[Solved] Can't afford payments

If you need information and / or advice it would be a good idea to write an account of your problem instead of posting a single smiley which does not convey anything.

Thanks, sorry was distracted this morning.
I been split from my wife a 2 teenage girls for 2 years now and I've never missed a payment, my latest review has rocketed and the payments are way to much for me to afford I've appealed and had no joy. I'm paying about 12 thousand in debt that my wife has left me with can this be taken into account even though I've been paying it on both our behalf a in my name ?? I'm considering quitting my job because I can't afford to live with the hike in CSA

Hello Paullatch,

Welcome to the site. I know others who are knowledgeable about the CSA / CMS will be on here later today to help you with your specific problem.

You say payments have "rocketed," I know very little about maintenance payments but I thought there had to be a rise in income of 25% before there was any increase in payments and vice versa, the amount of payments doesn't go down unless there is a decrease in income of 25%.

Is the debt in your sole name?

Understandably you must feel very worried. There are a number of people on here with a vast amount of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to the difficulties encountered by single fathers. One or more will soon post a message to you.

Hi Paul and welcome to the forum.

There's no need to apologise, I completely understood your use of a single smiley and felt you would post more when you were ready.

Unfortunately if the debts are solely in your name the CSA won't take them into account.

Have you had an increase in income? Reviews are undertaken annually to take into account any changes in salary. The 25% that the other member refers to is when parties ask for a variation, in that case there has to be a change of at least 25% in income to warrant the CSA looking at it again.

If your appeal has been unsuccessful but you think the decision is wrong, you can escalate it further. It might be a good idea to go and see your MP and ask them to contact the Parliamentary Ombudsman on your behalf, MPs can be very supportive in situations like this where government departments are involved....it's worth a try. Here's a link to further information about the appeals process

www.gov.uk/child-maintenance/complaints-and-appeals

In the meantime, here's a link to the CSA calculator, which will give you an idea of what you should expect to pay.

www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance

Best of luck