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miffie_77

My partner has been paying £5 per week from his JSA since the claim began back in 2008. He has one child. He lives with me and my two daughters (aged 14 and 11) and we have a baby due in Feb.
He started work in June (full time £12000 per year) so phoned CSA straight away so no arrears built up. They were not interested until he had 2 months wage slips. So we put by £25 per week in a bank account ready for when they started taking payments so we woueldnt be behind. We got this figure from the csa calculator online.

Called them up today and they started on about arrears from when he was on JSA which they would be claiming for. What are these arrears, they were taking £5 a week the whole time, which im sure they shouldnt have been becaus we have 2 children at home, but anyway, there should be no money owed from that time. My partner is wprried that now he is working, they will want him to pay extra from when he was on benefits, but this doesnt make sense.

He made a good will payment of £100 over the phone and all they said was they would get in touch with payment amoiunts and arrears amounts, but to expect to pay 20% of wages which would be £40 per week. We barely scrape by as it is, how can we afford that amount! am so scared and i dont need all this when i am pregnant, all we wanted to do was the right thing and pay for his daughter!

Why did the online calculator tell us a different amount? it said £24 per week which is fine by us, and is affordable, but if they are going to ask for more then my other half will have to leave work, which he doesnt want to do. Honestly, you try and work for a living and you get screwed over!
Sorry for babbling, just so so worried:(

PlayingHardball

You should ask the CSA for a written break down of the arrears and the assessment, in order to determine if they have made a mistake.

Can I just ask though, why, when your partner is just getting back on his feet after 2 years of being on IS, has he decided it would be a good time to have another child? Especially if he can't afford the one he already has?

Would he really quit his job and go back on IS if the CSA want £15 per week more then he thought he would have to pay? What would that solve, and how would that help the children?

PlayingHardball

There are some regular posters that can answer your questions regarding the amount he paid whilst on income support.

Did your partner live with you all the time he claimed IS? If so, did he tell them there were children in his household?

romanempire

At the very least follow-up all phone calls with your requests in writing (sent recorded delivery) and insist you get the answers in writing.

A regular recurring theme is how both NRP's and PWC's are told several different stories over several phone calls. then they get screwed by the CSA.

If they tell you verbally then the conversation never happened. If they tell you in writing it gets recorded on their system and they have a much harder time denying it.

R.

romanempire

And apply for his Data Protection file ASAP.

R.

welshmoneylover

miffie_77 wrote: »

My partner has been paying £5 per week from his JSA since the claim began back in 2008. He has one child. He lives with me and my two daughters (aged 14 and 11) and we have a baby due in Feb.
He started work in June (full time £12000 per year) so phoned CSA straight away so no arrears built up. They were not interested until he had 2 months wage slips. So we put by £25 per week in a bank account ready for when they started taking payments so we woueldnt be behind. We got this figure from the csa calculator online.

Called them up today and they started on about arrears from when he was on JSA which they would be claiming for. What are these arrears, they were taking £5 a week the whole time, which im sure they shouldnt have been becaus we have 2 children at home, but anyway, there should be no money owed from that time. My partner is wprried that now he is working, they will want him to pay extra from when he was on benefits, but this doesnt make sense.

He made a good will payment of £100 over the phone and all they said was they would get in touch with payment amoiunts and arrears amounts, but to expect to pay 20% of wages which would be £40 per week. We barely scrape by as it is, how can we afford that amount! am so scared and i dont need all this when i am pregnant, all we wanted to do was the right thing and pay for his daughter!

Why did the online calculator tell us a different amount? it said £24 per week which is fine by us, and is affordable, but if they are going to ask for more then my other half will have to leave work, which he doesnt want to do. Honestly, you try and work for a living and you get screwed over!
Sorry for babbling, just so so worried:(

Why are you adding to your family when you can hardly afford the 3 you've got now?

£25 is far too little amount to pay in maintenance, I think the figure is going to be about £40-£50 a week and this should be an absolute minimum imho.

kelloggs36

If CS2, then you need to calculate 20% in the first instance, then take this off the net income and calculate 15% of what is left. When your new baby is born, it will be work out 25% of net income, take this off his net income and then 15% of the rest.

You need to get a breakdown of where the arrears have come from - get the DPA prints too, to establish the date the CSA became aware of your partner's JSA claim (incase there was a delay for any reason). If they were notified immediately, then no arrears should have accrued, but maybe there were some from before this?

miffie_77

Thankyou for all your advice, will get all the info in writing as we have had several different stories from different phone calls.

As for us planning another child when we are struggling to pay the csa...I had been told i could not have any more children by a consultant at the hospital so this isnt exactly a planned situation. I dont think OH would quit his job, he was just in a bit of a panic about what was going on, especially as its taken so long to get a job over here!

Marisco

Welsh, £25 a week might not be much to you, but to someone on a low income (which £12,000pa is) it's is! £40 or £50 is daft on those wages, what are they suppose to live on? And why are people assuming the pregnancy was planned? Accidents do happen;)

Caz3121

they will also include any working tax credits and child tax credits in the income so it is likely to be around £40 per week if not more

kelloggs36

Ah yes, forgot to add those!