When do I stop paying maintenance?

Old_Guys_Drool

Hi.

I'm after some advice please as the information n the CSA website doesn't shed much light on this issue.

I'm the NRP currently paying the PWC via the CSA (Old Rules) for my daughter who is 17. She has just started a work based learning apprenticeship (doesn't go to college). I'm trying to work out when my legal obligation to pay the PWC ceases. As far as I can tell, that depends on whether she is eligible for Child Benefit or not, and this in turn depends on whether she is in approved training. According to the CSA Website, approved training should be be unpaid and can include Access to Apprenticeships in England.

How do I find out if my daughter's work based learning apprenticeship (she does get paid a small amount for this, and it doesn't involve going to college, and she will end up with an NVQ Level 3) means she is eligible for Child Benefit or not?

Obviously I want to continue to provide support for my daughter, but I also need to know when my legal obligation to pay the PWC stops.

Thank you.

13Kent

Child Benefit is still payable for NVQ level 3 courses, and rightly or wrongly the payment of CB is what the CSA use as a yardstick for whether CSA is still payable or not, so your payments will continue even though your daughter is being paid to work.

https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-16-19

Old_Guys_Drool

13Kent wrote: »

Child Benefit is still payable for NVQ level 3 courses, and rightly or wrongly the payment of CB is what the CSA use as a yardstick for whether CSA is still payable or not, so your payments will continue even though your daughter is being paid to work.

Thanks for the reply. What you're saying seems contrary to what it says on the website where it clearly specifies that training should be unpaid.

In addition, I've found this from a website from 2011 which also states that CB ceases if the child goes on a work based apprenticeship that is not an 'approved' course.

I can't post URLs yet, but if you Google the following terms, apprenticeships child benefit 25 june 2011, it is the first hit.

Therefore, 16-18 year olds have little choice but to stay at home with their parents (if they are lucky enough to have a family home) BUT, what parents are not being told is that they will lose their entitlement to Child Benefit payments for that child, as well as Tax Credits, because the child is over 16 and ‘employed’, albeit on a low apprentice wage. 

And this.

An approved training course in England includes Foundation Learning Programmes or Programme Led Apprenticeships - not apprenticeships offered by way of employment.

So no further forward really. Has the law changed from 2011 in this regard?

DUTR

Old_Guys_Drool wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. What you're saying seems contrary to what it says on the website where it clearly specifies that training should be unpaid.

In addition, I've found this from a website from 2011 which also states that CB ceases if the child goes on a work based apprenticeship that is not an 'approved' course.

I can't post URLs yet, but if you Google the following terms, apprenticeships child benefit 25 june 2011, it is the first hit.



And this.



So no further forward really. Has the law changed from 2011 in this regard?

I'm not sure why some ask a question and if the answer is not what they wish to read, then they attack the answer?
As you have been suggested the CB is a yardstick to go by, in many instances the payments wouldn't stop until September of any year .
What does your annual statement suggest?

Old_Guys_Drool

DUTR wrote: »

I'm not sure why some ask a question and if the answer is not what they wish to read, then they attack the answer?
As you have been suggested the CB is a yardstick to go by, in many instances the payments wouldn't stop until September of any year .
What does your annual statement suggest?

Thank for the warm welcome to the forum. Have a beer on me :beer:

I'm not 'attacking' the answer, I'm pointing out that it seems to differ with what I've read elsewhere, including on the gov.uk website. (I'm referring here to whether the apprenticeship scheme is classed as "approved" or not, as that seems to be the yardstick as to whether CB is still due). I'm just asking for clarity: perhaps someone has been in a similar situation?

I received my annual statement for 2013/2014 before my daughter started the apprenticeship. I would take that with a pinch of salt anyway, as the CSA wouldn't know about the change in circumstance unless the PWC told the Child Benefit office, which I suspect is highly unlikely if she might lose out on possibly CB and perhaps also tax credits (whether in that case she would be acting fraudulently or not I don't know). Hence, I don't really want to broach this with the CSA as I don't want to "drop her in it". Which means trying to get accurate information from other sources such as MSE.

If the law states that I must continue paying maintenance under CSA1 for another couple of years, that's fine. If the law states that I'm no longer required to pay maintenance, then I can help support my daughter directly, and she can come to an arrangement with her Mum about board and lodge etc.

Does anyone else have any light to shed on the original question?

DUTR

Old_Guys_Drool wrote: »

Thank for the warm welcome to the forum. Have a beer on me :beer:

I'm not 'attacking' the answer, I'm pointing out that it seems to differ with what I've read elsewhere, including on the gov.uk website. (I'm referring here to whether the apprenticeship scheme is classed as "approved" or not, as that seems to be the yardstick as to whether CB is still due). I'm just asking for clarity: perhaps someone has been in a similar situation?

I received my annual statement for 2013/2014 before my daughter started the apprenticeship. I would take that with a pinch of salt anyway, as the CSA wouldn't know about the change in circumstance unless the PWC told the Child Benefit office, which I suspect is highly unlikely if she might lose out on possibly CB and perhaps also tax credits (whether in that case she would be acting fraudulently or not I don't know). Hence, I don't really want to broach this with the CSA as I don't want to "drop her in it". Which means trying to get accurate information from other sources such as MSE.

If the law states that I must continue paying maintenance under CSA1 for another couple of years, that's fine. If the law states that I'm no longer required to pay maintenance, then I can help support my daughter directly, and she can come to an arrangement with her Mum about board and lodge etc.

Does anyone else have any light to shed on the original question?

At least you are getting a statement, that's two of us :cool:
The kids finish now at 18-19, for me I expect the worst and hope for the best, even then though, the change would come in September, as they have to re-apply. It's a bit of a dark secret how and when it stops, as there are PWC's on here some of who would have read your thread, and have a good idea of the answer, one thing to look forward to , is when it stops and if you are still working, it will be like having a good pay rise.

Old_Guys_Drool

DUTR wrote: »

At least you are getting a statement, that's two of us :cool:
The kids finish now at 18-19, for me I expect the worst and hope for the best, even then though, the change would come in September, as they have to re-apply. It's a bit of a dark secret how and when it stops, as there are PWC's on here some of who would have read your thread, and have a good idea of the answer, one thing to look forward to , is when it stops and if you are still working, it will be like having a good pay rise.

It means I'll be able to afford start paying back into my pension fund, which I've had to put on hold for the last six years!

justontime

You could contact CSA and tell them that you think Child Benefit has ceased, then they will investigate and let you know (you will probably have to keep nagging them). I don't know the answer to your question but my best guess is that you will still have to pay because if she is doing an NVQ 3 it counts as training even if it is work based training. If you get a conclusive answer please let us know.

13Kent

Our experience is recent. We were on CSA 1 and my husband had a child that was on an NVQ 3 the child was nearly 18 when the NVQ was started and we had to continue to pay up until the child became 19 this year and had finished the year of the NVQ and CB ceased to be paid.