Welcome to the DAD.Info forum: Important Information – open to read:
Our forum aims to provide support and guidance where it can, however we may not always have the answer. The forum is not moderated 24 hours a day, so If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call the police on 999.
Alternatively, if you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123.
If you are worried about you or someone you know is at risk of harm, please click here: How we can help
Hi,
I need advice on when CSA payments will end please;
My ex wife and I divorced approx. three years ago and since then I have been paying maintenance via the CSA with no outstanding arrears. My son is 18 years old on the 04/09/2014. He left school at 16 with the intention of completing a full time plumbing course at the local college. He started the course but dropped out after a couple of months. He then did nothing until November last year when he started working "cash in hand" for three months. On March the 10th of this year he began full time employment earning approximately £1000 per month working 40 hours a week.
I emailed the CSA on the 3rd of April reporting the change of circumstance - no response.
Telephoned again on the 17th of April - Nothing had been done.
Telephoned again on the 28th of April - Nothing had been done. Informed me I should inform child benefit of the change of circumstance, I didn't as I did not want to cause friction due to having a fragile relationship with my son (heavily influenced by ex).
Telephoned CSA again on the 9th of May was told that the case officer would call me back - No call.
Telephoned on the 23rd of May and I was told that a "child benefit request for information form had been sent" and that I should be patient and wait for the CSA to contact me as usually in these cases payments would continue until September.
Can you please provide advice;
I believe child benefit payments end immediately if the child begins full time employment working more than 24 hours per week, is this correct?
Should CSA payments end at the same time in line with the above?
Is it acceptable for the CSA to provide (in my opinion) the slow response as detailed? Can I do anything to speed things up?
Can I claim back from the CSA any overpayments?
If I stop making payments now will the speed the CSA investigates increase? What could the repercussions for me be?
Will contacting the child benefit agency regarding the change of circumstance speed things up?
Thank you,
Hi
Basically, the maintenance liability stops when the child benefit stops (that's not actually the CSA's fault - that's just the rule they follow), the issue is that your ex is probably fraudulently claiming child benefit still, so you will remain liable as long as she receives this benefit.
You could possibly withhold payment to the CSA (and put the money aside into a separate account to cover arrears if/when they chase you) and write to them explaining why you are doing this (with evidence), BUT they will probably chase you for the arrears - if they take you to court, then you might have a good chance by presenting your evidence, but realistically, they will probably go for an attachment of earnings, so you don't win.
Ultimately, your issue is really with your ex and the benefits office, not with the CSA, and it's a matter of whether you want to report your ex to the benefits agency, or to persuade your ex that you will do so if she doesn't stop claiming.
You can't claim back the money from the CSA, so I would recommend ringing them every couple of weeks for an update - just to keep your case current.
Thank you for the response but I suppose it was what I was expecting, really can't believe as a responsible parent that everything is so much in favour of the parent who has the child even fraud is acceptable!!!!!!
This country is a disgrace!!!!!!
Thank you
Welcome to the DAD.info forum.
We don’t like to set ‘rules’, but to make sure that you and the other dads are kept safe, we have some requests. When engaging with the forum, please be aware of the following:
- The forum is not moderated 24 hours per day.
- Many of the moderators do so on a voluntary basis. Whilst they may be able to provide some guidance, advice or support, they may not be able to deal with specifics.
- We are not an emergency crisis service so if you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call emergency services.
- If you are concerned about the safety of a child, please click here to find the support you can get for them (link to new page)
- If you are in crisis, please call Samaritans on 116 123. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
We hope you find this forum a supportive environment and thank you for joining us.