Benefit check

13Kent

We are on CSA 1.

I noticed someone on another thread mentioning that they had asked for a benefit check on the pwc.

Our pwc has 'Nil' income as far as the CSA are concerned even though both her and her husband work. This is because the last time we had a reassessment which was a couple of years ago, she was receiving Working Tax Credit, which is deemed by the CSA to be a benefit.

We know she no longer has child care for one of the children, and the youngest is old enough to qualify for a free nursery place, and will start school soon, so it is possible that she no longer has child care for that child too. Would this make a difference to the benefits she receives, and consequently to her income as far as the CSA are concerned?

So following on from that, if the CSA now deem her and her husband to have an income then would that make a difference to our assessment?

My income is considered as part of the assessment as I can contribute towards household expenses, so should that be the case for her husband too?

Before anyone gets on our case, we already feel we pay over the odds as on CSA1 we pay nearly double what we would pay if we were on CSA2, and have done so for many years, and even when we were in the UK the Pwc never shared travel costs or attempted to get the children to us or even meet us half way. My OH has had the sole responsibility and cost of what was sometimes a 4 hour round trip every other Friday and Sunday to maintain contact.

Now the pwc is denying my husband contact , despite our best efforts to see the children. We are living abroad temporarily not out of choice, but due to my OH job, and are happy to pay for flights for the children and to arrange for them to be picked up and escorted all the way here as we have done in the past.(They are teenagers, not young children). In fact we had flights and arrangements in place for one child who wanted to come to see us, but the when my OH called this week to confirm the arrangements that had been made he wasn't allowed to speak to the child and was told the child had changed their mind and didn't want to come - leaving us out of pocket with the arrangements that have already been made. - It's costing us a fortune, and now the pwc is insisting that my husband has to go back to the UK to see them - he has done this once this year already.

But considering the cost of flights, car hire and accommodation, it is cheaper for them to come to us than for him to go to them. To take the whole family to see them (our young ones are desperate to see them - they love them dearly) would be a huge expense.

So we're not trying to shirk our financial responsibilities, but would like to pay a fairer amount, particularly considering the extra costs that always seem to fall to us to pay. Any advice on our situation would be gratefully received.

Kimitatsu

If the PWC recieves working tax credits under CS1 then they are deemed to have a nil income. She does not have to be in receipt of the chilcare element of tax credits to be eligible for this just in receipt of the working tax credits part of it to be deemed to have a nil income. So even when the children go to school as long as they are eligible for this money then the asessment stands.

You can ask for a redetermination every 2 years, and they will look at the figures again, but you may not be any better off. Under CS1 they look at the available incomein your household and the contribution which could be made into the PWC's household. You can ask if they know she has a partner living with her and contributing, but all they will do is write and ask her if there is any change of circumstance, and under the data protection act, they cannot tell you how much she is getting into her household.

Unfortunately you are like us, we were never migrated to the new system either and like you our liability would be far less under CS2 than CS1, currently our PWC gets over £2000 a month between CS, and the benefit system.........

From what you have already posted I would apply for a redetermination yet, asking for a variation on the grounds of high contact costs, and see what falls out of the bottom.

HappyMJ

Well get off CSA1 then...The NRP is a foreign resident and as such it becomes very difficult to enforce a payment order against so variations in the order are so much more likely. You can use the local rules of the country you are in to get a better payment order but you'll need expert advice which can't be provided on here. So time to make a call to a solicitor....

Kimitatsu

HappyMJ wrote: »

Well get off CSA1 then...The NRP is a foreign resident and as such it becomes very difficult to enforce a payment order against so variations in the order are so much more likely. You can use the local rules of the country you are in to get a better payment order but you'll need expert advice which can't be provided on here. So time to make a call to a solicitor....

Perhaps if you could tell us all how to get off CS1 then that would be most helpful We have asked for the case to be moved only to be told that the remaining cases on CS1 will no longer be migrated due to "IT issues".

The PWC could still enforce the liability through REMO though, and that could be in this country so I dont see how this is helpful? The OP would need a specialist solicitor, both in their country and over here to be able to represent them, so they could end up losing more money.

Blackpool_Saver

sorry to but in here but do i understand this correctly, PWC on tax credits is deemed nil income, NRP on tax credits is deemed in receipt of income?

Kimitatsu

Only for CS1 - but yes and I know its not fair, but we are here to tell everyone what the rules are, rather than why they are not right :cool:

For CS2 the income of the pwc is not taken into account.

13Kent

My OH would not want to not pay towards the upkeep of his children. We still come under the jurisdiction of CSA as OH is military - if he didn't pay his dues it would be taken out of his pay at source anyway.

Blackpool saver - sorry to say that is true - tax credits are deemed to be a benefit if you are a PWC - and as you are on benefits as far as the CSa are concerned you have nil income. It is not counted as income for CSA purposes - neither is child benefit.

If you are a NRP then any tax credits and child benefit payments are added to your household income and are included as part of a CSA assessment, so the PWC not only gets their own tax credits and child benefit but is entitled to a share of the NRP's too.

Blackpool_Saver

what a hideous system, I am fortunate to be PWC not NRP.
I don't know if we are on system 1 or 2 to be honest as payments here are intermittent and sporadic at best anyway.

Kimitatsu

You can ring and ask them, even if payments are sporadic then the liability should still be there, so ask them to send the case to compliance.

kelloggs36

13Kent wrote: »

My OH would not want to not pay towards the upkeep of his children. We still come under the jurisdiction of CSA as OH is military - if he didn't pay his dues it would be taken out of his pay at source anyway.

Blackpool saver - sorry to say that is true - tax credits are deemed to be a benefit if you are a PWC - and as you are on benefits as far as the CSa are concerned you have nil income. It is not counted as income for CSA purposes - neither is child benefit.

If you are a NRP then any tax credits and child benefit payments are added to your household income and are included as part of a CSA assessment, so the PWC not only gets their own tax credits and child benefit but is entitled to a share of the NRP's too.

not strictly true as the amount payable has already been determined BEFORE these figures are added in. It just means they may be able to afford to pay the full rate if the household income is high enough, or if not, they pay LESS than the determined amount.

Does the PWC have children with her new partner? If so, then any child amount will be split between them; if not then the PWC partner details is irrelevant. This is because no money is being taken from that household, so there is no need to determine whether they can afford to pay out. However, you could apply for a variation (once an assessment shows that the PWC has an assessable income) so that the partner income can be used towards the housing costs but they can do the same to you!

13Kent

Yes they are married and have a child