CSA Help

dalsicle

Hi,
I know absolutely nothing about CSA but could really do with some advice.

My partner and his wife split up a year ago when she had an affair and left him for the other man.

They had four children together and she has two children from a previous relationship.

There was no arrangement in place for payment for the children and it was agreed that she didn't want him to give her anything, although this was verbal only. When we met he had the children overnight once a week and at least 3 days a week after school for a few hours as well as all day Saturdays.

He has since moved in with me and the house isn't big enough for the children to sleep here so they haven't stayed overnight for a few months (although we are looking for a bigger place and are hoping to move in the next few weeks so they can stay more).

His ex has changed access hours and continually changes her mind last minute but we generally have them after school twice a week and all day Saturdays. On these days we pay for their meals (she rarely even gives them breakfast before we have them in the morning) she doesn't send them in adequate clothing and refuses to let us keep some clothes and toys here so we are slowly building up our own stock of these essentials.

Although no arrangement has been made he has given her money on several occasions.

He is not trying to get away from his responsibilities and we both fully understand why CSA is needed but we spend about the same amount on the children as his ex does and by this I don't mean buying presents for them I'm talking about covering costs of essentials.

He has had no warning but today £75 was taken from his pay, this is the first we know about his ex even asking for money. We don't earn enough to be able to afford to pay this every week especially as we are looking for a bigger place to provide more for the children. Can someone please explain how this could've happened?
All the calculations I do online say he should be paying either £37 or $43 a week.

Should it also be taken into consideration that his ex hasn't worked for 10 years so he was the sole provider for the family and when they split he let her take everything so the children wouldn't suffer. Surely ten years of supporting her, their four children and her two children should be taken into account.

can somebody please explain this to me as I'm going around in circles looking at csa website

CSA_Help

I take it he hasn't had a maintenance assesment form

dalsicle

No we've had nothing, the first we knew of anything were the kids telling us the their mother told them she was going to get half his pay, that was on Saturday, we thought they had misheard a conversation but it makes sense now.

Is there anything we can do about this? Surely he should have had a letter telling him how much he needs to pay and when payments would start? As I said we don't mind making some contribution but we will not only not be able to afford a bigger place but will lose the house we've got now if he has to pay that much.

We don't even have a reference number or contact number, just money taken out of his pay with no explanation.

CSA_Help

dalsicle wrote: »

No we've had nothing, the first we knew of anything were the kids telling us the their mother told them she was going to get half his pay, that was on Saturday, we thought they had misheard a conversation but it makes sense now.

Is there anything we can do about this? Surely he should have had a letter telling him how much he needs to pay and when payments would start? As I said we don't mind making some contribution but we will not only not be able to afford a bigger place but will lose the house we've got now if he has to pay that much.

We don't even have a reference number or contact number, just money taken out of his pay with no explanation.

Doesn't make sense to me as surely they would need to contact you so there is a case .What office is dealing with your case (if you know) .I would maybe go to your MP also .Hopefully someone else will be along soon .
Maybe his ex has furnished them with information ???

dalsicle

CSA_Help wrote: »

Doesn't make sense to me as surely they would need to contact you so there is a case .What office is dealing with your case (if you know) .I would maybe go to your MP also .Hopefully someone else will be along soon .
Maybe his ex has furnished them with information ???

That's what's worrying us, we know nothing about this, she has said in the past she's going to make a claim but it's been empty threats for a year. We don't know what office is dealing with it and can't find out anything until my partner gets to work tomorrow to chase it with HR. From what I've read tonight we should've had a form sent to us and then arrangements made from there.
I don't understand how money can be taken from his pay with no warning, that money was needed for bills and is now leaving us in debt for this week with no time to get any other money.

CSA_Help

dalsicle wrote: »

That's what's worrying us, we know nothing about this, she has said in the past she's going to make a claim but it's been empty threats for a year. We don't know what office is dealing with it and can't find out anything until my partner gets to work tomorrow to chase it with HR. From what I've read tonight we should've had a form sent to us and then arrangements made from there.
I don't understand how money can be taken from his pay with no warning, that money was needed for bills and is now leaving us in debt for this week with no time to get any other money.

I take it all his personal stuff like payslips bank statement goes to your house .I can't understand how they just dip into your partners wages without even a warning letter at least .Get your partner to call the national number and quote his NI number to them and ask them what the story is .I would maybe seek help from your MP as well .

Nacsa would be a good help later on but as you have no correspondance there is nothing to help you with if you know what i mean .

Sorry i can't help you more just now but don't let them drag you down .

kelloggs36

\but the past is irrelevant so the fact that he supported them for years won't be taken into account.

shell_542

kelloggs36 wrote: »

\but the past is irrelevant so the fact that he supported them for years won't be taken into account.

That's true ... but it's not really the problem here though is it? It's more the fact that the CSA are asking his employer to take money out of his wages without his knowledge. It's quite a scary prospect for any NRP. Are they allowed to do this Kelloggs? Do you know?

I know if my husband suddenly started having £75x4 taken out of his monthly wages without us even knowing, we would be right royally screwed. No warning to try and sort out our financial situation. Plain and simply the bills would be paid as they come out the first few days of the month but me, my husband and MY (and my husband's other) 2 children would have no money to buy food for the month. That cannot be right. What about our children? Another example of the children in the NRP's household not mattering.

Has your partner spoken to the CSA? They might have taken a while to sort out the Detachment of Earnings on his wages so he has racked up some arrears in the meantime and they are trying to take it back in the shortest time possible. As he has a DOE already attached I would say he needs to ring the CSA immediately, find out what the hell is going on and then if they wont correct it straight away, he needs to get onto his local MP to complain on his behalf and also look into NACSA. They might be able to help.

HRV

It does sound dodgy to be honest but really, your with a man with 4 kids, you will have to get used to them taking it.

It makes no difference what was done in the past, my OH was left with 50k of depts his ran up over 10 yrs, after supporting the family when she gave up work to lookafter the kids, then her having an affair whilst pregnant with the youngest:mad::eek::mad:.
We now pay 460 quid a month to her, despite having the kids 8- 10 days a month. You will get a discount for the nights you have them though I think 1/7 for every 50 nights or something) and some discount for other kids who live with you (if you have any)

He had to sell the house to pay her off, so now here we are starting again!!!
We have to rent a house, as the flat I own isn't big enough for them to stay (at a cost of 300 more than the mortgage on my flat!)

We also have to buy clothes and shoes as they are regularly sent in shoes that don't fit or aren't appropriate for the weather.

Sadly if you want to do the best buy the kids you do end up putting alot of extra cash in- I try to look at with the view that when they are older they will understand how hard me and their dad worked for them.

CSA_Debt_Bod

Hi dalsicle,

The CSA will have tried to contact your partner several times before resorting to a DEO. I would imagine that all the letters concerning the case opening, income inquiry forms, requests for payment etc went to another address that they have for your partner (perhaps provided by the PWC) - probably the address he lived at before he moved in with you? As your partner didn't respond to maintenance enquiry forms to provide details of his earnings/outgoings, a penalty assessment (Interim Maintenance Assessment or IMA) was most likely put in place and this is why so much is being taken from his wages.

He needs to ring the CSA and ask them what address they hold for him, and give them his correct address. He should tell them that he hasn't received any notification that he has a case, and ask if the DEO can be reduced to the lowest amount possible (they could possibly put a hold on collecting the arrears temporarily) while his assessment is corrected so that it more accurately reflects his circumstances.

CSA_Help

CSA_Debt_Bod wrote: »

Hi dalsicle,

The CSA will have tried to contact your partner several times before resorting to a DEO. I would imagine that all the letters concerning the case opening, income inquiry forms, requests for payment etc went to another address that they have for your partner (perhaps provided by the PWC) - probably the address he lived at before he moved in with you? As your partner didn't respond to maintenance enquiry forms to provide details of his earnings/outgoings, a penalty assessment (Interim Maintenance Assessment or IMA) was most likely put in place and this is why so much is being taken from his wages.

He needs to ring the CSA and ask them what address they hold for him, and give them his correct address. He should tell them that he hasn't received any notification that he has a case, and ask if the DEO can be reduced to the lowest amount possible (they could possibly put a hold on collecting the arrears temporarily) while his assessment is corrected so that it more accurately reflects his circumstances.

Good point they don't have a confident address for him .They should have got that through his employer as obviously they managed to track him down there .
Possibly another CSA mistake :rolleyes: