When will maintenance stop?

shjo558

Hi,

My husband pays for his son who will be 19 in January. Do we stop paying from his 19th birthday?

Do I need to write to the CSA and tell them or, as they already know his date of birth, will it just end automatically?

Thanks

Blob

It should stop in the September that he finished College, that is when my not so little girl dropped off the assessment.

shell_542

Blob wrote: »

It should stop in the September that he finished College, that is when my not so little girl dropped off the assessment.

That's only if he finished college this September. If he's still in full time non advanced education OP then it should finish on or just after his 19th birthday. I'd send a letter just to check.

zzzLazyDaisy

I suggest that you call the CSA helpline. The rules are complicated and depend on whether the PWC is still in receipt of child benefit.

shell_542

It doesn't in this case Lazydaisy as the very latest CSA is payable is 19, regardless of Child Benefit. I wouldn't waste the cost of the phone call.

bdt1

Whatever CSA may tell you, CS liability stops on 19th birthday, irrespective of whether the child is studying/working/gap year etc etc - it matters not a jot.

As soon as the child turns 19, put in writing your request that the case be closed as of --/--/---- due to child turning 19 years. Send recorded delivery, keep signature/barcode printed off from pc on Royal Mail website as proof they received it.

They should only chase you after this date if there are arrears on the account - genuine or imaginary of course this is the CSA

And they all have fairies living at the bottom of their gardens aswell!!!!!!!!!!

sarflee

I would also send an email, this has always been the quickest method for us and they provide you with a receipt number. I would wait until the day it is supposed to stop because they usually state that they can't put anything on the computer that is going to happen even a day or two in the future and this seems to give them licence to disregard any information you have supplied.

shjo558

Thanks guys, as I imagine they will be shut on the birthday due to Christmas/New Year holidays, I will email them in the middle of December letting them know the Standing Order will be cancelled then send a follow up email on the actual birthday.

Donedoingdebt

I wouldn't just cancel the S/O as they will not close the case until the account has been paid right up until the closure date.

Frustrating though it may be, the best way is to continue paying as normal even though you may pay more than you have to so that you pay past your laibility date. They will then set a closure date & refund any overpayment that has been made. Unfortunately, this refund could take up to approximately 6 weeks.

I cancelled my S/O recently as my youngest finished further education, but they refused to sanction closure of the case until I made a further full monthly payment that took me past the closure date. They have now closed the case as of 02/09/2010 & have confirmed that I am due a refund of over £80.

Still waiting for the money though!!!!!!

CSA_Help

Donedoingdebt wrote: »

I wouldn't just cancel the S/O as they will not close the case until the account has been paid right up until the closure date.

Frustrating though it may be, the best way is to continue paying as normal even though you may pay more than you have to so that you pay past your laibility date. They will then set a closure date & refund any overpayment that has been made. Unfortunately, this refund could take up to approximately 6 weeks.

I cancelled my S/O recently as my youngest finished further education, but they refused to sanction closure of the case until I made a further full monthly payment that took me past the closure date. They have now closed the case as of 02/09/2010 & have confirmed that I am due a refund of over £80.

Still waiting for the money though!!!!!!

It's only someone elses money to them though.

Terrible service if the shoe was on the other foot it would get paid right away. IMHO:rotfl:

Kimitatsu

shjo558 wrote: »

Thanks guys, as I imagine they will be shut on the birthday due to Christmas/New Year holidays, I will email them in the middle of December letting them know the Standing Order will be cancelled then send a follow up email on the actual birthday.

I would heartily recommend emailing them - you then get an acknowledgement of them recieving your email (its far more efficient than ringing them)

Bear in mind that maintenance is paid in arrears so you may have to pay for a month after the case is closed - depending on when your payments fall. Have to say that our reassessment for a child leaving education was done very quickly this year, and relatively painlessly. They still got the calculation wrong as we are on CS1 but even that was dealt with and rectified within 3 working days :T