Dont see why i should pay maintenance through csa !

DAREDEVIL78

hi , i am wanting advice please , i pay maintenance through the csa on the old rule system, i have a daughter but i split up with her mother , when i left i gave my ex a respectable amount of money weekly (£50) for our daughters upbringing but because she wanted more she went to csa anyway.
I was responsible from the word go given the situation but feel its unfair on me to be put through the csa when i never wanted to , money signs in my ex's eyes made her go through csa.
can i request to the csa to pay via a private arrangement between me and my ex and come of the csa's records so to speak wether my ex likes it or not or is it a case of the nrp draws the short straw ... again.:mad:

AnxiousMum

At least if you pay it through the CSA, there are records of your payments. If you pay the ex directly, depending on how you pay, she can always claim non payment if she really is the money hungry type. But whether you pay her, or pay the CSA......I dont see what difference it makes as long as the payments are being made and the ex is receiving them for the child(ren).

DUTR

I honestly cannot see what is the issue with paying via the csa, the more you resist, the more you may feel resentful over the CS matters, you have to pay the monies.

PlayingHardball

Is this a case of the CSA assessment being more than the private agreement and the OP not happy with this?

If PWC wants to use the CSA, then the NRP has no option but to do so.

borders_dude

The only way to pay through a private agreement is if the PWC agrees to leave the csa, in your case that shounds like it simply isnt going to happen.

laurel7172

I think you need to think of this as having been lucky to get away with paying less than the going rate up to now. It's hardly a cause for bitterness if your ex now wants her entitlement. If she were the money grabber you're portraying she would have done it ages ago. Have you ever raised your contribution in the years you've been apart? I suspect your child is getting older, and £50 a week is not a terribly generous contribution towards the cost of running a teenager.

shell_542

Nope, an NRP cannot get a CSA case closed in favour for a private agreement without the PWC agreeing and prompting the closure of the CSA case.

We don't know how much the OP earns. £50 a week might be generous is relation to how much he earns. Just because a teenager suddenly costs more doesn't mean an NRP suddenly magics up more income from somewhere. If the child were in their household they would maybe have to budget better also including the costs associated with the child as well. They don't get that option as an NRP.

OP, there's nothing you can do though.

marksoton

laurel7172 wrote: »

I think you need to think of this as having been lucky to get away with paying less than the going rate up to now. It's hardly a cause for bitterness if your ex now wants her entitlement. If she were the money grabber you're portraying she would have done it ages ago. Have you ever raised your contribution in the years you've been apart? I suspect your child is getting older, and £50 a week is not a terribly generous contribution towards the cost of running a teenager.

Is it not ? The amount it costs to raise any child is completely subjective.

Any suggestion as to what would be an appropriate level of money ? :rolleyes:

OP, i am afraid you are stuck with the idiots. Conduct yourself properly and NEVER fail to make a payment and you might just be ok and not suffer any of their shocking " customer " service.

Blonde_Bint

Dare Devil in answer to your question YES the pwc can do what she likes you just get to live with the consequences. You cannot open or close your case only she can.

On the bright side though, if shes the type to keep throwing this in your face on and off at her whim, I would say let her go through the csa and be done with it. Its one less shovel shes got to hit you over the head with:D and once done you have proof that you have paid so she cant say you didnt pay her for a couple of months.

I'm with DUTR on this its no bad thing. we used to pay through csa and even though we were doing this our pwc still rang them up sporadically to say wages had changed chancing her luck theres always hope aint there bless her but because we were paying the most and our payments were up to date we had no problems.

Dont be tempted to stop her payments DD no matter how you feel right now (it will only bite you on the ar se not her mate) and if you think you will be assessed a bit more stick the more aside mate then you wont have to suddenly drum up an amount that you will struggle with:) Do keep on top of your payments for your own sake.

I do understand your frustration I really do but KEEP YOUR PAYMENTS UP TO DATE if you do nothing else please do this. (btw not casting aspertions on your good character or nothing please dont take offence.)

I've been reading these threads for a while now and the thing that seems to knacker up an NRP quite a lot are not keeping on top of payments and then receiving an arrears bill they didnt know they had through the post but even though they didnt know they have to pay.

And good luck:)

loobyloo0302

I feel for you, as my partners ex did exactly the same thing, even though she was recieving payments, just as she found out I was expecting our first child.

Completely agree blonde bint, its vital to make the payments as under NO circumstances will they just go away!!... but to add to that, just give it a few months after the case has been opened for the csa to decide to add a few token arrears ontop of your regular payment, just cos they feel like it

Donedoingdebt

If you're on the old rules, then I guess your case started pre-2003?

If you feel you're possibly paying too much, you're quite entitled to ask for a reassessment.

Make sure you include all your relevant outgoings such as up to date mortgage/rent payments, this years council tax bill & details of any payments into a pension, of which you'll receive an allowance of half the pension payment on CS1.

You can use any amount up to 12 months payslips as proof of earnings in case you receive irregular spikes in overtime payments over certain months & these amounts can be averaged over the given time.

Unfortunately, on CS1, you have to have the children staying with you for at least 104 nights over a year before you qualify for any kind of shared care allowance, unlike CS2 which starts at 52 nights.

As others have said previously, you're now stuck with the CSA until the children reach the age of 19 or go into advanced education, whichever comes first.