Why does he have to pay more?!

highlandgurl

My OH pays CSA for two of his children. We recently queried with them why he was still paying for his son as he had turned 16 in feb and was now claiming benefits in his own name due to illness.

My OH got a letter from the CSA yesterday which shows new calculations which appear to just be for one child (half previous amount of maintenance needed and less CB for one child rather than two) but somehow his weekly cost has gone up by £5 a week.

We had thought he was on CSA2 but maybe not as surely if this was the case then his payments would just have dropped from 20% of his wage to 15%. The amount he pays is more than this though.

He does have arrears but they are seperate from these amounts.

So:

1) Any ideas why his maintenance has gone up when paying for one child instead of two?

2) Also he has housing costs taken off his income but we have no idea how these are calculated as he was never asked for any details of mortgage/bills/etc and they are not accurate.

3) Anyone have a local rate number for CSA Falkirk office instead of the high cost numbers they put on their letters?

Many thanks.

stressed_eric_4

maybe they've used current wages but the old mortgage/council tax info, it should all show on your calculations, i know that sometimes even if a calcuation drops from 2 children to 1 the payments don't change as it is to do with protected income and what's left over, sometimes the nrp isn't paying what the full csa calculation should be - this is for csa 1, eg only paying £50 when they should pay £150 but if a child drops out of the equation the £50 is still the max payable but the should pay would drop. if it is csa 1 you are best speaking to kellogs, if it's csa 2 they don't take into account any housing costs etc it is just a basic 15/20/25 % whereas csa 1 is more complicated. sorry i can't help more

stressed_eric_4

again if it is csa 2 and his wages have gone up this may be another factor, you should be able to work out which it is by the calculations they've sent you if they mention net wage 15% you know its csa 2 it they do into carers premiums/ housing costs etc then its csa 1.

maybe with the arrears they have changed the frequency of repayments to recover them sooner??

Loopy_Girl

When did the case start or when did him and ex split up - just so we can establish whether it's CSA1 or 2.

Direct line number for Falkirk is 01324 625758

highlandgurl

Ah ok must be CSA1 then as there is mention of carers premium/housing costs/etc. The case was originally started when him and ex split about 11 years ago but he only worked part time then and on low wage so was told not to pay anything. They had an informal agreement where he would buy clothes,etc as kids needed them. She contacted CSA again late 2007 and he was assessed from then. His wages have not changed since then although he is a tradesman and has been in and out of work since end of 2008 due to recession.

kelloggs36

It depends on the protected income figures and it looks like they have used out of date housing costs - you can get them updated by requesting another change of circumstances and send in the housing costs. If you want, you can PM me with the details of the breakdown and I will let you know what they have done.