help,, what am I actually intitled to

twinks1972

Hi, I am the father of twin girls nearly 3yrs old. I pay maintenance through the csa and my children have now started to stay with me for weekends etc. In short around 57 nights a year. I would like to know other than a csa allowance what other help am I entitled to finacially. I work full time earning around 18k and am sruggling to keep my flat and living expenses. I have to provide my own clothes etc for when my children stay as mum is not willing to provide the basics! mum works and claims some benefits and lives in the north west I live in the east midlands. I do all the contact travelling.. thats a 700mile round trip per contact visit. Can anyone help?

DUTR

Seems only you can help yourself, you may get a slight reduction for travel costs and overnight stays, but on the counter, the PWC may reduce the contact to less than 52 nights, time to seeks better paid employment.

twinks1972

yeah I wonder if you are in a similar situatisituation
The more I earn the more maintenance I will pay! So while yes I'm looking I also have be sure the maths adds up. Thank you for the advice.

Gigglepig

twinks1972 wrote: »

yeah I wonder if you are in a similar situatisituation
The more I earn the more maintenance I will pay! So while yes I'm looking I also have be sure the maths adds up. Thank you for the advice.

The proportion of extra salary you would pay in maintenance isn't money thrown out the window, it is for your kids. If you find a better paid job it may also increase your earning potential long term (ie after kids are grown up) an help build a bigger pension etc.

13Kent

I don't think you're entitled to anything, we had the same situation, buying stuff to make their rooms nice, bedding furniture etc. The PWC in our case never sent clothes either so we had to provide clothes, even shoes and coats, as the shoes they came in often were not suitable - they sometimes needed smart shoes for events, or things like wellies if we were out and about having fun. We also did a 4 hr round trip on a Fri and a Sun every fortnight, which meant we needed a well maintained safe car that would do that mileage, and car seats, rather than a little run around that we would be happy to drive locally. The PWC never ever made an effort to get the children to us or even meet us half way - and still doesn't. We have tried to claim for the travel, but got nowhere. The only thing you may be able to claim for successfully is if you have a distance to travel to work everyday - then you may get something added to your protected income. Also check your pension contributions if you pay them are being considered as on some CSA schemes they take half your pension contributions off your total income and do the assessment on the remaining income. Depending on which CSA scheme you are on you can get a % reduction for how many nights they stay with you per year. I think this is on CSA 2, but you may have to be able to prove how many nights you have them - not an easy thing to do - I've heard of people taking photos of the children in front of the tv showing the date on the tv to prove that they had them on that date. Again depending on which CSA system you are on you may be able to get your housing costs taken into consideration as well. Check which system you are on and ask for a 'clerical breakdown' to check the figures are correct and everything you are entitled to is being considered. Good luck!