Cant afford to work!

KimYeovil

If you are a single person who is working then you should not be paying £20 per week for gas and electricity. That's enough for a whole month. Stop wasting energy.

Why do you need to spend money on bus fares?

Walk to work and wear jumpers. That'll give you more than £100 per month to feed and entertain yourself.

Oldernotwiser

Your utility charges are high for a 1 bedroom flat but, apart from that, it looks as if you're going to have to take a second job for a year, until the arrears are paid back. At least you should be able to manage once this is over. In addition, you may gain some new skills to enable you to get a better job.

karenx

KimYeovil wrote: »

If you are a single person who is working then you should not be paying £20 per week for gas and electricity. That's enough for a whole month. Stop wasting energy.

Why do you need to spend money on bus fares?

Walk to work and wear jumpers. That'll give you more than £100 per month to feed and entertain yourself.

Or sign up to freecycle and see if he can get himself a pushbike!

Snakeeyes21

why didnt you put money aside whilst the CSA done their calculations? then you wouldnt have had the years worth of back payments to pay off.
wasnt you paying for your childs upkeep whilst you were awaiting the outcome?
why do people feel the need for a government body to decide what they pay and when they pay it? surely the CSA wouldnt have even got involved if you had come to some kind of agreement with your ex to pay what you could afford each week.

shell_542

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

why didnt you put money aside whilst the CSA done their calculations? then you wouldnt have had the years worth of back payments to pay off. The OP has already been brought up on that and explained.

wasnt you paying for your childs upkeep whilst you were awaiting the outcome?
why do people feel the need for a government body to decide what they pay and when they pay it? If an NRP pays directly to the PWC while the CSA are assessing him, they don't have to count it towards arrears. If the PWC denies she received it, they will go with her and they can also pass some of it off as a "gift".

surely the CSA wouldnt have even got involved if you had come to some kind of agreement with your ex to pay what you could afford each week. Sorry, but that is plain bull shine. The CSA do not only get involved if an NRP is non compliant. Many NRPs have been paying a private agreement for donkeys years and the PWC contacts the CSA out of the blue. Not always is it because the NRP is avoiding paying.

Semiskimmed : at the moment you are paying 25% of your income to the CSA. When you have cleared your arrears, you will then pay 15% of your income to them. That will, at the most, save you £20 a week. Will that be enough for you to live on? It doesn't sound it to me It sounds like you need to try and find a way of reducing your outgoings or increasing your incomes when factoring in the CSA or not.

£192 a week divided by minimum wage is approx 33 hours a week (not factoring in any unpaid breaks you might have). Could you increase your hours at all?

sammyjammy

Can you speak to the council about your council tax arrears, you seem to be paying twice what I pay for a Band A property, is half of what you're paying arrears? Tell them you can't pay that much back and get it reduced.

[Deleted User]

786 wrote: »

If you are on good terms with your employer, try to go self employed - either as a sole trader or through a limited company. Limited company is more likely to be acceptable to an employer - they will be afraid of getting hit for PAYE/NI otherwise.

Otherwise, extra bar / taxi driving / delivery work.

If none of these, better off on dole.

Bad situation - whatever happens, please write to your MP and maybe Ian Duncan Smith.

Are you advocating self employment as a possible way to avoid CSA? if so then <shakes head>
and what on earth has iain duncan smith got to do with this?hes an ex leader of the opposition

Caz3121

I have seen this
Those with an income of less than £200 per week pay reduced rates. (which I assume is less than the 15%)
OP do you know what your actual assessment is and how much is arrears? do you have your child overnight at all?

786

woodbine wrote: »

Are you advocating self employment as a possible way to avoid CSA? if so then <shakes head>
and what on earth has iain duncan smith got to do with this?hes an ex leader of the opposition

I have not suggested anything illegal.

The OP has £1 per week for food.

With self employment he cannot have 40% of his money taken by a DEO. Payment of a LO has to go before a judge and means are properly taken into account - the CSA would literally let you starve to death or be thrown out onto the street.

IDS has been looking at the benefit system and the poverty trap - a 40% DEO is some poverty trap.

kingfisherblue

Caz3121 is correct - a different formula is used to ascertain the amount of CM to be paid if the NRP wages are less than £200 a week. My ex paid £37 a week from his wages of £182 - this was for three children. Now that my daughter is no longer classed as a dependant, the amount is being adjusted to £30 a week for two children. There has been no reduction for the children staying with him, as such an occasion is rare, although he sees them weekly.

My ex also has arrears. On the letters from the CSA, it clearly states how much of each payment is regular CM and how much is arrears.