CSA payments once a child reaches 16

fountainpen

Hi , can anyone tell me the law regarding once a child is 16 ?
I realise if they go to college you still pay til they are 18. However I have heard the "Carers" element stops when they are 16 ? Also can you pay the child direct ?
The PWC will not agree to the child being paid direct however i would rather the child recieves it .

kelloggs36

You can't insist on that - the money is for the PWC to spend on the child's needs - food, clothing, school trips, uniforms etc. If you pay the child direct then it won't count as maintenance and you would be liable to pay twice.

CSA_Help

fountainpen wrote: »

Hi , can anyone tell me the law regarding once a child is 16 ?
I realise if they go to college you still pay til they are 18. However I have heard the "Carers" element stops when they are 16 ? Also can you pay the child direct ?
The PWC will not agree to the child being paid direct however i would rather the child recieves it .

Fountainpen
Contact the CSA re carers allowance as it isn't automatically taken off .I did as soon as mines was 16 .

fountainpen

CSA_Help wrote: »

Fountainpen
Contact the CSA re carers allowance as it isn't automatically taken off .I did as soon as mines was 16 .

We are on the old rules CSA1 .The PWC accepts the payment but wants the payments direct to her .We dont pay through CSA ( she does not want us to pay through them) .

Ive been trying to work out what we should be paying as Ive heard that the carers element is reduced once the child is 16 .The child will be going to college so is the carers element still removed ?
Also anyone know regarding paying the child direct once they hit 16.

Donedoingdebt

The CSA will not accept paying the child direct at any age.

If you currently have an open CSA case & start paying the child direct then you are liable to be building up arrears as the CSA will disregard these payments as child maintenance.

And, sorry to sound depressing, but liability whilst the child is in further education remains until they're 19 & this is possibly/probably going to be raised to 20 in the next year or 2.

If you have no CSA case currently open, then the NRP & PWC can make whatever arrangements that suits them, even paying the child direct if that is acceptable to all parties.

fountainpen

Donedoingdebt wrote: »

The CSA will not accept paying the child direct at any age.

If you currently have an open CSA case & start paying the child direct then you are liable to be building up arrears as the CSA will disregard these payments as child maintenance.

The case has been open for years the CSA know we pay the parent with care direct , they said they will just sit on the backburner and will only get involved if no payment is made.
However due to having them on the back burner etc they never reassess our circumstances have changed etc and will change once the child is 16.

shell_542

fountainpen wrote: »

The case has been open for years the CSA know we pay the parent with care direct , they said they will just sit on the backburner and will only get involved if no payment is made.
However due to having them on the back burner etc they never reassess our circumstances have changed etc and will change once the child is 16.

Your best bet is to take up Kelloggs kind offer of having a look at your details and to see how much you should be paying ... taking into account all changes of circumstances and then if it is worth your while, asking the CSA for a reassessment. I believe they will give you a figure if you ask them and then they will be happy for you to continue paying the PWC direct But as you have a case open with them, they should still do a reassessment if you ask.

(Yes, how awful to suggest only changing the payment if it decreases blah blah blah ... but if an NRP would struggle with an increase and the PWC is happy with the current amount, I don't see the problem)

fountainpen

thanks if you could point me in the direction of kellogs

shell_542

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2188327

Post #2

pd001

fountainpen wrote: »

thanks if you could point me in the direction of kellogs

See post 2 on this thread

Click on kelloggs36 name in the left hand pane and then pm her if you wish. (all this assumes that you are logged into MSE)

edit 8.37pm...my post crossed with the above post