Reassesment on CSA.

watsonnicole1

Hi All,

Looking for some general help.

My partner has 2 children to his ex wife (14&16) & he has been paying CSA via deduction of wages for the past 4 years with no problems (bar some CSA errors here & there) We normally have them both 2 nights a week.. Once during the week & once at the weekend.

Anywho.. As his 2 son's are teenagers they are getting bored coming here twice a week and are getting lives of their own and don't always want to come round so it has been averaging out at 1 day per week really for the past few months.. Some weeks they come twice and one week they may not come at all.

Compiled with this myself and my partner have recently had a baby (25th Aug) We wasn't going to bother going through all the hassle of telling the CSA etc as they cannot seem to do anything without lots of stress, However we had a letter through today from the CSA saying they want conformation of how many nights they stay and also to be reassessed by sending in his Payslips etc. His ex wife has called them moaning that she wants more money which has really hacked us off.. Baring in mind she is a LOT better off then us. She is about to remarry works fulltime, Her partner works fulltime and doesn't pay anything towards his own 2 kids as his ex wife refuses help from him for whatever reason.

Our circumstances have obviously changed with the baby, them only staying once a week and also my partners wages are changing from 4 weekly to monthly which is just going to probably cause one big mess with the CSA as his work are easing into the change and he will be paid normally on the 10th Sept but then again in 3 weeks and then not untill 5.5 weeks and then again 5 weeks after.

In light of all these changes can we ask to be reassed using the new guildlines? Will it help us out any? I.e us being better off? After my maternity stops I will not be returning back to work for a while (maybe taking a year out)

I have read previous posts that we should be getting some kind of reduction now in light that the 2 children are over 14 (carers something?)

At the moment based on my partners salary of approx £40k and the 2 kids being here twice a week we pay £339 every 4 weeks.

Sorry it's such a long post.. I'm just trying to gather as much info as possible before we send all the payslips etc.

Many Thanks

Caz3121

If they are staying 1 night per week instead of 2 then this reduces the discount to 1/7th from 2/7ths however there is a 15% allowance for your child first

example
£2500 take home 2 children staying 2 nights per week (no discount for new child)
2500*20%*5/7ths = £357 per calendar month

£2500 take home 2 children staying 1 night per week, new child in family
(2500-15%)*20%*6/7ths = £364 per calendar month

the mothers circumstances and your circumstances do not come into it (assuming this is CSA2) If CSA1 then it is a completely different ball game (carers allowance etc)

kelloggs36

Please confirm if this is a CS1 or a CS2 case - you say he has been paying for 4 years, but is the case that old or older?

watsonnicole1

Hello,

Thank You for your replies so far,

Currently we are on the old plan is that CSA2?

We are wondering if we are going to be reassed under the new guildelines automatically. I know the 'carer's allowance' is not discounted down at the moment as we asked when we called them y'day and we were told we would need to wait untill the switch over, Or until its confirmed our circumstances have changed, But will it be worth asking/seeing if he can be switched over due to the change in circumstances?

Also, 1 other question.. What will happen that we have not yet claimed CHB? & when I fill in the form it will be in my name not my partners, Will that matter.. Do I HAVE to claim it.. Or is it by choice? (just wondering)

Dancing_Shoes

watsonnicole1 wrote: »

Hello,

Thank You for your replies so far,

Currently we are on the old plan is that CSA2?

We are wondering if we are going to be reassed under the new guildelines automatically. I know the 'carer's allowance' is not discounted down at the moment as we asked when we called them y'day and we were told we would need to wait untill the switch over, Or until its confirmed our circumstances have changed, But will it be worth asking/seeing if he can be switched over due to the change in circumstances?

Also, 1 other question.. What will happen that we have not yet claimed CHB? & when I fill in the form it will be in my name not my partners, Will that matter.. Do I HAVE to claim it.. Or is it by choice? (just wondering)

If its the old rules then it is CS1. In terms of child benefit, if you want your child to be taken into account for calculations they need a child benefit number so I would put the claim in asap......it is for all children and there is no shame in claiming it everyone does!

Blonde_Bint

Yes but when I claimed child benefit, we got a letter within the same week telling us the CSA had upped our payments by guess what .... drum roll please thats right you guessed CSA had gone up by the exact same amount I claimed in child benefit for our child where was the benefit in that :rotfl: I wouldnt have bothered if i'd known. I remember at the time DH telling me repeatedly that it was best not to bother cos there would be a problem and he was proved right hate it when that happens.

should point out this was 10 yrs ago so things could be different now.

Dancing_Shoes

Blonde_Bint wrote: »

Yes but when I claimed child benefit, we got a letter within the same week telling us the CSA had upped our payments by guess what .... drum roll please thats right you guessed CSA had gone up by the exact same amount I claimed in child benefit for our child where was the benefit in that :rotfl: I wouldnt have bothered if i'd known. I remember at the time DH telling me repeatedly that it was best not to bother cos there would be a problem and he was proved right hate it when that happens.

should point out this was 10 yrs ago so things could be different now.

That is awful!!! Child benefit is for the benefit of the children it is claimed for....how did the pwc sleep at night knowing she was claiming off your children???

watsonnicole1

Blonde_Bint wrote: »

Yes but when I claimed child benefit, we got a letter within the same week telling us the CSA had upped our payments by guess what .... drum roll please thats right you guessed CSA had gone up by the exact same amount I claimed in child benefit for our child where was the benefit in that :rotfl: I wouldnt have bothered if i'd known. I remember at the time DH telling me repeatedly that it was best not to bother cos there would be a problem and he was proved right hate it when that happens.

should point out this was 10 yrs ago so things could be different now.

:eek::eek: OMG! That is shocking. This was part of the reason why I was wondering what the point in doing it was as I have heard this before from a friend that their payment went up by £17 a mth b'cuz of CHB and the £20 they got CTC. :eek:

I'm not sure if I can just not bother claiming it and supply CSA with just babies Birth cert?

Dancing_Shoes

They need the child benefit numbers to input into their computers so that it takes them into account......unless you go clerical:eek::eek:

kelloggs36

Also, child benefit is only used to work out the total household income, it is not used in the net income of the NRP to calculate what 'should' be paid (what is called the notional assessment). Under CS1 any children which belong to the NRP and new partner will be given an allowance of either 100% (if NRP partner doesn't work, or earns very little) or 50% of the child rate for income support (about £55 per week at 100%), plus they will get again 100% or 50% of the family premium which is about £17. This is deducted from the net income figure for the NRP and therefore the assessable income is lower.

You will NOT be assessed under the new rules - you have had a change in circumstances but not the ones relevant to switching the case over to CS2. If you have the last assessment or your current details available, I will happily do an assessment for you?

watsonnicole1

Kellogs - If you could that would be great.. What do you need to know?

Partner called the CSA again y'day to ask if they wanted to wait for the reassement for when he gets confirmation of his monthly pay but they said no, It would just change again.. He asked if he would be reassed under the new guildlines (for the reduction on carer's allowance) and they said yes?!