claiming travel expenses

dazrs

Anyone know if youcan claimtravel expenses try to see my kids twice a month but it crippling me they live over 120 miles away so spending nearly £150 on traveling as well as child maintence on top, it crippling me tbh, I cant afford to see them twice but want too. I recently found out if I went throufh CSA I would only be paying a pound more so tempted to go through them, as my ex wont meet her attitude is if I dont fetch them I cant have them.

custardy

Claim from who?

13Kent

On CSA 1 you can ask for a 'departure' from the assessment

Either parent can make an application to the CSA for what is called a “departure”. There are many different grounds for departures although as a non-resident parent the ones you need to look at are as follows:-
1. Travel to work costs. Whilst the CSA may allow a minor travel to work cost in the main calculation this is not usually reflective of the true travel costs. You can apply however for your true travel costs to be taken into account and the CSA will then have a look at the car you have, the cost of the petrol (not an associated expenditure such as MOT, depreciated, Road Tax, etc) and any associated out of pocket expenses - for instance we have one client who has to cross the Severn Bridge every day to get to and from work. With his pay at only £200.00 per week the cost of the tolls is a considerable drain on his finances. Another client commutes from Birmingham to London every day, his daily train fare cost is eye watering. It is not as even he is that well paid!
2. Contact costs. If regular contact is taking place you can apply for a departure to compensate for the costs of travel. This can consist of the cost of bus and train fares, air fares, petrol and taxi fares together with any road or bridge tolls.

However we tried many times to get a departure on the grounds of high contact costs and it was declined every time.

dazrs

Tbh honest I dont travel far to work one good thing, sometimes even bike 20 mile round trip, so I cant see help with that. It travelling to see kids as I do same journey 4 times a weekend you looking nearly 500miles, not only the cost bad but 5 hours of travelling after a full day at work, which unfortunately I cant do alot about seeing the kids is the reward at the end of it.

Caz3121

we looked at this some time back...how it was at the time
you cannot have shared care discount (1/7th etc) and departure for travel costs - it is one or the other
they assume £15 per week as a normal expense, so if your £150 is per month that leaves £85 per month that could be deducted from your income before the calculation - eg if 20% (as was in CSA2 for 2 kids) this would give you a benefit of £17 per month towards the travel costs
If you currently have a reduction due to the number of nights a year you have them, you would need to compare this as you cannot get both

dazrs

So if I go through csa the best I probably get is £17 a month knocked off, which seems alot of hassle I guess I keep struggling, as dont particular have to do once a month

Fission

Caz3121 wrote: »

you cannot have shared care discount (1/7th etc) and departure for travel costs - it is one or the other ... If you currently have a reduction due to the number of nights a year you have them, you would need to compare this as you cannot get both

Sorry, but there is no need to do a comparison because there is no power to "choose" which one you would rather have.

If shared care exists (104 nights under CSA1 or 52 nights under CSA2), the CSA simply has to award it, and this will automatically rule out the Departure or Variation for contact travel costs. There is no provision for discretion to ignore the shared care and the parent concerned cannot disclaim the reduction.

If shared care exists, there is a discount. A travel costs award can only be made if there is no shared care (as defined).

HoneyNutLoop

Under the latest child maintenance scheme, you can have shared care and a variation for contact costs, so long as you meet the criteria for both. It's no longer an either/or situation anyway.

Fission

It never was an "either/or" situation.

If the NRP has shared care, he gets the shared care reduction and that's the end of it - no Variation for contact costs.

As you say, it's different under the latest scheme. But the majority aren't yet on it.

HoneyNutLoop

Fission wrote: »

It never was an "either/or" situation.

If the NRP has shared care, he gets the shared care reduction and that's the end of it - no Variation for contact costs.

As you say, it's different under the latest scheme. But the majority aren't yet on it.

Exactly how would you prefer i'd phrased it?

While the majority may not be on the new system, the op doesn't have an existing case and so would be if he decided to apply. Telling him he can't have both is therefore wrong.

Anyway, if we're being pedantic, as it appears we are, you could have shared care and a variation for contact costs on the 2003 scheme. You just couldn't have it in respect of the same periods of care. So, if you had one night a week, and two afternoons, you could have a shared care allowance for the one night a week, and a contact costs variation for the travel for the two afternoons.

missbiggles1

How old are the children?