benefit & CSA confusion

panyanpickle · 19 January 2007 at 1:13PM

HI CAN ANYONE PLZ ADVISE ME HERE? I AM SO CONFUSED WJAT TO DO. MY EX AND I SPLIT 18 MONTHS AGO, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN PROCESS OF DIVORCE, ME, BEING A SINGLE MOTHER WHOM WAS TOTALLY DEPENDANT UPON HIM FINACIALLY,HAD TO CLAIM INCOME SUPPORT AS I DIDNT GO THROUGH THE CSA (FOR MY OWN REASONS). I SWITCHED MY MORTGAGE TO INTEREST ONLY AND HAD FAMILY HELP WITH THESE PAYMENTS UNTIL THE DWP HELPED(THIS WAS AFTER 9 MONTHS SEPARATION).I RECEIVE 100% COUNCIL TAX BENEFIT AND LEGAL AID FOR MY DIVORCE I ALSO GET THE CHILD TAX CREDITS.
MY QUANDRY IS THIS, I'VE RECEIVED A LETTER FOR ANOTHER APPOINTMENT WITH THE CSA, MY EX (ONLY THE LAST 3 MONTHS)HAS BEEN PAYING ME £300 A MONTH FOR THE CHILDREN, DO I NEED TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS PAYMENT AS IT'S VERY KINDA HIT AND MISS, NEVER GUARENTEED AND WHEN I DO GET IT I HAVE TO BEG AND PLEAD ETC ETC.
SO IF I GO THROUGH THE CSA I THINK I'LL LOSE MY INCOME SUPPORT THUS HELP WITH MY MOTRGAGE, IF SO THEN THERE IS NO WAY ON THIS EARTH I CAN SFFORD MY HOUSE, NOT EVEN AT INTERST ONLY OR IF I WORKED ALL HOURS GOD SEND. IT'S A HIGH MORTAGE MY EX EARNT IN EXCESS OF £55K A YEAR.
CAN ANYBODY TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO DO?????
PLEASE AM DESPARATE.
THX
PANYANPICKLE

Scarlett1 · 19 January 2007 at 1:43PM

you must declare this £300 straight away as it stands you are commiting benefit fraud as its income, on IS you are only allowed to keep £10 per week without it effecting your money.

ring the dss and tell them straight away otherwise you can get into serious trouble, make this money your main source of income and you might even possibly get an IS top up and still be eligible for mortgage payments and other benefits associated with it.

you could always get a part time job to top up the maintenace money and then you can claim working tax credit and child tax credit if you arent already receiving it.

please dont leave things as it is cause if you get found out you will have a big overpayment and you will have to overpay not only your IS, but also you mortgage payments

panyanpickle · 19 January 2007 at 1:48PM

hi and thx- it does seem tho that EVERYONE slways concentrates on that part and i get no advice on what i need to do with the rest, but thx anyway.

Rikki · 19 January 2007 at 1:49PM

The payment is for the children and should only effect the amount the DHSS pay for them. Have a look on their web site.

Visit the CAB they are normally very helpful.

If you don't want to have the CSA involved you don't have too. They are known to cause more problems than they solve.

Scarlett1 · 19 January 2007 at 1:51PM

panyanpickle wrote:

hi and thx- it does seem tho that EVERYONE slways concentrates on that part and i get no advice on what i need to do with the rest, but thx anyway.

the thing with maintenace is its not guraranteed and as you probably know yourself it can stop as soon as it starts so dont rely on it, maybe a suggestion of having something drawn up by a solicitor or going through the csa might be a better way of getting the maintenace

msmicawber · 19 January 2007 at 1:59PM

Hi Panyanpickle,

Since it sounds as though he's being a control freak over maintenance for his children, might it be better for you if the CSA took over dealing with it for you - ? There again, if he's self employed or likely to give up work if the CSA get involved, then there's no point pursuing it with them as he'll just slide out of paying and, if you declare it as income, you'll be stuffed if he stops paying altogether. I appreciate you're in a difficult position.

I'd recommend going to the Citizens' Advice Bureau and speaking to them about what benefits you're entitled to and what the impact is on various benefits if you, say, receive maintenance, or otherwise increased your income.

You appear to be asking for specific information, but it's very difficult to give that without knowing a lot of detail about your personal circumstances (which I can totally understand that you may not wish to set out in a public forum).

kelloggs36 · 19 January 2007 at 2:05PM

Rikki you are wrong I'm afraid. ANY money she gets from her ex MUST be declared and will be deducted from her income support. I need to ask though, you say you did not go to the CSA and must have shown Good Cause, please explain why you chose not to go to the CSA when it is a requirement? Also, they may withdraw this from you now as you have taken money from him; if you claimed that he was violent etc and they decided that you were at risk by asking CSA to contact him and then took money direct from him, this could affect this decision. If you are in a position to take money from him then you MUST do it through the proper channels i.e through the CSA.

How many children do you have? How much does your ex earn? These are all important bits of info that are required. He will be assessed at 15% for 1 child, 20% for 2 children and 25% for 3 or more children. It will be from his NET income.

The only time that your Income Support claim will stop is if he is assessed at paying more than you get, so it can happen.

The DSS will only pay interest on mortgages up to 100k anyway, so you need to check what is being paid to the mortgage company. Do you have any means to pay off the mortgage at the end of the term as interest only will do only that and you will need to have something in place to pay it off, otherwise you will have paid all that interest and still not own the house and have it repossessed anyway. Don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't know what you have considered, or not. Do you intend to sell the house in the near future in order to pay off the mortgage?

I would advise you to refuse any payments from your ex at the moment - you must declare any payments and it will affect your Income Support. By being tempted, you are committing fraud which must be pointed out as it is fundamental. Let the CSA deal with it and do it all properly - that is my advice.

kelloggs36 · 19 January 2007 at 2:07PM

Rikki wrote:

The payment is for the children and should only effect the amount the DHSS pay for them. Have a look on their web site.

Visit the CAB they are normally very helpful.

If you don't want to have the CSA involved you don't have too. They are known to cause more problems than they solve.

It isn't as simple as that. THere have to be very good reasons why the CSA should not be involved such as her being at risk of harm or the children being at risk of harm by him being contacted. She has jeapardised this now by taking money from him direct and so cannot claim that he should not be contacted for this reason.

panyanpickle · 19 January 2007 at 2:09PM

hi and thx-yes i think i need to give the dwp a call and find out exactly what i am/am not entitled to if i go thru CSA, It is truethat this "maintenance" from him is certainly NOT guarenteed therefore i am very wary. So basically i'm pretty stuffed either way and sounds like me and my children will end up homeless,while he continues in his new life with new woman and her 3 kids still earning £55k a year with brand new car etc!!!!

God life's a.....................!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You all it's good to have someone to talk to, everyone i know seems to be so in the dark and confused about benefits etc, noone's divorce etc is ever the same

kelloggs36 · 19 January 2007 at 2:17PM

I am a member of staff of the CSA (on career break at the moment) and can help you there. I am also a parent with care whose ex owes me in excess of 25k with an impending prison sentence hanging over his head - I shall keep you posted! However, feel free to PM me if you need any advice regarding CSA matters.

If he earns 55k, his net income will be reduced by 25% (as he has 3 children in his household) and you will get the relevant percentage of what is left for your children. Please take it further as it will ensure that he cannot use anything against you at a later date and get you into trouble. He is liable to maintain his children regardless of what he is doing now - being a parent is for life, not just whilst you are living together and he mustn't be let off the hook. If your life changes and you get a job then any maintenance you get is yours - it isn't counted for Tax Credit purposes and it may be useful, but you can only get any sort of security by doing it formally. Even if he doesn't pay, they can take steps to get it to make him pay. It isn't a perfect system but it's the one we've got at the moment and we have to go with it. Good luck.

Rikki · 19 January 2007 at 2:25PM

kelloggs36 wrote:

It isn't as simple as that. THere have to be very good reasons why the CSA should not be involved such as her being at risk of harm or the children being at risk of harm by him being contacted. She has jeapardised this now by taking money from him direct and so cannot claim that he should not be contacted for this reason.

I have personal experience of the problems caused by the CSA.

My ex paid me money for the children. Every fortnight or every four weeks depending on his circumstances. I was adviced to go to the CSA. They decided he should pay more. They hounded him to the point where he stopped all payment and the battle for money became between the CSA and him.
The children got nothing and for years and years this continued until the case was closed.
I was happy with the lower amount I was receiving. At least I got regular payments.

benefit & CSA confusion

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