CSA & overtime?

borderlakland

presume its the new 1 as only it all only started this year. will the csa take my earnings/maintainance into account when dealing with things? does anyone no any thing about what is allowed to be taken into account such as rent council tax etc as only figures oh has had have just been % of his earnings don't seem theyv taken any of this into account? hope no1 takes offence at this oh isnt trying to worm his way out of paying money 4 dd but i've had to come off i/s since he moved in no housing ben etc hes got the debts & things are tight

MJMum

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kelloggs36

For some it would reduce the payments, but for others it would increase them as no housing costs are taken into account. Swings and roundabouts really.

kelloggs36

They won't take your earnings into account although if you get tax credits, either all or part will be considered as your partner's income. There are no allowances for outgoings such as rent or mortage etc - it is just a flat rate of a % of income. There will be a discount for your children - so for example, let's assume his take home pay is 400 per week, 25% off gives him an income used in the assessment of 300 pounds, thus his assessment for 1 child will be 45 per week. He does need to apply for a Departure/Variation on the grounds that there are debts of the previous relationship. Provided that none of the items were purchased using credit cards (store cards will therefore be excluded) then the rest should be put into the pot so to speak and a weekly amount calculated. He needs to provide evidence of the debts - loan agreements etc and the items have to be solely for the use of the PWC and children and he has to be responsible for them.

MJMum

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samjocky

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Nothing would change if you get married as you are not directly involved in your partner's case. I take it that you are living together and the assessment does take account of your correct circumstances? If not, then you need to work out whether it would be in your best interests to request an up to date assessment which takes account you and your children. Do you have any children together? How many children do you have in your household? Do you work?

Hi, Yes I work, always have, always will. We (sadly) have no children together and won't be able to either for various reasons. The CSA demanded to know my income for his case as the NRP which I thought was awful. His ex only works part time - because "she can" - gets WTC and Child Benefit and also nearly £700 per month from my partner. In actual fact, her tax free "earnings" are more than my hard earned wage put together. Not that I am bitter and twisted you understand..

I rang the CSA helpline over the weekend and was told that no household can have 2 cases under 2 different rules so there was a chance if we married that he would transfer to the new rules. Confused now.... my dealings with the CSA in my own case have been fraught with maladministration so dont exactly trust them ..

aMeLia'S~MuMMY

samjocky wrote: »

I rang the CSA helpline over the weekend and was told that no household can have 2 cases under 2 different rules so there was a chance if we married that he would transfer to the new rules. Confused now.... my dealings with the CSA in my own case have been fraught with maladministration so dont exactly trust them ..

I have never heard of what you have been advised over the weekend...Two households can have different rules depending on the roles in the household. In your circumstances you are a PWC under new rules and you marrying your partner (NRP in old rules) would not warrant your partners claim converting to new rules.

In fact a PWC can have several cases with the CSA some old and some new rules, therfore proving a household can have different rules. It is only an NRP that cannot operate on more than one set of rules.

In order for an NRP to convert to New Rules the PWC in that case will either have to close her case and re-open after 13 weeks in which case it would be opened under new rules, or if a new PWC were to make a fresh claim against the NRP then his old case would get converted to new rules.

:A

kelloggs36

MJMum wrote: »

Not when you're one of the ones who would pay much less :eek:

Works the opposite for those who would end up paying more, so in the grand scheme of things (which is what I meant) it is swings and roundabouts. As with every system there will be winners and losers on both sides.

aussiesbird

UPDATE
Someone from the CSA rang today to advise us that they had received a letter from our local MP and also our appeal letter. She wanted to go over a few points before replying to the MP. Firstly we had asked for proof that my partners ex requested a review back in June 2005, she stated that it was done by phone so could not provide any. I asked for a copy of the phone conversation (as they always tell you at the beginning of a call that "all calls are recorded") I was told that they are disposed of after 2 weeks - how convenient!! I told her we were not happy with that excuse because we know for a fact that partners ex would've chased them up and not just forgot about it for 2 years!! She acknowledged that they were at fault and requested we accept a payment from them by way of apology (approx £25) I refused stating that we wanted to see what the appeal brought up before accepting anything - was I right to do this? My way of thinking was if we were to put in a claim for maladministration to the Chief Exec then that would go against us.
She also stated that I need not forward a claim for maladministration as she would do it for us If she is administrative staff why would she want to highlight her/their incompetence to the Chief Exec? I told her that she could do whatever she wanted with regard that but if we did not have satisfactory reply from the appeal then we would be submitting a claim directly to the Chief Exec ourselves.
She stated that she believed the variation allowance request was now completed, I said we had had a phone call stating that claim not being allowed as partner had agreed to take on debt during divorce. 1.If it was that cut and dry why did it take in excess of 3 years to come to that conclusion. 2.Bad advice given by lawyer, who has since been under investigation. I told her that we were still awaiting confirmation of this so that we could appeal against the decision. She had no response to that and brushed over it.
She stated she was going to send a letter to MP stating we had had a conversation, I told her I was not happy with points discussed and answers she gave and requested that she made that clear in her letter. I asked for a copy of her letter to be sent to us - she refused saying MP may send us a copy.
I told her a letter from my partners employers would be available stating overtime and unsocial hours NOT guaranteed income - she stated it wouldn’t help.
I mentioned the arrestment of wages and why this was immediately put in place and she said it is only put in place when payments have not been forthcoming. I told her it was put in place from day one and when we queried this we were told partners ex had requested it. She said she could not reverse the decision at this moment.
She suggested we contact partners ex and come to an amicable agreement ourselves, I told her that partners ex had been informed by them that she was getting a 57% increase and being backdated to June 2005 - did she really believe she would accept anything less?!! I think NOT! Also we do have some pride left and would like to keep hold of it for as long as possible!

I stated that we were fighting this case to the bitter end and will go to whatever lengths required because we HAVE to, not because we want to. My partner does overtime to help out with things like replacing faulty household items, repairs to car, school trips etc. I explained to her that we cannot take out a loan and do not have the security blanket of a credit card as partner declared bankrupt and I am on benefits. How else are we supposed to be able to afford such things? She didn't respond to that either!
You cannot generalise such an important decision, I believe each case should be based on its own individual circumstances - that is the only FAIR way forward for the CSA to go.
Will keep you posted

kelloggs36

The only thing with that is that the legislation prevents them from looking at each individual case on its merits. That would be far too lengthy, which is why they changed it to take even less things into account. By all means appeal the decision not to allow a variation - I hope you win. Take it to a Tribunal if the appeal fails, it costs nothing, but it takes a very long time to sort out.

The CSA can refer a case to the Special Payments Team for a compensatory payment to be made on the grounds of maladministration. You could ask your MP to refer the case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman who will investigate and will also review any compensatory payment made, which can increase any award already made.

If you are appealing against the decision to include the overtime, then I fear you may lose as the legislation is quite clear about when it can and cannot be used. In almost every case of overtime, it is not guaranteed and if it is literally once or twice a year, then it would be ignored, but if it is regular then it has to be included. If it stops for a period of time then you can apply for another review of your case as your circumstances will have changed.

Any claim made for maladministration cannot go against you in any other area. It is separate and the facts of the appeal have to be considered purely on their merits, so you should not fear that.

I am pretty sure that the MP will forward you the letter sent to them by the CSA, it is standard practice.

Good luck.