Csa update need advice .......

londonbabe73

HI ,

i have been dealing with the csa now since may 2010 ( virgin i know) my ex has failed to wilfully make any payments since dec 2008 when he stopped paying our private agreement due to him giving up his well paid job to study IT in a recession ( duh!!) anyway long story short after being able to get into our jont bank account i managed to get some money for 2009 much to his disgust ( i make no apologies our child has to eat and have a roof over his head) but in may 2010 i had to go to the csa as he was refusing to communicate.

well i'm sure many of you know the drill they made an assessment he didn't pay he moved jobs and house and still didn't pay . Then to be cheeky he took me to court for access after not seeing his son for a year ( i did not withold access he just wanted it on his terms) accesS order made still no child support and the judge wasn't even interested that he has paid anything which is a JOKE !!!

Then in july he started a new job ( self employed ltd company ) through an agency and he had to give me his new address as per court order so the csa contacted him again no response. since July he has ignored everything . i was then asked by the csa as to how much i thnk he is earning to be flippant i said a £1k a week ( previous he was earning more so realistic ish lol) and he also has a rental property which he rents out and i sent a copy of the land registry to the csa .

They now have sent him a letter stating they know about his property and that they believe he is earning £1k a week giving him 28 days to contest it and provide his real earnings , true to form he has ignored everything ( csa have also called and left messages etc) . ad they will make an assessment on their estimation until he comes up with the real info is this enforceable ???

They have now also told me that they are going to go for a liability order if he fails to respond what does this do ?

i have previously emailed my ex offering ways which we can sort this out ie paying our sons bills directly ie child care school dinner etc if he doesn't want to give me the cash but everything is ignored.

Is anything going to work ?? i've struggled this year but i really cant keep doing it , he has the luxury of a court order to see his son but he still thinks that he does have to pay a bean it stinks !!!

my mp is Vincent cable is it worth a moan with him ??? as he is a minister now ,wrong one i know but a minster at least........ :eek:

Diamond78

Hiya,

I would contact your MP as soon as possible as your case has been going on for some time now. The CSA will give your ex partner quite a few chances to make contact. My case is quite long, when I first applied I had to get my MP involved and the CSA did act quicker.

Do you have a cse worker? If so you need to speak to him/her and find out what they intend to do next and make it clear to you. In my case, I was told that they had called my ex and written to him several times as he left his job and started a new one but he did not inform them. My case worker told me, he would get one more chance to make contact and if he didn't, he would get a warning. I do not know what kind of warning though. She also said that they would visit him face to face. Not sure how they do that as they did not know where he lived at the time.

Basically they have now contacted his employer and have a payslip. But he is now in arrears which will be spread over a certain amount of time. If he proves to continue to be difficult as he has been, then his payment for my son, will be deducted out of his salary and his employer will pay the CSA and eventually the CSA will pay my son's money into my account.

Your ex partner obviously does not want to pay out but he can't hide forever. Im not sure how it works out when self employed, sorry. have a look through the thread as there may be information about how it works out when self employed. I know its hard and frustrating but keep in there, eventually it will work out. Just make sure you contact your MP and take notes of all the people you speak to.

All th best and good luck

londonbabe73

thanks for the info diamond

i took your advice and sent a stinky email to the csa advising i will contact my mp in the new year and they called me back the next morning !!. i told them this can not continue and they have more than enough information to take action . vince cables first surgery is the end of january so if i dont get an assessment by then i will be paying him a visit !!!. watch this space !!!

Diamond78

Your welcome.

I hope you get some where with the CSA. Even if the CSA say they will sort things out, still go and see your MP as it can take ages but then again, you may be one of the few lucky ones who gets some where with them.

londonbabe73

hi diamond

well surprise surprise the minute i advise i'm going to my mp vince cable i not only get a call the next morning , i then got a call this morning and an assessment the same day !!!! . i'm still in shock ( yes i know i still have to get him to actually pay but at least someone has pulled their finger out )

got an assessment for £150 a week as he failed to provide any info or contact them to dispute my estimate of £1k per week ( he is s/e ) PLUS he has arrears of £4k to pay on top of the £150 pw ..... the letter is in the post so i guess he will get it friday at the latest so i'm standing way back and waiting for the fireworks first payment due 10th jan happy new year !!!

Thanks diamond !! :T

LB

londonbabe73

i finally received the new assessment today but i'm a bit confused they have asked my ex to pay the £150 pw PLUS £250 per week on top for the arrears so total is £400 per week ???!!!! i have get no chance of getting that ....... !!!


so what happens next as he is obviously not going to able to pay that, i do think they need to be realistic with what people can pay i know the arrears need to be cleared ( and god knows i need the cash ) but just now worried about his reaction :eek:

Diamond78

The CSA can take up to 40% of the salary. The letter can be confusing, so give your case worker a call or someone else from the same department, who should be able to explain what you will be getting.

I know my ex was offered to pay his arrears up front when I first applied, he refused so his arrears was spread out for so many months.

I am still no where near getting my son's payments. Still waiting for the assessment to be done, since October, so ex is now in arrears of over £1000.

shell_542

Unfortunately, it looks like they are just following their procedure and you aren't going to see any money in the near future, because he is self employed, they cannot physically take the money from him. He is ignoring letters so all that will happen is the payment will not be made and it'll escalate further up their procedure. The next step would probably be the liability order but that still doesn't mean you'll start seeing any money soon.

They've basically took your word of £1000 income a week, worked out 40% can be collected maximum and demanded £400. But if he's ignored all correspondence, there is very little chance he'll pay it.

Self employed NRPs are one of the hardest for the CSA to collect from. They cannot deduct money from their wages. Have they just sent him a letter saying "your payments are £400 a month, pay on the 10th Jan"? They have no way of enforcing it. He may know this and that is why he'a ignoring them

kelloggs36

My ex was self employed and delayed and delayed, lied etc. It took almost 8 years to get an money! The fact that you got an assessment done quickly is a miracle in itself to be honest! You may find that they revise it later as it was not based on real info, but an estimate from you - just be forewarned about that possibility.

londonbabe73

well i'm hoping to push him into a corner so he will be eager to restart the private agreement again.

he is self employed but he has a limited company and is paid through an agency so there is in fact a record of what he is getting paid unlike a self employed sole trader like a plumber etc he doesn't do any cash work.

he had the gall to take me to court for access, yet he is not maintaining his child i think if he decides to play silly !!!!!!s any longer i might have to start playing silly !!!!!!s with his access , it makes me see red when i have complied with everything i've been asked to do yet he can literally do what he likes and there is no penalty.....

well here hoping he see's the light and sends a cheque lol

clearingout

I feel for you. Please don't mess with access - it's very tempting but you'd be playing into his hands. You don't want dad to be able to say 'well, I wanted to see you but she wouldn't let me'. YOU want to be able to say 'I went without, you went without but you have a relationship with your dad and that's all that matters in the end' so your child turns round as an adult and says 'mum, he's an idiot, but he's my dad and I'm glad I've had the chance to work out for myself what an idiot he is' rather than 'I never knew my dad so I'm off now to live with him and I never want to see you again'....

My ex had the gall to take me to court for shared residency etc.etc. etc. He's self employed (or was - really not sure what he's up to at the moment) and doesn't pay a penny but takes lots of holidays whilst pleading poverty. Kellogs has got one the same, Kimitatsu has one the same and there are countless others in the same situation. There seems to be some kind of control/power need in the self-employed, a very high level of self-righteousness and big dose of 'I'm the king of the castle' and can do what I want. Denying access won't overcome that.

There IS a penalty - the CSA will catch up with him eventually. You have to see it as a long term thing. My ex's assessment is not for very much, but in my current circumstances, I would probably spend it each month. So, I see it as a sort of savings club - I might not have access to that money for many, many years, but it's slowly adding up and eventually I'll get it. Then, we'll be able to have a lovely holiday and I'll be able to add a lump sum into my pension to make up for the fact I can't put anything in at the moment. When you think of it in those terms, it doesn't feel quite so 'bad'? Your children WILL know (and already know, even if they don't say anything or show it) just what their dad is like and what he did/didn't do. Don't take yourself down to his level. Be the better person.