I don't know if anyone can cast light on this. I have several friends who have issues with the CSA. The CSA have gained CCJ's against my friends' partners, but they simply do not follow through in terms of enforcing them. One of these CCJ's is now well over 4 years old and there is no sign of one penny being forthcoming under the judgment. With the new regulations coming in, is there anything HCEO's can do that would enable the likes of my friends (there must be many others in the same boat) to get the CSA to enforce the judgments? It seems very unfair that these Mums (though they could also be Dads in this situation I guess) are struggling financially because a properly formed organisation (the CSA) is doing nothing whatsoever to get judgements enforced.

Hi, My brother was working intermittently 2012-2013 (agency work) and did not earn a great deal during that year. He repeatedly had contact with the CSA who kept telling him he owed nothing (he had paperwork to back this up). He thankfully, found a full time job last April and informed the CSA of his new circumstances after a few weeks of letters,calls etc. they said he had to pay £40 per week plus arrears of £3,500. He was shocked to say the least and asked for a complete breakdown. They had charged him for every week during the year he had hardly worked. He flagged this up and they said they would find out what he earned that year. Nothing happened, so my brother has continued to pay the arrears plus maintenance for his 2 adopted children. He queried it again this year as he was fed up paying all these arrears. They have now reviewed his case and slapped another £73 a month on his payments and increased the weekly sum for the children. He only earns £15,000 a year for a 50 hour week. His rent is huge , he has to pay council tax of course and all other bills and is worryingly depressed at this point. I e:mailed the CSA as it is so expensive to ring them, but we are getting nowhere. They send random letters saying he owes nothing and then increase the payments. He isn't great on the phone and is baffled by all the stuff they tell him, so I am trying to help. His ex left him and has a new partner and he doesn't see his kids,because he does'nt know where they are. Life is so unfair sometimes. Any advice would be gratefully received

This may seem a strange post but I am now receiving payments from the CSA which apparently are 'arrears' from years ago! I noticed a payment into an old but still active bank account from the CSA? Great some may say but as my son is now 21, I found it a bit odd and thought it must be a mistake and they will take it back so leave it alone, so I contacted the CSA with my old account number and found out that these payments are arrears which go into an account known as 'Acc 21'. Whilst it is great for me and my son, my question to the CSA was: what would have happened to this money if this account was no longer active AND I have moved a number of times since claiming CSA, where would this money have gone? I got no answer to that. So anyone out there, please make sure you inform the CSA of any house moves, bank changes etc, who know you might get a nice surprise like I did

Over two and a half years ago I contacted the CSA to request that my sons father be assessed and asked to pay Child support. To cut this long and frustrating story very short, the CSA made an administrative error, which they have admitted to, which meant that I lost out on payments from Jan 2011 until Dec 2012. In Dec the admitted to this and also paid me £50 compensation for the delay in dealing with my complaint. After my ex had paid six months of CS payments I asked to be referred to the Special Payments Department (on the advice of the Complaints Resolution deparment) to resolve the financial loss I suffered through their mistakes. After much "faffing about" and delay tactics this case has now been refferred to the mysterious Special payment Dept, (they arent allowed to speak to me or the CSA main office....just emails apparantly), and have been waiting for 30 days so far. i have no written acknowledgment of this refferal, although it has been confirmed several times on the telephone, and I appear to be sat in limbo waiting for them to make a decision. Does anyone have any experience of how long this particular stage of the process should take? i have read their guidelines to the payment officers, but cannot find any reference to time limits. i have already spent hundreds (literally) of punds on phone calls during this battle, and cannot seem to find any other agency or body to help. i do not wish to involve an MP as, reading others accounts, this only seems to complicate matters, and I believe that ICE only get involved once a decision has been made. So sick and tired of being penalised for the mistakes of an incompetent and poorly administrated Govt body. I am clearly one of very very many who are suffering because of this. Any advice is appreciated.

Hi, My husband and his ex agreed with the court during their divorce 15 years ago that he would pay for his 3 children with her so much per month with the understanding that payments would stop once each child would reach 18 or the end of full time education, whichever came first. Every payment (and then some) has been made without fail since. The 2 eldest are over 20 with their own families now so we stopped paying for them a while ago. The youngest moved in with her sister when she turned 16 in September 2012. Since then we have been paying her sister the money instead of her mother. Youngest daughter is now in 6th form and maybe pregnant. The sister is also receiving child benefit and child tax credits for the youngest daughter. I don't want to be the wicked stepmother here but we are really struggling ourselves and have just found out that the sister has more income from her total benefits than me and my husbands combined wages. I thought I read somewhere that once a child over 16 moves out of home of their own accord then payments don't have to continue. Can anyone help with a bit of advice please? Thank you and Happy New Year

Hello there, I am having deductions made for child support from my ex partners JSA. However I believe that he is purposefully not signing on (i.e, missing appointments) or getting himself sanctioned so that payments cannot be made to me. I also believe that when his benefit is reinstated, the deductions are not made automatically by CSA, so my ex partner is paid more JSA than what he usually would be..Hence he's discovered a loophole in the system that he can continue to abuse. Can anyone shed light as to whether or not I'm correct? Also, if this is a loophole that he is abusing, can I sue him myself for the arrears that he currently has with CSA? Thanks.

I am paying CSA around £430 a month out of my wages to my son from a previous relationship. He is now 17 and I dont have any contact with him. He has displayed on social networking sites that he is working and flashing his cash. Friends of mine who speak and know him have also told me this information. I have reported it to the CSA and have been told that because his Mum is claiming child benefit I still have to pay. Any ideas on what to do?

Hi, After 14 years paying a privately agreed amount for my daughter, my ex is now wanting double the amount and threatening to go to the CSA if I don't pay up. The unusual bit is that I didn't see my daughter for the first 13 years of her life and have recently found out that she didn't have custody of our daughter for 6 of those years (the ex was/is an alcoholic and drug user when she lost custody). Because I didn't know this, I paid her all those years. I wouldn't mind paying a bit more if I thought the money would be spent on my daughter but I don't believe it would be and I really cant afford what the CSA calculator says I should pay. Could I use the fact that she had 6 years worth of maintenance off me as leverage to stop her bleeding me dry? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Please bare with me on this one. I am a father of three, two of those children live with me my eldest lives with my former partner 200 miles away (she decided to move not me) My former partner made me trudge through a contact order application and fought tooth and nail stopping me seeing my son which cost me £5k to fight in court, to rightly be awarded contact, needless to say she does not commute our son all travelling is done by me alone. I currently work and have been in contact with the CSA in regards to an assessment. on a net weekly income of £400 here are the calculations. £400 remove 20% for my two children whom live with me = £320 15% of which should be paid to my child living without me. This alone is a bemusement to me, why do my children have different needs? Surely the cost of keeping children is an equal? Why does one child cost 15% of my salary and the other two only 10% each? Now the next piece of mind bogglement is i applied for a variation to the calculation on the basis of my travel expenditure. This expense is an average of £160 which the CSA calculated at £140 minus an inbuilt travel expenditure allowance which is understandable. I was told this was £15 per journey, its not its £15 per journey direction. so a deduction of £60 All in all £160 shrinks to £70 / 4 = £18 per week. But the [problem] does not end there at all. So you go onto the online calculation and it works out at about £48pw So you would imagine that after the joke of a expense calculation your weekly payments would be reduced to £30 to help you absorb the travelling costs. NO It is taken from your net weekly income so £400 net weekly income £18 removed for fuel allowance £382 20% removed for children living with you £76 Total £305 15% of which should be paid to PWC so £46 per week So a true expenditure of £160 per month equates to £2 per week £8 per month. Any suggestions on me attacking this pure lunacy?

Well, apologies for what is going to be a very long post, but tbh my head is fried and a few weeks ago attempted to call my life a day sadly. Selfish i know, but half way through stopped and went to hospital - mainly due to me finding my ex cheating on me. I am in a very awkward situation and I am not sure where the law stands, where I stand and until i find out cant sleep - not even with the anti depressants i am on. My Situation I am 38 I have 2 children from first ex aged 15 and 13 They get £150 a month (private agreement) 1 child aged 5 from my recent ex gets £75 month (private agreement but dont trust her hence why on here) We were not married. My Finances Earnings are £33k before tax and a £5k Car Allowance on top (due to the mileage i do) Take home pay therefore is £2300 a month Outgoings come to £2200 leaving me £100 month for clothing and going out (altho if i stop smoking this will help) All bills (which are a struggle) are paid like amenities, mortgage, council tax, fuel, food, catalogues, phone, house insurance etc My House We bought the house in joint names in 2008 from Barratts on a 75/25 scheme. We at the time bought the house for £158,400 which was the 100% value. However the mortgage payment is £550 for the £123000, and the other 25% is held as a second charge on the property of which during the next ten years following purchase means a remortage to pay the oustanding sum. The property is now in £33k negative equity which doesn't help The issue She has never paid a pennny into the mortgage or towards any other bill - not even a tin of paint. I have proof of this. She states that the CSA have told her she is entitled to £355 a month due to my income She states she can have that as I didn't go through official channels for my other 2 children from previous ex Ive explained that if she wants that money i cant afford the mortgage which means she would have to be half liable to the property -( is that right?) costs - she seems to think that as she isnt working she wouldnt or couldnt afford to pay it. So for the time being she has agreed to £75 month the same as my other 2 get. She lives with her mum and dad now with my little boy. I have no idea what she is claiming benefits wise She cannot get a property with the council as they have refused her application as her name is on the mortgage. She cannot get her name off the mortgage beacuse of the negative equity plus my credit file shows a few late payments from other stuff (not the mortgage) I believe that if she does get her name off the mortgage she will then go to the csa screwing me over. Child Arrangements I have all 3 children from Friday - Sunday 3 weekends of the month. This week due to BH and the fact i am off from work for a week, I will be having them from Friday until Thursday. We shall be going out for day trips, plus obviously I need to feed them both when out and both when at home. Due to her going to her mum and dads and the fact that our son has some learning difficulties it has meant the fact that he has had to move to nurrseries and is unable to get a school position until Janauary 2014. I dont seem to be fully informed about any progress of my son and what is happening Other She bought a pc for me for xmas in 2007. She fell behind on payments etc. Cut a long story short, she got a ccj, then a charging order on the property we are in . The finance was in her name. Her mum and dad have forced me to sign saying that I will pay it at £25 a month. I am stuffed beacuse if i dont pay it then HFC will or can enforce sale of the property. So like i say, I aplogise for this massive amount of information, but i think its important that I have divulged everything. I just need to know where i stand. I am so confused and my head is so battered and well due to work commitments Ive just not had chance to speak or see anyone and I am certainly not in a position to pay I am confused as according to the CSA calculator I need to be paying £58 a week which i cant afford and is odd that that seems to be a big difference from £355 she had been quoted. Like i say I dont know what she is claiming, and according to it, if she is claiming various benefits and given the amount of nights my son is here, I dont need to pay anything?? Please can anyone help me with any of these issues and questions i have raised? I am so confused with it all. Thanks in advance Ian

Hi all, just a complicated question, after splitting from the ex(not married) 3 years ago, I had to fight to get my share of the equity of the house which I finally got 4 weeks ago to the sum of £80000. (the ex has £300000 in a bank account) I have paid CSA from day one but also all the mortgage. (I switched from repayment to interest only. She had her new boyfriend move in 2 years ago and basically he lived there scot free. She is paying day to day bills.I have had to live on families sofas in this time. Last week I was handed my redundancy at my job. Now as I have been given 3 months continuous pay then the lump sum at the end, my understanding is that I will have to carry on paying the full amount until the 3 months is up. question 1 Can the CSA take a lump sum out of my £80000? 2 will I need to be reassessed at the end of 3 months 3 is there and upper/lower limit on savings i can have? I know that as soon as she finds out i have been made redundant she will inform the CSA about the money she had to give me, But ideally I want that money so i can put a deposit down on a house at some point. If this is posted in the wrong forum sorry!! Pete

Hi, so just after some advice really~ My partner and his ex split up around 8years ago (she decided to kick him out and moved some other bloke in) They have 2 children together, daughter who was around 5 and the son around 2 at the time of the split. Since then my partner has paid money to her either cash into her bank account or bank transfer. When myself and my partner got together we continued to pay her money (usually paid in by me or transfer from my account to hers). Unfortunately along the way we became unemployed and the CSA took money from our benefits all the time we still paid additional money into her account. When we started working agin and our beenfits stopped we continued as usual to pay money to her account, a few occasions we have been unable to due to emergencies etc.. My partner started work in February and our benefits stopped (JSA etc) so we continued to pay money into her account every time my partner received his wages. Around 2weeks ago he had a call from the CSA saying there was a discrepancy in his income from a few years back, and they couldn't find any benefit claim for him (they were assuming he had been working and not paying her maintenance!) however we had been on a joint/couples claim for JSA where I had been the lead claimant (he was on my claim a such) which he told them and they said was fine. So today he gets a call and is told that he owes his ex nearly £1000 in CSA payments and that his ex had made a claim saying he owes her money right back from 2009, there was no other explanation as to how or why, or any advice given to him! He was then asked if he was in a position to pay the amount there and then, which as we are not in a position to do that, he said no. My partner asked why he had to pay it as he had been paying her money, and extra even when we were unemployed, and why they were just taking her side without even checking to see what had been paid to her. He was then basically fobbed off and told that's not how it works and that she had made the claim and they have to follow it up and make sure she gets the money owed. So she has made a claim saying he owes her this money from 3 or so years ago and they just believe her? What should we do next? Really don't know what to do, really appreciate any help

Hi To All Been waiting for CSA to sort out mycase for over 12 years.... MP has had the case for over 2 years andstill does nothing, CSA implemented a deduction of earnings from my ex butadmitted in writing they made a processing error and there is nothingthey can do ??? maintenance never paid at all for 4 years due to thiserror, maintenance was asessed @ £47 per week back in 1985 but onlyused to receive £40 every 5 weeks aprx What is the wayforward Tribunal ? Regards AG

Hi all, I'm in a bit of a pickle and don't know what to do. It's all my own fault, I know, but I've had a liability order for non-payment of CSA and bailifs are coming. My partner will go mental! I've hidden the letters from her. It's a mess; where do I start? I'm a recovering alcoholic, been sober for over six months now with the help of A.A., but have kept my head buried in the sand about not paying CSA. I'm a self-employed window cleaner, but severe depression is kicking my arse and earning a living is difficult. It's tough getting out the door; the world seems to be coming in through it. I know I need to support my kids, but the amount they're asking to too much; we're on the bread line as it is. I live with my partner; we're not married and it's her house and things. Can they take those? I have a van I use for work. Can they take that? They may as well for the use I make of it. Any help would be appreciated; it's all feeling a bit too much; I'm a mess, I know I know - I'm not even sure how I ended up like this. Tom.

hello, I hope someone can help me. My husband has been referred to Rossendales for child support arrears even thought he has been making regular monthly payments to the CSA since 2009 as ordered by the courts. Although we had paid off the arrears from the court hearing we carried on making the monthly payments as we knew there would be more arrears to pay. When my husband wrote to Rossendale's explaining this they said that the CSA had informed them that the payments he was making were for regular maintenance payments & not for the arrears. This is not true so my husband wrote back to Rossendales explaining that he had not been informed by the CSA of this & sent them paperwork which clearly shows that the payments he made were going towards the arrears. We had no response until Wednesday when a notice of distress was put through our front door, naming my car on the inventory. I have already emailed Rossendales informing them that it is my car they are not authorised to take the car. The bailiff also put a levy fee of £187.00 on the notice. There is no mention of how many visits they have made so I am assuming it is the 1st visit. My husband has rang Rossendales today & offered to pay them £50 a month & they have refused saying they want £600 a month which is totally impossible for us. They also said that the car registration document is not proof enough & that they want to see the insurance documents aswell. The insurance documents shows me as the policy holder & my husband as a named driver. My questions are: 1. Can they just take my car now I have informed them it is mine? 2. Is the registration document proof enough of my ownership of the car? 3. Do I have to send them the insurance certificate as proof aswell, if yes, will showing my husband as a named driver be a problem? 4. What will happened if the bailiffs do not gain entry to the house as after reading the threads I have not intention of letting them in? I hope this makes sense & hope someone can help. It is so frustrating as we are doing out best to pay off the arrears, but it is never enough for them.

The Department of Work & Pensions has awarded a contract to Marston Group to enforce arrest warrants on behalf of the Child Support Agency. http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/15233/online-news/marston-secures-government-arrest-warrant-contract

Hi, I am currently on JSA and housing benefit and income support. There is a big possibility that I will be receiving a backdated lump sum from the CSA for arrears owed. This would amount to approx 17 thousand. I have spoken to JCP and because csa is from 2008 onwards they say csa calculations aren't taken into account and therefore won't effect any benefits I receive even though it will be a lump sum. Is this correct? Surely if that amount is paid into my bank account it would be classed as savings? I really want to spread it between my childrens trust funds for when they are older as I believe it is their money. Any advice would be gratefully received x

My partner and I split up and she moved out of the house we rented together. I have had the assessment from the CSA and I have been moved onto the New Rules (having previously been on the old rules with a child from a previous relationship). So I now have to pay 20% of my net earnings. Due to now paying the full rent, bills etc. the figure they have quoted me will push me into a position very quickly where I am unable to afford to live i.e. a lot more going out than coming each month. I do not have a high paid job and I want to support my child financially as best I can. If I sublet a room in the house, with the land ladies consent, would this effect my payments to the CSA? Would it be better to have the tenancy agreement re-drafted to show both names or better to keep it just in mine. My understanding is that under the new rules you are adjudged on your net earnings so would this change in circumstance constitute "income"? i don't really want to share my home with a stranger as I help raise my children and I'm not trying to get out of payment, just be able to pay maintenance without loosing my home and then not be able to provide anything! I have discussed it with the CSA but so far their responses have been underwhelming! I was quite up together with the old rules but am new to the "New Rules"

hey all, how do you all pay the csa ie: standing order etc

hi all, i,m a newbie to this forum but hope some advice is to be had. the csa are saying that i have to pay back arrears within two years,i dont think this is lawbut just a guide line.has anyone put this to the csa?

Has anyone ever been successful? My ex husband has moved in with his girlfriend and her 4 kids which means my money has dropped by £17 per week. Its a big drop considering our children are aged 3 years and 2 years so I can only work part time at best because childcare costs are crippling even with extra funding my Health Visitor got for me. At the moment I'm back on full benefits as my little boy has been diagnosed with development delays and I couldn't juggle work and his various appointments The CSA said I could appeal the decision but few were successful and they warned me my money could drop even more as a result. Not sure what to do

Hi all, My ex-wife and I divorced over 10 years ago and I was paying regular monthly payments for my 2 girls. As part of the divorce, she got a court order saying I needed to provide P60s each year. She has never asked for them. About 4 years ago she decided to go through the CSA even though I have never missed a payment. I recently lost my job but continued paying out of my redundancy money. That is now running out and I contacted the CSA to reduce the payments. My ex and I have never had a good relationship since splitting up and she is now throwing her toys out of the pram and saying I need to provide P60s for the last three years. Fortunately I have a new job, which pays less, but means she'll only miss 2 months full payment. I'm happy to provide the P60 for this year, but I don't see why she can now go back and demand previous P60s seeing as she wanted to go through the CSA. I have always provided for my children and it's only the current situation that has caused this to change. Any thoughts on the P60 issue? Kind regards, Peter

Hi Cag Can some one advise me on the following please My partners son is 18 this week and is in part time college studying hairdressing and works 3 days a week in a local salon. His father has stated to the benefit agency he is in full time education which is not true. He failed to get grades at school and did not make the required grades at his first year at 6h form so he quit. Question, does the CSA still require payment ? as it comes direct from a deduction of earnings. The CSA have told us that they are satisfied wih the written response to the RP response but have not investigated the issue fully. Complained to the CSA direct but deaf ears as usual, taken the matter up with the local MP but as arrears are owed the NRP for the years her son lived at home and it is under dispute they are proving a very difficult agency to deal with, CSA to investigate a case whih has been disputed for 15 years, and even though the now RPhad a detachment of earnings srved on him it never came into force. The CSA in a letter we have stated that they apologise for the non payment of 4 years as the request to his employer was not followed up and monitored to ensure the monies were being taken. Cheer for any help AG

Hi all, I'm hoping for some advice. I've recently got letters from these bailifs who are trying to collect CSA arrears. I don't want to go into why the arrears are there but suffice to say most of it is my fault. I had two liabilty orders granted against me in January and offered the CSA £400 per month both verbally and in writing. I then heard nothing until the letters arrived this week. On contacting the CSA they informed me that they had accepted my offer of payment in Jan and had sent out standing order forms for me to make payments, I never recieved these. What can Rossendales do? They have told me that they have to collect the debt in two years (the total is £30,000 due to various mis calculations still being disputed). I'm married but live in rented accom where most of the possessions where my wife's when we moved in together (I'm down as an authorised tenant on the lease). On speaking to the CSA again this week they told me I should be dealing with the bailiff, obviously I'll make the offer on the doorstep as he won't be getting in but surely the CSA can take the case back and accept the payments that they agreed to?

I am currently living with my partner and it looks likely we are going to separate. We have a joint/couple claim and currently receive IB JSA. We have a child aged 1 and she would stay with me after the split. I understand I could claim Income Support as I'm unable to work due to looking after our daughter. I have 2 queries I need help with:- 1. If my partner subsequently gets a job would that mean the CSA would automatically become involved or if we have an agreement between ourselves with regard to maintenance can we agree that the CSA do not need to be involved? 2. Does anyone know how much I can receive by way of maintenance before it would affect my Income Support. Answers to either of the above would be greatly appreciated.