CSA Attachment of earnings, bye bye job!

roywest

Duchy,

I'm just interested in how you think I can pay my rent, buy food, clothes, pay electricity and gas bills, (visit my kids 130 miles away) on less than £100 per week.

Do you really believe that I can continue to work and live on that basis? Could you and would you?

You seem to have completely missed the point, perhaps because you have the aggrieved Mother's perspective which seems to be the only one in which any sympathy is ever directed. It's the sisterhood;)

I'm NOT leaving my job because I don't want to pay child support! I'm leaving because I cannot live on £97 per week! Also I'm happy to continue to pay my child support AND happy to pay the arrears at a REALISTIC monthly level to continue to be able to work and support myself.

The government says the Minimum wage is £5.52 per hour, you know, that minimum amount it is deemed to be the bare basic that somebody should be expected to earn. Of course I know that is a gross figure and subject to tax and NI but to take home an average of £97 per week after slogging my guts out for 50 hours in a skilled profession is laughable.

Also, although irrelevant to this matter, I have to say that I also have an excellent relationship with my ex-wife and see my kids (and have them stay with me) often. She has absolutely no problem with me and unlike many sour Mothers, she doesn't use my kids as a stick to beat me with!

Please forget your apparent pre-conceptions that I must be an errant Father dodging his responsibilities and engaged in a bitter battle with my ex. I'm sure it eases your conscience to perceive all Fathers who are being hit hard by the CSA as f e c k l e s s (had to spell that word out coz it gets deleted as a swear-word on this site) individuals. You've picked the wrong one here Duchy, I'm not one of them. I'm just a hard working professional man, trying to earn a decent living without being a burden on anybody who has, through unreasonable deductions from my wages found myself in an impossible situation.

Sola

Roy - you clearly can't live on that amount of money; can you challenge the re-assessment with the CSA? Does your ex have any idea how/why this has happened?

duchy

Roy no-one said you were !!!!less-if you'd actually bothered reading my earlier post you'd see I've had my own issues with the CSA-they managed to not collect any money for a year from my ex despite the fact he was willing and able to pay. They simply would not accept that their DD was failing due to an input error on their part. We both (sorry to disappoint you but my ex is a great Dad who sees our son every week and when the CSA didn't do their job would pay me direct instead. I used to call the CSA and tell them and ask them to put it on file and they never did so he was told he had arrears when he didn't ) chased up the CSA endlessly. They ARE useless but too many people (mothers as well as fathers) use that uselessness as an excuse not to pay and then moan bitterly when it bites them on the bum.
My ex could have been in exactly your position-but he CHOSE not to be. He made payments despite the CSAs cluelessness.
Frankly if you and your wife are on such great terms then you should be able to sort it out with the CSA. We did-they still don't acknowledge they made a mistake but accepted my declaration that I had been paid and wiped the arrears (although were quite through in ensuring I hadn't been coerced or intimidated into saying so). Either you owe the money or you don't. If you don't then sort it and if you do -well you should have paid it. You say you HAVE been paying it but with such huge arrears payments it sounds like either you have a similar situation to mine (so sortable) or you were underpaying by a ridiculous amount.
As for is it fair-if you were knowing underpaying then it's a bit like running up a huge creditcard bill and only paying the minimum payment and then crying you only have a little to live on when the interest adds up. If you weren't underpaying then it's sortable-it may take hours on the phone with the CSA talking to people who don't do what they say they will do and will probably need to go through complaints in the end after repeating yourself endlessly but it can be done. We did it.
Just one question -if you had been paying-why do you have an attachment of earnings for the regular child support too ?

roywest

Duchy, I seem to be hitting a brick wall in trying to get you to understand a simple thing.

I'm not complaining that I have to pay maintenance,
I'm not complaining that I have to pay arrears,
I'm not defending myself for getting into arrears

Quite simply and I'm breathless in re-making this basic point :-

I Do owe arrears -accepted, I DID pay child support

NO COMLPAINTS THERE

Simply I'm saying that as of last week I was paying Maintenance AND contributing Tax to the government.

£230 was going to the CSA
£700-800 was going to the exchequer in Tax and NI

The government was getting taxes off me so I was contributing to the state too helping them to pay for, well maybe single Mothers etc!

Had Legal and Trade attached my earnings for a reasonable, payable amount, I would have been able to continue to pay child support, pay tax to the Government Pay off my arrears and continue to have a living. Everyone's a winner!!

INSTEAD

NOW I'm going to the state to support me. They will have to make up my child support now for my ex and kids.

The government will no longer get any tax from me.

The government will now instead pay me a basic living and pay my rent

I will probably be docked £5 a week from my benefits to go towards child support so £230 per month will turn into just £20 per Month

Can't you see how STUPID it all is

Tell me who wins here????? Is there ANY sense you can see in that?


Thats the simple point I'm making. I'm now costing the government instead of contibuting all round!

All I'm saying is that by making such a stupid demand on my wages, I am now costing the taxpayer. Up until now, the government has received from me £700-800 in tax, Ni, and Child support! Now I'm costing them!!

I'm NOT complaining about having to pay, its just actually IMPOSSIBLE for me to pay what is being taken from me and still live! Can you please understand that. I cannot now afford to live. my ONLY option is to go to the state!

black-saturn

Can you explain to me why you are in arrears then?

roywest

Black Saturn No. IT'S IRRELEVANT. I won't be going into details of why I have arrears.

I'm not denying I owe arrears, Its simply that the repayments on those arrears are impossible for me to pay and that now, everybody loses out!

jonuk7

Just want to add a quick point, Im a single Father with a 2yr old Son living with me, me and my EX get on really well we both share custody etc..
They did try to sting me with CSA claims etc earlier this year but got that sorted, im not currently working as waiting for my son to get to the top of the nursery waiting list but i can tell you its NO EASIER been unemployed claiming benefits, im currently getting £110 Per week (ONLY £10 more than you say you will get NOW) and this is just as hard to live on when you have rent, bills, food, all the usual expenses.

I have to ask you say there are 4 of you now, so does your new partner not work or receive any income?? i fail to see how 4 of you COULD live of £90 a week so surely she is getting something even if it is just benefits??

Belive me you dont want to jack your job in, i hate nopt working, id do anything to go back now its mind numbing, sitting at home all day, or going shopping you end up even worse off when you start that route as its all you can do to stop been bored..

roywest

jonuk

When I say keep 4 of us I mean me as a single man, My ex wife and 2 kids.

I'm not saying its easier on the Dole, Believe me been there, got the t-shirt. Its not easy! I'm not after easy, I wanted to be able to continue to work, continue to pay cs and is as simple as that.

Currently I cannot pay my rent and bills!so I'm forced into the state route

astonsmummy

You wont get the dole if you leave your job volintarily.
So instaed of doing the right thing your gonna give up work sponge of the state and deny your children money.
My god some people have no self respect.

astonsmummy

how many bills do you expect to pay on £57 a week