.0 -
No, he will be reassessed on the scheme that he's on already, it's hard to tell you exactly what the new assessment will be because it depends on what benefits he gets and what CSA scheme he is on but from the information you have given it is likely to be a much lower assessment. You should ask for the reassessment as soon as possible because it will take some time for them to process the reassessment. Once you know what he is required to pay you can then choose to pay more if you have the resources to do so.0
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The agency can only assess your husband on his income. Your income will help determine the protected income for the household but it does not make the assessment. If your husband is in receipt of benefits he will be assessed at flat rate.
Anything he pays over that amount will not be taken into account by CSA.
You need to consider both of your circumstances at this time and it is honourable that you are helping hubby pay to keep mom happy but there are other factors to be considered also now your wages have reduced.0 -
also to determine what scheme with CSA you are under you need to look at the date the PWC made application to CSA and the original notification date.
any application prior to 03.03.2003 are CS1
after 03.03.03 CS2
and after 25.11.14 are CS3
given the age of the child I would say you are the long winded CS1 application but of course this date would be based on when mom applied whether this be direct payment or through CSA0 -
Right I don't know if im posting in the right place but I am just looking for advise and answers really!my partner has a child with his ex and he pays for her through the CSA,we have just had our own baby and I was wondering as Iv been told that if u have another child the maintanance for the first child gets reduced does anyone no if this is correct? Also does it have any affect that she has a new partner living with her?0
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Hairdresser123 wrote: »Right I don't know if im posting in the right place but I am just looking for advise and answers really!my partner has a child with his ex and he pays for her through the CSA,we have just had our own baby and I was wondering as Iv been told that if u have another child the maintanance for the first child gets reduced does anyone no if this is correct? Also does it have any affect that she has a new partner living with her?
Depends what scheme your partner is on. The 2003 scheme does allow a discount for children living in the NRP household, however, if you are claiming tax credits then these can now be used as income when assessing the CM so its swings and roundabouts.
No affect whatsoever that the PWC has a new partner who lives with her. Him being there does not negate your partners moral and legal obligation to financially support their child.0
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