Will Partners CSA Payments change?

simone73

Hi everyone
I m a new poster although I have viewed this site for years and I love it!!
My partner and I are looking to but a house in the near future. He currently pays £65 a week to his ex as a result of a CSA case. He is on the new flat percentage amount as opposed to teh older complicated one. This level was set about 2 and a half years ago and there is no love lost between him and his ex.
He was actually giving her slightly more than this without CSA involvement but she was getting greedy after she had another child and started demanding more and more ( up to £90 a week at one point)
She believed that he would revert to the old CSA method which years before had really stung him to the point he nearly gave up work. However he thankfully was assessed on the newer (fairer) system so reduced the payments accordingly. She has hated this fact and will no doubt try to cause trouble for him financially as it has been a couple of years since she reluctantly accepted the payment level.
I am aware that there have been some changes in the last few years about more communication between parents etc but my question is when is his level of payment likely to be reviewed??
His wages have gone up slightly ion the last two years but before we plan what level of mortgage we can afford etc we want to be sure what we can afford.

So are the CSA likely to review the level of payment he is making anytime soon? Can his ex demand a review even though he has never missed a payment since birth ( and his daughter is 13)

Thanks ever so much in advance
xx

Debicj

I don't think the CSA will review the assessment unless either the PWC or NRP request it due to a change of circumstances. Even then they are not quick about it.

The only thing to be wary of is that the PWC could request a review and the CSA could take months or even years to carry it out, but the new assessment would be backdated to the time of the request. This happened in my case and the NRP ended up owing a lot in arrears. However, he knew he was earning more than the assessment was based on for 4 years but didn't let the CSA know his pay had gone up and thought he was getting away with it.

My advice is to get the reassessment done as the NRP wages have increased, so you know where you stand and don't get any nasty surprises. Alternatively you could wait and hope that the PWC doesn't (or hasn't already) request a reassessment, but then you could end up with arrears.

MrsManda

Your partner is supposed to inform CSA of any change in their income as this can affect how much they need to pay in terms of child maintanence. His ex can demand a review at any time if they believe his income has changed.
http://www.cmoptions.org/en/options/csa.asp

If he puts his current details into the CSA calculator it'll tell him how much he should be paying due to his current income.
http://www.cmoptions.org/en/calculator/calculator.asp

simone73

Thanks both thats great and so quick to reply!!

gratefulforhelp_2

The PWC is entitled to request a review at any time.