child leaving college and csa

13Kent

We are bitter too, bitter about the fact that on CSA 2 we would have paid less all these years, bitter about the amount of arrears paid for money my husband had already paid that the PWC denied getting, bitter about the fact that the PWC is encouraging the children to lie to us and in our opinion using the children to increase her own income rather than encouraging the children to do things best suited to them, and bitter about paying money we know the PWC is not entitled to! Thankfully the end is now in sight, as the CSA have finally accepted that CB is no longer being paid for the eldest child, and for the first time in 10 years our liability has decreased - not by much granted, as being on CSA 1 the calculation as ever is complicated, but it's a step in the right direction at long last!

I should add that we have now supported one child up to the end of the time stipulated by the CSA, and despite the problems and hardship it has caused in our family we have paid every amount asked for regularly and on time, so hopefully in the future that child will realise that the NRP did not at any time shirk his responsibilities and was always willing to give that financial support - even if at times he didn't feel that the amount being paid was a fair amount.

Cally_Smart

That makes 3 of us.. angry & bitter that the CSA have treated us like this for the last 18 months, they have let the pwc rip our family apart alienated all the children and left our son in a family struggling to pay the bills. We have done all the CSA ask and now we are fighting back over having to pay even though neither of them have been in further education at all this year !This agency has so much power but the quick turnover of staff with out the quality of training makes it a very dangerous thing. We can see from these forums the amount of suffering it is causing to families .We know we have done the right thing from the beginning, having them & paying for them and I had a good relationship with my step children. The CSA have allowed the pwc to lie constantly & make us look bad in the children's eyes ,denying our son the chance to have a relationship with them for the last 2 years. A relationship that we encouraged from the day he was born ! A pwc shouldn't be allowed to make so much trouble & the nrp should have a right to be believed (especially when the evidence would show they were telling the truth,if they were allowed to show it !) Luckily our friends & neighbours have seen what she is doing to us & have seen all we have done with the children in the previous years since the divorce !

nicky3

I have a full complaint about this issue with the Parliamentary Ombudsman at the moment. I phoned them today as they have not written to me after 25 days as promised, and guess what? they are inundated LOL!! I should be allocated within two weeks though, so we shall see.

My case cannot be ignored because I was denied my rights to a child support claim for a year ( I had the children, while the so called PWC maintained a CB claim, and was awarded CS on the back of it DESPITE my hard evidence of the child's residency 190 miles away - with me) This pwc has a 'right to be believed' certainly explains a LOT about the way I was treated.

I printed off a couple of forum posts from here on the same subject to demonstrate that this is rife throughout the agency and is flagrant disregard of, and misappropriation of the legislation (they repeatedly quoted non existent legislation to me). I would be very happy to forward a resume of your ongoing story to the PO as further evidence that this is an extensive problem blatantly CREATED by the CSA. Just pm me.

his_wife

latest update,,,,,,,,,,nothing, zilch, zero!!

nicky3

Thanks for the PM's, I will be forwarding all similar stories to the Parliamentary Ombudsman do demonstrate this widespread problem and would appreciate if anyone else would like to join the campaign.

Despite proving the CSA wrong by my successful appeal, this blatant bullying and extortion keeps going on.

his_wife

nicky on what grounds did u exactly prove the csa wrong on??

obviously someone, somewhere, in the powers that be, need to stamp out this blatant act of fraud!! I cant beleive, well actually i can!! that the government allow this too happen.

his_wife

had a call back from complaints dept,,,,they keep quoting the cb line, they will not raise it as a complaint, as apparently, you can claim child benefit when your no longer in education now adays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nicky3

Mine was a residency matter, and my appeal proved that child benefit does not automatically mean child support.

My 16 y/o son made a planned and organised 180 mile permanent relocation. Father maintained a child benefit claim for 6/8months until child benefit found in my favour. CSA took mnths to process this, resulting in a year of arrears.

Because I did not claim child support (naively) until 7 weeks after the relocation, and because my ex maintained his claim - our was classed as a 'competing' claim, in which circumstance the original claimant gets to keep the benefit for 3 weeks. Soooo...he got 10 more weeks of child benefit than he was rightly entitled to. The CSA INSISTED that I must pay child support for those 10 weeks - LEGISLATION dictated it - so they said.

I refused to accept this, and eventually appealed the decision - the appeal was swiftly granted. I wrote to the CSA asking for an explanation/apology, and they just began to abuse me some more - accusations of withholding evidence - slights on my character etc, and the complaint has escalated from there. There were other issues, but basically, they continue to quote this non existent legislation to others. I am no lawyer, but even I can understand the legislation - misquoting legislation when in a position of power and using it to extort, is just WRONG.

With regard to your situation - I am fairly certain the legislation for CSA qualifying child specifically mentions education - but says nothing about child benfit. If I were you, I would raise an appeal, I think they are used to it!!! Mine was won in a jiffy!

Own_My_Own

his_wife wrote: »

had a call back from complaints dept,,,,they keep quoting the cb line, they will not raise it as a complaint, as apparently, you can claim child benefit when your no longer in education now adays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I may be wrong but I think along as the child is registered with Connexions the parent can still claim cb. They do not have to be in education to register.

nicky3

What also p****d me off, was the fact that I was essentially forced to claim a benefit (at first I did not even know that a kid in college was entitled - as my daughter had not been - hers had been a higher level of education) Ok its a few quid a week, who is going to say no to that - well me - I would have. I did not need it, and benefits are for the needy, if you don't need them - leave them in the pot I say.

However, it was not to be, I was forced to claim, and then I had to do battle for months with HMRC in order to win my claim. My ex is a bam by the way - and yes, I have rumbled him for WTC fraud. My daughter came back from a visit recently and said he had to pay some WTC back - well thats one thing, but I happen to know he has substantial savings, which he has clearly not declared as he should not qualify for WTC at all. I know where they are I sent the info to the PO at the start of this month.

So we have Child benefit fraud, a bogus child support claim (which the CSA supported for a year - PWC 'deserves to be believed' I think the quote from the caseworker who appeared here was) and a substantial WTC fraud......

seriously hope they throw the book at him (they wont), because thus far, he has sat on his bum and made the authorities beat me up for years! It is 3 years past in June that my son relocated, and I am still fighting - for what originally was an apology, but I am now looking for more.

In the year that the CSA continued the claim against me (usng CB as the excuse, and ignoring college registration, doctors registration etc) I had a legal right to a claim for child support from my ex - But - I WAS DENIED THAT RIGHT, and this is the point that needs to be answered.