what does this mean??

nats3006

hi all just wondering if anyone can shed some light on a letter i received this morning, i am currently in receipt of income support i have a 2 and half year old and am pregnant well overdue now but thats a different story! anyway i received a letter this morning saying a customer compliance officer from the jobcentre wants to come and visit about a query that has come up on my claim to benefit i have been claiming since end august this year, i split with partner in june this year it says on the letter that they want to see passport, utility bills bank statements and evidence to support my claim now the last one completly puzzles me as how am i meant to provide evidence and what evidence!!!?? i received a letter from csa about getting money from my ex as i receive £10 direct from him and dont want them involved more hastle than its worth so i wrote back to them and said i would like to keep it between me and mr x so they wrote back and said where does he work wots his earnings etc etc i ignored this letter as i dont want them involved. does anyone think this would be why they are coming round or something else!!??
sorry about long post
thanks in advance
Nat
x

milkydrink

I think you will find that as you are claiming state benefits, you do not have a choice about wether Mr X is involved or not. That's probably what it's about.
If you are working & suporting your children then it's up to you wether you want to claim child support off the father, BUT if it's that state paying, they will insist on the father paying, it's out of your hands.
If you don't tell them all you know about him, I think they can deduct your benefits.
Kim

mrsh_2

You need to declare your maintenance payments if you have not done so already.
You can choose to comply with CSA rules, opt out, or apply for good cause. If you opt out you will have a reduced benefit direction applied to your income support for 3yrs, this equates to 40% of your personal allowance. You can apply for good cause, explaining the reasons why you do not want to comply, already having an agreement does not constitute good cause. Thirdly you can comply, this means providing details about Mr X, the CSA will then decide if the amount he is paying is reasonable or whether it should be amended.

nats3006

i told them i was receiving £10 a week from him for my son and i get that direct and would be willing for my benefit to be deducted so cannot understand what its about!! thanks for your reply
Nat
x

Mrs_pbradley936

I was only going to repeat above advice. The only way you can avoid any investigations into your finances is if you are wholly independent of benefits apart from family allowance.

Mrs_pbradley936

Also they may think that £10 is far from enough and want him to pay more. The choice is not yours to make.

nats3006

would a compliance officer from the jobcentre come round about the csa though? as i cannot understand how they want me to show evidence to support my claim i cannot understand what this means what evidence!!
thanks again for replys
Nat
x

nats3006

i have been told that i can decide how much he pays as long as i am telling them and they will reduce my benefit according which i already stated above iw as willing to do as i have a close relationship with my ex he does alot for us but just cant be together so i wouldnt want this pounding on him so therefore i am willing to have the benefit reduced also i cannot understand why they reduce money from me as they arent even paying for my child strange but thats the way it is!!!
thanks
Nat
x

dblue75

I work for the DWP . As you are claiming state benefit , we have to know about any other Income to take it into account . Income support is means tested . This means any other income will be deducted from your benefit . If you do not comply your benefit as stated earlier will be reduced by 40% i'm afraid . The law states that absent parents have to pay for children , most people are now in receipt of CTC for kids . This does not change the law . The fact is we have to know about any other income . It's as straight as that . Any other q's you have . please feel free to contact me .

lil_me

If he's paying less than the correct precentage from his wages they will question it as they are then loosing money basically. If say your ex is earning £200 per week he should be paying £30 towards your child (15% for one child) and if he's paying less than this they will insist on you going via the CSA. Recently happened to a friend of mine who had an arrangement with her ex but they insisted on becoming involved as she was then on income support, she's found it easier to just get them to go via CSA and then gets I think it's £10 a week extra out of what he pays.

Scarlett1

nats3006 wrote:

i cannot understand how they want me to show evidence to support my claim i cannot understand what this means what evidence!!

It could mean that they want to see evidence that you are living with just your children on your own, it might have made the DWP suspicious cause you cancelled the CSA claim, they might think that you did this because you have got back together.

Dont get stressed about it, its just a case of showing a couple of utility bills and answering a few questions, so dont worry and look forward to the birth, good luck