CSA help needed urgent.

flufff

Ive had a phonecall today from my sons father.My son is special needs and receives DLA is claim is just up for renewal now.
I was told as I have no family the CSA werent going to pursue him as it is only support I get without it my son would need respite care.
CSA have sent him a demand for 45k first communication hes had for 10 years.
Ive a visit from jobseekers compliance officer on Monday.....dont know why,can only think its becaiuse my carers allowance will cease until my sons new DLA claim comes through.I was late submitting form as my son has night seizures weve been back and forth to alderhey,schools not coped so everythings got lumped on me making me very tired and depressed.I'm not to bothered about claim being late aswhen it gets backdated lump sum will help me.
My sons father has accused me of doing this with CSA I havent.Very confused.He has to reply by 5th which only gives him a few days.Should he ignore or acknow;edge demand and why are they doing this after saying they werent going to pursue him.Hes just got married.I get no maintenance but do get help with my son.
Advice desperately needed.I didnt think csa still existed.

Scarlett1

It doesnt matter what money you have coming in your ex should pay maintenance for his son, what benefits you get will determine how much of that maintenace you actually get to keep

hjb123

When you claim benefits arent the CSA obliged to get involved? Or is it just Income Support that that is for?

Scarlett1

hjb123 wrote:

When you claim benefits arent the CSA obliged to get involved? Or is it just Income Support that that is for?

not sure, IS probably, I think its a myth that automatically a CSA case is opened up, I dont know anyone else who has had the CSA involved when claiming IS except when they have contacted them themselves, might just be my slack LA

Prudent

Its sounds like the csa are obliged to get involved. I am a bit puzzled by the amount they are asking for. A claim can only be backdated to the point it was first made. You would have needed to make a claim 10 years ago if they are back dating it to that point. The dad will have to pay 15% of his net income. If he has your son overnight then this is reduced by 1/7th for every night the dad regularly has your son.

It is a fair way of insuring that the non resident parent, not the tax payer, contributes to the upkeep of his son.

flufff

Ok,none of this is answering my question.
Yes when you claim income support your made to sign an agreement that they can chase errant father.However in my case as I have no family without me asking as my sons special needs they told me they werent pursuing him as it was more help to me him helping me with our son.
Theyve now demanded 45k off him with under a week to respond.I dont know how they can do this and today he is totally stressing taking it out over phone on me.
Can anyone advise please?I wont get this money and have been a single parent for 5 years as i'm classed as a carer.
Thankyou

jellycat40

Hi Fluff, does dad contribute anything towards his son?

What do you mean by you have no family?

Obviously your DLA will not be affected by dad's contributions but Income Support will be.

It is up to him to sort it out with the CSA not you. You have not asked them to do this. There is probably no way they will get 45k from him and the computer has cocked up again. Tell him to stop taking it out on you and call them.

Louise

dawnydee73

flufff wrote:

However in my case as I have no family without me asking as my sons special needs they told me they werent pursuing him as it was more help to me him helping me with our son.

I don't understand this. Whether he is helping you or not, I thought CSA would be involved as he should be contributing, why wasn't he paying anything before.

When I applied for IS 3 years ago, CSA was automatically involved, I was told if I didn't cooporate then I could lose a % of my benefit.

I also have no family, what difference does it make to whether CSA pursue father or not.

When I say I have no family, I mean I cannot get help from my family in anyway.

Scarlett1

flufff wrote:

.However in my case as I have no family without me asking as my sons special needs they told me they werent pursuing him as it was more help to me him helping me with our son.

the CSA are saying that to you, but then are sending your ex a bill, is that what you are saying if it is then they are telling stories :mad:

The CSA are a business and they have targets, they dont care about people lives and how they are going to effect them, so for someone to say that to you I find it quite alarming.

as dawnydee says, whether your ex helps with your son or not, he still has to pay maintenance for him, and the CSA agree as well because they are chasing for money.

if your ex withdraws from helping you with your son because he has been caught for child maintenance then that says a lot about him

neddie

are you saying that the father of your child helps you with daily practical help with your child rather than paying child maintenance? and you thought that the csa agreed that this was ok as you have no other immediate family on the scene to help you?

was this arrangement suggested to you by the father of your child? the only reason that I ask as this sounds like he/you are assumeing that by him not paying £ then the state will pay via benefits.

If this is so, then he is deluded, he must pay a percentage of his income towards his child and any reasonable father would help with daily care/needs of their child as well. It's not a trade off.

The benefits that you claim will be calculated according to the amount that the father pays.

Prudent

As a parent your son's father has a financial responsibilty towards him. Helping out with the practical side of looking after your son does not take away his responsibility. I look after my daughter by cooking, washing, ironing, listening, being a taxi -all the things parents do. I also go out to work to pay for her food, clothes and numerous other expenses. The fact I put in loads of my time to her (I am a single parent so it is hard work) does not take away my financial responsiblity. Why shouldn't he pay?