what does this mean??

Rebekka_2

They want proof of everything as they probably believe that if you can live on a 40% drop of your income support that your not being completely honest about exactly how much Mr ex gives you, just a thought

budgetboss

Hi Nat

Try not to worry too much about the letter, you have enough going on at the moment!

I have received two letters with the exact wording as yours. It turned out that all they wanted to know was that my circumstances hadn't changed, they didn't ask for a bank statements ect. I think this is a standard letter that they send out regardless what the query is about.

The second time I received the letter I called them and asked them if they could give me any detail what the meeting would be regarding, they were really nice on the phone and were able to give me some detail before the officer came round to see me, maybe it would be worth giving them a call.

All the very best with the birth

dizziflower

I have been in a similar situation, 2 weeks after my son was just born, i hadnt been on income support too long and they wanted to just come and check some evidence that i was who i said i was, and that all the information had been correct, they sent a really nice woman, who asked details of my break up and wrote everything down and i signed it, she tried to get me to see the CSA about my ex, i declined, you could tell that she was having a bit of a nose round to see if someone was living with me, but i have to say she was really nice and i never felt like she was judging me!

Penny-Pincher!!

Maybe its to check if you still have a joint bank account or joint bills etc

PP
xx

dblue75

Correct !!!! it is to check if any the household bills etc... are in joint names . Also if you choose not to comply with the good cause officer . It does raise suspicions . If you have nothing to worry about show the DWP your bills and bank statements . The CSA part is out of your hands as you are in receipt of I.S . Let them deal with that and your ex-ptnr .

sarahlouise210

I can honestly say that if I had only split up in August that I may not have changed my bills to just show my own name ..in fact the bills may not have yet come in and some of the bill may be payable in part by him as he lived there for the period of the bill!!!

kelloggs36

That is okay so long as you prove his wages are no longer going into that bank account - that will be something that they look for. CSA is right though, either accept a 40% reduction in your personal allowance (which will leave you about 38 quid plus any family premuim and any child tax credits you get). Your Child Benefit will be deducted anyway (unless this has changed).

As you wish to not claim CSA they will need to prove that the reason you are not doing this is because you really are still together - believe me, people DO claim to be single parents and not claim CSA because they never split (Fictitious desertion).

The main thing is if he is still paying money into your joint account, is that he needs to stop this. Any bills in his name, get changed - you will only be liable for them from the date you became single. You would need to contact the service providers to give them a date and provide evidence. They did this to me - even though I had provided them with evidence our our split, they did not change the name on the bill and when I refused to pay, they had to take it from the date we split, so they wrote off a load of the bill - well, they chased HIM for it!

kelloggs36

oops! I forgot the 'otherwise'.......or go with it and claim CSA. You will get that 10 quid anyway that way. When you go back to work (if) you can cancel it then or keep it going and it will all be yours which will be better for your children as he will be contrubuting.

skintas_2

i had a csa homevisit, i would not sign the papers against my babies father as i had just come back in the area after staying away due to domestic violence, the woman was very rude, and didnt want to believe anything i said, what made it worse was the lady dealing with my claim in the job centre was her best friend, so the woman in the job centre knew all my business. i had to get a police report number and report from social services saying myself and child where at risk before the csa would leave me alone

Turning_into_scrooge

I received a letter the same as this years ago because they didn't have my ex name and address as he was the father to our son. Pointless really as i could prove he lived abroad in south east Asia. They just wrote a declaration and i signed it as i didn't actually have an address for him. The letter frightened the life out of me as I'd only been on IS for about 1 month and worried sick in case I'd done something wrong which of course i hadn't.