Claiming travel expenses as a NRP on CSA 1

13Kent

Hi all

Our PWC has pulled another stunt. We live abroad, and we had made arrangements for my OH child to come and visit, including arranging family as an escort, booking flights, and arranging time off with the school. Every step of the way phone calls were made ..."Are you sure you are happy with the arrangements?" ..."Yes" and "you are definitely coming?" "Yes".

Now of course at the last minute we get the PWC on the phone saying that the child no longer wants to come ... and if my OH wants to see the children he will have to visit them. - That will mean a flight, a car journey (maybe hire car) some sort of accommodation, and either he sees the children for a few hours at the PWC house, or he then has to sort out some sort of accommodation for them and him. (Assuming of course that he doesn't sort out accommodation and then again at the last minute they decide not to go with him.). If we all go, then obviously the cost of flights goes up, and if we want to take his children out with us then we need to hire a big car as we need a car with extra seats as we have our own children too....so for all concerned we think its easier for them to come to us and enjoy a sunshine holiday into the bargain. - something one of the children was very keen to do right up until the last minute. (The other had decided from the start not to come, but the opportunity was given, but at least we knew before we started making arrangements).

We are happy to cover the cost of flights and other expenses for them to come to us, but for arrangements to be changed and leave us out of pocket at the last minute has made us think that if we are being coerced to make the trip to the UK where would we stand if we tried to recoup some of the costs from the CSA? We already feel we pay over the odds already, as if we were on CSA 2 we would only pay half the amount we pay at the moment on CSA 1.

Also we are wondering about applying for a change of circumstances as our mortgage costs have gone up by nearly £200. Is is likely that this would trigger a re-assessment as it's been a couple of years since this has been done? If so despite a couple of small pay rises we are wondering if we would be better off especially as the children are older and the carer's element may change.

Any advice would be appreciated from you knowledgeable people that have seen it all before! Thanks.

kelloggs36

The only way to get anything taken into account is to apply for a variation on the grounds of high contact costs. There is a weekly disregard of £15 so you will be expected to pay the equivalent of this X52 before you get anything taken into account. You need to work out the ANNUAL cost of visiting your child and submit the evidence for them to take into account. Not sure what limits they would apply though.

With regards the other query, it is a risk you need to decide whether to take or not. It is possible that if you request a change of circs that they will look at when it was last assessed and ask for full income details too; if your income hasn't risen that much since the last time, you have nothing to lose.

13Kent

Thanks for the advice Kelloggs.