Involving CSA but no CB...yet

Caz3121

DSS 17 moved in with us in July (after mum threw him out) he is doing non-advanced course at college so child benefit is payable.

I work full time, hubby was redundant and now on ESA (hoping to be well enough for JSA next week when sees consultant)

Hubby had consent order in place based on his income at time (2 children), had 25% paycut in Jan but continued to pay same, redundant end May, stopped paying in Aug as
a) DSS now living with us
b) no money to do it - the CO is for 200% of his current income from ESA

We understand that the way to get the CO set aside would be to involve the CSA to assess both parties but despite it being 2 months since claiming CB there is still no sign and a call to them is met with the "it can take 12 weeks" think we are at stalemate with regards to Tax Credits, CSA etc till we get this sorted.

I am assuming CSA will not backdate so in theory the CO still stands until it is set aside and is currently in arrears....will they set anything up before the child benefit is in place (we are 400 miles away from mum so it is obvious he does not commute to college, docs etc from hers)

shell_542

Could your partner just open a case with them and see? Worst case, they'll say no.

sarflee

We had a similar situation, DH son came to live with us and CB rules are that the previous PWC can claim CB for up to 12 weeks before advising they have moved out, as long as they remain a qualifying child, and expect them to return!!!

DH also had a court order for 3 children. Tried to come to some arrangement with the mother but, although she would agree to reduce to 20% of DH income, didn't seem to think that she needed to pay anything for son because she only worked p/t and rec'd tax credits etc. Left us with no choice but to go back to court or CSA. CSA was obviously cheaper. CSA didn't seem to check if we were in receipt of CB as at the time we weren't. DH son moved in with us beginning of Feb, we were advised of CB entitlement which was to start mid June - we applied end of March, CSA was payable from end of May - we applied end of March, but they didn't contact the Mother until May. So CSA was payable before CB entitlement swapped over so I would definitely put a claim in now.

Strangely enough, around 18 months later, DH son ran back to mum after an argument on a Friday, the following Monday CSA and CB both telephoned to advise they were dealing with a change of circumstance and we received letters 10 days later. So 10 days to sort out mums claim, 2-3 months for dad's claim!!! Suppose the difference may have been that we complied immediately.

Caz3121

Thanks sarflee for sharing your experience...his mum says she informed everyone he had moved out straight away...somehow I doubt it as she 'forgot' to tell child benefit when she moved abroad for over 2 years and has 'forgotten' about the last 2 live in boyfriends. When DSS wanted to move here last year she put her foot down saying she could not afford to lose the maintenance and benefits for him, made him feel so bad that his mum and sister were likely to end up in a homeless hostel he stayed...next boyfriend moved in 2 weeks later

sarflee

Good luck with everything. I think the money side of things is such a samll part of bringing up someone elses child, but it certainly helps to get it all sorted out as quickly as possible.