CSA issues.

Brit27

Hi,
I was paying a family agreement CM to my ex-wife who is the resident parent of my soon to be 18 year old son (birthday June). My son is currently completing his A levels at school before starting UNI in September. I paid my usual payment on the 28th Jan and then received a letter from the CSA on the 30th Jan, stating that a claim had been received from my ex and that they would use the 30th Jan as a date for arrears to begin.
They have told me that they can do nothing about the payment made on the 28th, even though my ex contacted them on that day, I have appealed this but had the same reply.
They have set up a Direct Debit for 12 months even though I told them that my son would be attending UNI in September, they replied that they would review the Direct Debit after 12 months.
My wife and her soon to be husband earn over £100k per year between them, so aren't short of a bob or two, whereas I am struggling like mad to make the £288 per month CM payment. I have no way of knowing if my wife still receives Child Benefit for my son, the CSA have insisted that she does, even with their joint earnings.
I have found that parents in my situation are left with no help or assistance, the CSA just refuse any suggestion that I make as long as they protect my ex and her claim, how can I make them see tha tmy son is starting UNI in September and to alter the Direct Debit schedule to suit ?
Please let me just say that I would happily help my son with his UNI costs if the CSA payments stop.

clearingout

do you have no contact with you son?

Your ex's earnings (and those of her partner) have nothing at all to do with your liability for maintenance. Why should it? The child isn't your ex's alone to support and her partner has no financial obligation towards him although undoubtedly he is paying at some level. If you have been separated for sometime, it is unlikely you have any real grip on what your ex currently earns and you certainly wont' have a clue about her outgoings. You have to ignore this and accept your responsibility.

As long as your ex is claiming Child Benefit, child maintenance will be legally payable. Child Benefit is now payable up to the age of 20, assuming the 'child' is still completing a qualifying course (university doesn't come under this umbrella). If you believe that your ex is fraudulently claiming child benefit, you can report her to the relevant authorities but as it stands, your son will still be in education so the claim won't be fraudulent as it stands.

Unfortunately, I don't think there is much you can do about the payment you made in January - just one of those things. I appreciate how frustrating that must be.

Brit27

Yes I am in full contact with my son and he knows all about the situation as this (the increase in payments) has forced us to give up the one hobby that we shared together which involved father and son weekends away, it was his mum's way of staying in 'control' of things. I had been paying the CM Family agreement for the past 14 months and am well aware of my need to provide. I would do anything to have my son living with me, he knows he is welcome and has stayed in the past when my ex's partner and him fell out.

I was under the understanding that earners over £50k per year came under a different umbrella regarding child benefit or tax for the highest earner ? I would just like to know if he is taking the increase in Tax to his earnings to allow her to still claim CB, or has she stopped the CB, therefore affecting my future payments (beyond the school year) ?

Yes losing that payment hit hard as the CSA still expect me to cover for that period, I don't know how I am suppossed to find the money for that, I too have my partner's son need to also think of.

Caz3121

I don't believe that even if they do not qualify for child benefit due to income, this would negate the requirement for the NRP to pay maintenance for their child.
Do the CSA know about your partners 2 children (which I am assuming live with you and are children)
The £288 would be based on a net income of £2,400, is that correct?
(20% deduction for the 2 children, then 15% of what is left for your son)

Brit27

My bad Caz, my partner has only the one son that lives with us (I'll edit that ), the original figure was higher (£77per week) until I insisted that I had a child living with me, as they had failed to notice this on the forms I sent them. They then revised that to £66 per week, £288 per month on their Direct Debit. The net weekly figure that they used was £516, this was based on my last two wage slips, which included overtime, which isn't always guaranteed.
£66 per week calculates out to £3432 per year, £286 per month, I'm not sure where they found the extra £2 per month ?
I am going to send of my sons UNI confirmation letter, whether they take any notice is another matter.

Blackpool_Saver

did you say you owed arrears? if that is the case they will still have to be paid when your son goes to uni

PreludeForTimeFeelers

By default every collection schedule issued is for a 12-month period - they can't do one for 6 months on the assumption that your son is going to Uni in September, instead you will have to contact them when that happens. They will then look at the circumstances at the time and reassess or close your case.
As for the income used being higher than your normal wage, work out an average weekly figure from your 'year to date' wage and if it differs greatly then appeal the calculation.

PreludeForTimeFeelers

Did they take into consideration any tax credits that you may receive when they worked out your weekly income?

clearingout

they wont' take any notice of your son's confirmation letter for uni - even if it's a confirmed offer (as opposed to a conditional offer which it is likely to be if he's still at 6th form?) there is no guarentee that he will take up the place when it comes.

Your ex may well no longer be eligible for child benefit as a result of income but there will still be an underlying eligibility which amounts to the same thing in CSA terms. Indeed, my understanding is that you can still receive child benefit even if you earn over the threshold but will need to pay it back via self-assessment tax.

Sensemaya

Contact the CSA stating you have cancelled the DD and would like to pay by Standing Order or over the phone by debit card each month. Then you have a certain amount of control over it.

Have you asked for a complete account breakdown?

PreludeForTimeFeelers

It seems a bit of a waste of time asking for a complete breakdown in a case that has an initial effective date of Jan 30th - there have only been about 6 weeks of payments due since that point and I'm sure that the poster knows what he has or hasn't paid in that time.

Re: not being able to take into account the payment made on Jan 28th - this is because the CSA didn't have jurisdiction until Jan 30th, likewise if you hadn't paid monies prior to that point then the CSA wouldn't have been able to chase you for those figures.