Arrears and NRP Disability

JH1965

Hi - My husband ran up arrears before we met as he had stopped paying maintenance - When we met I made him start again - The arrears stand at £11,000 and his son is now 21 - Two years ago he had to give up work due to ill health so he reduced the amount he was paying to £5 a week - He has since been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and now received Contribution based Employment Support Allowance (Support Group) and standard rate PIP for both day to day living and mobility and he has been told he will never be able to work again. Currently I still work full time. Today we had a letter from the CSA stating my husband hadn't been paying and they want the arrears paying in full. I used their calculator and I believe due to his disability he is only bound to offer them £7 a week - is this correct? I'm also wondering if they will take my earnings into account, obviously now I am the only one earning a full time wage, pretty much all the bills come out of my money so I'm left with very little at the end of each month. What we intend to do is write to them offering to increase the payment to £7 a week but what we're wondering is do they have to accept this as I know they usually want the arrears paid off in two years.

HoneyNutLoop

The calculator tells you what he would have to pay now for maintenance, if his son was of an age where he was still eligible. It's not an indicator of what the CSA must accept as an arrears payment offer.

The gov.uk website publishes information about what they can do to recover arrears. You may wish to take a look, before you decide how you're going to deal with the debt.

https://www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/nonpayment-what-happens

JH1965

Thanks for your help. CSA spoke to my husband today and confirmed they will continue to accept £5 a week - phew!