In desperate need of advice

aussiesbird

Hi, I am after advice. I have been a NRP for the past 16 years to my 3 children and have paid all of my payments via CSA. I am now only responsible for paying CM for my youngest daughter who is 18 and has a baby herself. I have been in full time employment for almost 25 years with my current employer and since March this year have been signed off sick with a mystery illness. I have been in and out of hospital for tests and although a final diagnosis has not yet been confirmed, it very much looks like my working career is over. My problem is last month I went down to half pay, I advised the CMS of this prior to it happening and supplied the letter from my employers to confirm this. I was in contact with the CMS regularly and was awaiting the revised amount I was to pay. This was not forthcoming, even though they advised me they were in touch with my employers and working it out. Last month I could barely afford to live. I had to forgo paying my credit card, a loan and I have had to borrow some money off of family for my basic essentials. I wanted to show I was willing to pay my CM so sent my ex a payment of £10, which was more than I could afford at the time. I today receive two letters from the CM, one dated 18th October and other dated £19th October. 1st letter states that my employer could not confirm a change had taken place in my earnings so the payment of £380 per month will not change. The second saying as I only paid £10 I am now in arrears and they are proceeding with my case on a Collect and Pay basis, costing me an extra 20% on top of what I already can't afford to pay! I immediately got in touch with my employers to query why they had told them there hadn't been a change in my wage and they replied that they have not had any contact from the CMS whatsoever. I am extremely worried about my health, which cannot be cured and will get progressively worse and now I am stressed about trying to keep a roof over mine and my wife's head. I have always supported my children and never missed a payment. If there is any advice you can give me to help my situation I would be extremely grateful.

justontime

I realise you are very worried, but you have provided so much information that people are likely to give up before getting to the important part. It would help if you could edit your post and include only the relevant information.

As far as I can tell the relevant information is that you have been paying child support reliably for 16 years. You are now only paying for your youngest child who is 18 and has a child of her own. After many years working as a paramedic you have a serious health problem which has prevented you working and you have now gone onto half pay. You have notified CMS but they have refused to alter your assessment because your employer has not confirmed that you are now on half pay. Your employer claims that they have not been contacted for information about your pay. You have now been put on the collect and pay scheme so you have charges to pay and you don't have enough money to pay what is required.

Hopefully someone with more experience of the new scheme can help, but I suggest you immediately challenge the decision not to reassess your child support contribution and the decision to put you on the collect and pay scheme. Can you provide evidence eg payslips, letters from work etc?

From what you said it seems unlikely that you will be able to return to work, so I suggest you contact your local citizens advice centre to see if there are any other benefits that you could claim (depending on your condition you may be able to claim Personal Independence Payment). They may also be able to help you to deal with the child support issue and to help you deal with other financial worries.

When dealing with CMS be very clear and concise and don't provide any unnecessary information. What has happened to you in the past is very frustrating and I understand why you feel aggrieved, but it's not relevant to the present problem, so just focus on the facts re going onto half pay.

Good luck.

aussiesbird

Thank you Justontime. I have edited my post to make it more relevant to what I am enquiring about. Apologies but I was so stressed I babbled on!

There is one other point that I think is relevant and would like advice on. It clearly states on CSA guides and now CM guides that if I or my partner are in receipt of Incapacity benefit then there is a flat rate of £7 per week payable. My wife has been on incapacity benefit for many years, now PIP. When I mentioned this to CSA they told me it did not apply to my case but I never did get an explanation as to why. Does anyone have any information that could clear this up for me please.

justontime

PIP has replaced DLA (not incapacity benefit). I am not certain about the new rules but I believe the wording makes it clear that the flat rate applies if the paying parent or their partner receives income related Employment and Support Allowance. As you have been earning a full time wage until recently it is unlikely that your partner receives any income related benefits (because as far as I know they are based on your joint income).

HoneyNutLoop

aussiesbird wrote: »

There is one other point that I think is relevant and would like advice on. It clearly states on CSA guides and now CM guides that if I or my partner are in receipt of Incapacity benefit then there is a flat rate of £7 per week payable. My wife has been on incapacity benefit for many years, now PIP. When I mentioned this to CSA they told me it did not apply to my case but I never did get an explanation as to why. Does anyone have any information that could clear this up for me please.

Can you post a link to the guide that says if your partner is on incapacity benefit you are entitled to the flat rate?

As far as I'm aware this is the official guide for CMS:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325219/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf

Pages 23 and 24 relate to benefits and the flat rate and states the following, which makes it clear you would need be the one receiving incapacity benefit to attract the flat rate:

Weekly amount – Flat rate
The paying parent pays the Flat rate of £7 a week for child maintenance if:

• their gross weekly income is £100 or less
or
• they, or their partner who they live with, receive any of the following income-related benefits:
– Income Support
– Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
– Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
– Pension Credit
or
• they receive one of the following benefits:
– Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
– Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance
– Category A, B, C or D Retirement Pension
– State Pension
– Incapacity Benefit
– Training allowance (other than work-based training for young people or, in Scotland, Skillseekers training)
– Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
– War Disablement Pension
– War Widow’s Pension, War Widower’s Pension, or Surviving Civil Partner Pension
– Bereavement Allowance
– Maternity Allowance
– Carer’s Allowance
– Severe Disablement Allowance
– Industrial Injuries Benefit
– Widowed Mother’s Allowance
– Widowed Parent’s Allowance
– Widow’s Pension
– A social security benefit paid by a country other than the United Kingdom.

Regarding your change to half pay, as you are within one month of their letter telling you the payments will not change, call them now and request a mandatory reconsideration of their decision.

Follow this up with a written request enclosing evidence of your reduced pay, any evidence you have which shows when the reduced pay started and how long you will continue to be off work sick for. If it were me, I would send the letter and evidence by recorded delivery and in plenty of time for the one month deadline.

You need to include evidence of how long this income change is expected to last because of the proviso on page 41 of the leaflet:

The change to your income should be one that is likely to stay the same for the foreseeable future.

If it's seen to be a temporary, short-term change, they won't change the calculation.