Housing Benefit & csa payments

ragdoll24

I have been living on my own with my 3 young children since splitting up with my husband 3yrs ago. I work but im on a low income so get help from housing benefit towards my rent and council tax. My husband and I never divorced and Im glad we didnt as after 3yrs apart and going through councelling etc we have both changed, seen where we went wrong before and are now ready to make a go of our marriage again.

However the problem I have is that when we decide for my husband to move back in obviously our housing benefit will change. My husband is also on a low salary but one of the main problems being is that our of his pay he has to pay out £400 CSA payments on his two children he had in a previous marriage before me. From what I can see on housing benefit they will not take this payment into consideration when assessing us and this means that if he moves back we will not get any help at all and basically because of the csa payment and then having to pay full rent and council tax leaves us with absolutely nothing to pay other bills or to live on?

Is this correct that housing benefit do not take cas payments into regard when assessing us?

Caz3121

correct, they do not exclude this from income

Is he on CSA1 or 2, if CSA2 then this will assume his income is £2,000 per month (CSA 20% for 2 children)

Were you claiming through CSA also when you were apart? in which case his total CSA contribution would have been 25% income split 2/5ths to ex and 3/5ths to you so when you are back together this will change to 20% to ex

ragdoll24

Hello Caz3121 and thank you for your reply. My husbands take home pay is less then £2000 a month because the £400 he pays out in csa also includes arrears from where they incorrect assessed him years ago. So basically his take home pay after csa is taken out is £1200 a month I earn £300 a month out of that we pay rent of £775.00, council tax of £130.00 which leaves us £595. This looks like a lot to be left with each month but out of that we have to pay to pay gas/elec £150.00 a month, tv £14.00 month water £22.00 month, house insurance £25.00 month, car insurance x 2 £60 month, petrol x 2 cars £200.00 month, 3 x kids dinner money £30 week (sandwiches does not work out any cheaper), this leaves haircuts, food, clothes etc, (ps we need two cars as we live in a small town and both work in the nearest large towns which are quite a few miles away and as you know petrol/diesel is not cheap. basically we can not live on this, so Im better off staying as a single mum which is very very sad.

Caz3121

ragdoll24 wrote: »

basically we can not live on this, so Im better off staying as a single mum which is very very sad.

even with a joint claim you should still get £300+ tax credits a month and child benefit (£200 per month)
as the children get older you will be able to increase your earnings
Whilst you may be in a better position as a single parent thanks to benefits, as a single man left with £1200 per month out of which he would need to house himself, pay his bills and support his 3 children with you he will not be. So one will be better off and the other worse off. Only you can decide whether money comes into the equation with your relationship

ragdoll24

Thanks Caz, it was money which caused us to split up in the first place so I guess we will have to remain living apart and see each other weekends. Living together would mean we cant even pay household bills and will be left on the bread line. At least living apart we can both pay our normal bills and therefore not be put in a position where we are struggling to even pay our household bills and therefore that pressure will not be on us which is what caused the arguments in the first place.

Crellow4

Have you looked into whether his CSA payments will reduce when he moves back in with you? He will then get an allowance for the children in the house before his liability, for the children he doesn't live with, is calculated.

ragdoll24

thank you Crellow, but the CSA payment I mentioned of £400 is for just his other two children, whilst he is living apart from me he actually has to pay £700 in csa (I get £300 for my 3 children).

Dunroamin

ragdoll24 wrote: »

Thanks Caz, it was money which caused us to split up in the first place so I guess we will have to remain living apart and see each other weekends. Living together would mean we cant even pay household bills and will be left on the bread line. At least living apart we can both pay our normal bills and therefore not be put in a position where we are struggling to even pay our household bills and therefore that pressure will not be on us which is what caused the arguments in the first place.

How can it not be much cheaper to run one household rather than two with two lots of rent, CT , utlities and insurance?

Crellow4

Would it not be worth negotiating with his ex partner re CSA payments? Ultimately, unless the arrears are due to the state, she has the final say in whether and how quickly the arrears are collected.

DaisyFlower

Whats changed from when you planned having three more children (well three more for your husband) and now?

Depriving the children of having their father live with them as you will lose benefits is a sad reflection on society.

If you are getting along enough to have considered this then the benefits agency may decide to class you as a couple anyway, especially since you are married.