Can i claim csa although still live together?

fannyanna wrote: »

So if I'm correct the CSA work out that our child has £40 a month whereas the PWC has £360

I’m going to break the mould and not completely slate you!

The bit I have highlighted above is what I believe is making you have a sense of injustice. I think if you perhaps saw it from a different perspective you’d feel better about the situation.

Using the figures already helpfully provided by other posters try to look at it like this….

Your Husband currently takes home £2,667. He is liable to pay 15% maintenance for his first child which works out to be £400.

If you and your Husband were to have a child together the first 15% of his income would be solely for your child (£400). Child maintenance could then only be worked out on the remaining £2,267 (£340).

If you look at it like that you’ll see that your child’s “value” is £400 and the “value” of this other child is £340. You need to focus on these amounts rather than the £60 drop or you’ll drive yourself mental.

I hope that helps.

so...a single mum who worries about the impact of moving in with a new partner on her income is told her new partner should accept her and her children as a package and that if she doesn't live with the new chap, she's more than likely committing benefit fraud but this woman, who has, without any shame, admitted to being willing to commit fraud (because that is exactly what it is) for the sake of...£40 a month is OK to feel that way and is doing nothing wrong other than perhaps reading the figures the wrong way 'cos her children will always be worth more anyway?

seriously? you wonder why there are PWC out there who struggle letting their children be a member of such a household?

so...a single mum who worries about the impact of moving in with a new partner on her income is told her new partner should accept her and her children as a package and that if she doesn't live with the new chap, she's more than likely committing benefit fraud but

I’m going to ignore this part as it’s clearly directed at someone else on the basis that I have not expressed such views.


is OK to feel that way and is doing nothing wrong other than perhaps reading the figures the wrong way 'cos her children will always be worth more anyway?

Firstly I’m not dictating to the OP what she should and should not be feeling. I was merely trying to help her see things from an alternative point of view. One, which in my opinion, might have resulted in her feeling differently about the situation.

Look at this from a long-term perspective. Which option do you think is most preferential?

• OP feels a sense of injustice. She is berated by people and told she is a bad person. What do you expect to happen next? I can imagine that she will feel even more resentful which in the long term will not do her, her Husband or this child any good.
• OP feels a sense of injustice. OP is helped to look at the situation from a different perspective and is able to be comfortable with the situation. This helps to break down any resentment which she may have and in the long term benefits her, her Husband and the child.

On a final note, it’s interesting that you seem to have taken exception to my post and in particular the part that highlights to the OP the fact that the CSA would ring-fence £400 for her child. Although it appears that it was apparently fine for PreludeForTimeFeelers to state the exact same thing…..

(this means the Csa would value the child living with you as costing £400 per month, and your husbands other child as £340 per month, something to bear in mind)

'Disgusting' is the only word I can think of!

fannyanna wrote: »

so...a single mum who worries about the impact of moving in with a new partner on her income is told her new partner should accept her and her children as a package and that if she doesn't live with the new chap, she's more than likely committing benefit fraud but

I’m going to ignore this part as it’s clearly directed at someone else on the basis that I have not expressed such views.


is OK to feel that way and is doing nothing wrong other than perhaps reading the figures the wrong way 'cos her children will always be worth more anyway?

Firstly I’m not dictating to the OP what she should and should not be feeling. I was merely trying to help her see things from an alternative point of view. One, which in my opinion, might have resulted in her feeling differently about the situation.

Look at this from a long-term perspective. Which option do you think is most preferential?

• OP feels a sense of injustice. She is berated by people and told she is a bad person. What do you expect to happen next? I can imagine that she will feel even more resentful which in the long term will not do her, her Husband or this child any good.
• OP feels a sense of injustice. OP is helped to look at the situation from a different perspective and is able to be comfortable with the situation. This helps to break down any resentment which she may have and in the long term benefits her, her Husband and the child.

On a final note, it’s interesting that you seem to have taken exception to my post and in particular the part that highlights to the OP the fact that the CSA would ring-fence £400 for her child. Although it appears that it was apparently fine for PreludeForTimeFeelers to state the exact same thing…..

(this means the Csa would value the child living with you as costing £400 per month, and your husbands other child as £340 per month, something to bear in mind)

sorry Fannyanna, no, not directed at your personally. Just my frustration at the inequality that exists in these situations whereby single mums are the devil incarnate and can do no right and are always assumed to be fleecing the system/committing fraud just by looking at another man but that it appears perfectly acceptable to feel....annoyed? (don't know the right word) that your partner has to pay for his children and then look for ways around that.

As a PWC who has had an ex with a partner who went out of her way, as an accountant, to make sure my ex didn't pay any child maintenance, I find posts like this particularly unpleasant. I don't engage in game playing over contact with my ex but I can personally understand why some PWC get themselves all in a twist about sending their children into a home where a so-called adult who should care about them, is more than happy to see them go without. What is particularly galling for me is that this forum is usually a place of sensible questions and debate without the usual 'get a job' rubbish that goes on on other forums and having hung around here for far too long, never have I seen anything quite so....forward? It may well be a genuine question on the part of the OP with some level of naiviety (sp?) thrown in as well but even with the benefit of the doubt it's..well, she's got a nerve! As you say, hopefully we've changed her mind.

I like to think I can offer impartial opinions, as I'm not an NRP/PWC.