Should I go to the CSA?

Kittikins

Hello, hope someone can give me a bit of advice.

I have been on my own with DD for nearly 4 years, ex husband has been paying the same sum each month (but whenever he can be bothered during the month, sometimes I have to ask him to remind him, other times he surprises me by giving me the money 'early')......anyway this sum has not increased in all this time, yet I'm sure he would have had an increase in salary, and the cost of living has certainly increased...

Anyway, DD's nursery fees increased significantly this month, but unfortunately just under the requisite £10/week that tax credits require to reassess my credits. So, I am now having to find this extra money out of thin air. I work but have a big mortgage, so between the mortgage, nursery fees and essentials I don't have this money lying around.

I asked ex for an increase to help with the fees raise, and he said "there could be a problem, I'm being taken to court by at least one of my creditors, one of them wants £200/month taken out of my salary", so he's now giving me what he says he can afford but

I'm worried that if this happens, and/or he gets made bankrupt, he won't be able to pay anything.

I don't know much about the CSA and didn't get them involved when he left as I didn't want any more stress in my life; he was paying, my solicitor advised me not to have a financial order through the courts if I was happy with the informal arrangement we had in place, so I left things as they are.

By going to the CSA, will this mean that his support for his daughter will always be taken into account by courts trying to assess his debt situation?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Donedoingdebt

If he gets made bankrupt, this should not affect his child maintenance responsibility.
In theory, if he's made bankrupt, then his debts & therefore, his monthly payments to creditors will cease to exist. This should leave him with more money available.
That is quite an over simplistic view of bankruptsy I know, but the theory is sound!
If he gets assessed by the CSA or CMEC, then they will assess him purely on his income & disregard any other outgoings.
He may get a CCJ awarded against him for the £200 per month that his creditor is asking for & obviously this will make things more difficult for him, but as I stated earlier, the CSA will disregard this & treat child maintenance as a priority payment.

Kittikins

Thanks donedoingdebt, I suppose it sounds like I should go to the CSA (what's CMEC? think I need to do some research....gulp).

slim1982

dont wanna put you off but csa are usless bin waiting years to get my ex to pay and still no joy

Donedoingdebt

Kittikins wrote: »

(what's CMEC? think I need to do some research....gulp).

CHILD MAINTENANCE ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION.
This is the new body that is currently taking over from the CSA.

gratefulforhelp_2

If you go to the CSA be prepared for a full time job, ringing them and checking up on them, asking to speak to their line managers, and generally doing their jobs for them. That said, after six years of my ex paying what he felt like, they have nailed him and got a deduction of earnings order. A case of them using a DEO in the RIGHT circumstance. I should say he has NEVER exceeded their assessed amount, and if your ex does, then maybe it needs more thought. Good luck.

markeymark

as stated previously if you can, avoid the csa!

Merry_Gentry

Hi Kittikins

If your ex is bankrupt, he will have to do a SOA for his official receiver. From this, they will calculate whether or not he will pay a certain amount towards his bankruptcy. However, all of his income will in effect become his, so he should be in a better position to pay you maintenance than he is currently. As long as he puts down that he pays child support as part of his SOA, there should be no problems with him continuing to pay you.

As previously mentioned, if you can make a sensible private arrangement, and both of you stick to it, that is far far better than involving the CSA.

HTHs

tamsin1982

has he not shown the creditor his incomings vs outgoings, I didnt think they could take action if you were willing to pay a reasonable amount?

anyway just wanted to say the csa arnt all bad, (hope I havent spoke too soon!!) I asked for a reassment on 13th Jan, they sent ex a letter, he ignored and they contacted his employers last week, theyve stuck to all the timescales theyve said and called me back when said. I think the problem with boards like this is the majority of people come here looking for advice because they are having a bad experience with the csa, if its all ticking along ok then you have no need to look for help :rolleyes:
I would try for private arrangement first tho

jacklink

how much extra are you having to find out of freash air when 80% of childcare is paid for ?

seriously i would give a wide berth of csa of what could only be a few quid, better to discuss with your ex to go halfs than go down the wrong route.

sprogs

I have just put an application into the CSA as ex is being very sporadic with his payments meaning sometimes I can't pay the bills on time. We had an informal agreement which had been fine for the past few years, but like OP no increase in what he paid despite him getting a promotion. For the sake of an easy life I just left it.

I was very wary because of the bad press the CSA have had but decided that ultimately he is in employment so how hard could it be for them to deal with. What really made me decide to go down this route is that they have the ability to chase him for any arrears, with an informal arrangement if he doesn't pay then nothing can be done.

I did my application online on Friday and phoned them this morning - they were very helpful but the systems are down! the lady I spoke to suggested I call back later today or tomorrow and do an application over the phone, that way I will get the name of the person and an extension number so I can chase them if I want to.

Happy to update with my progress if anyone is interested!