CSA Question

[UK26]

Hi All

a friend of mine split up from her husband and she had a kid with him.

she is not working at the moment but he is and does not live with her anymore. He however is working.

she would like to receive CSA payments to help with the upkeep of the kid etc.

the CSA have written to her ex-hisband but he has ingnored the request.

she has been to the solicitors has the CSA have said unless he replys to there letters they cant force him to make payments etc.

after seeking the advise from a solicitor they also confirmed this.

Is this really the case, i thought if the ex did not reply the CSA would take enforcement action to obtain the payments etc. IS this not the case?

regards

Dave

[spotnot]

As far as I can remember, the CSA will issue him with an estimated amount to pay, usually far in excess of what he will actually need to pay. This usually invokes a response.

If the CSA have his NI number they can eventually take the payments straight from his wages.

However, unless you badger the CSA on a regular basis, you won't get very far.

This is what happened in my case although it was a few years ago and things may have changed.

But if they can't enforce payment, what is the point of the CSA?

[AwakeNow]

Originally Posted by benwell

Hi All

a friend of mine split up from her husband and she had a kid with him.

she is not working at the moment but he is and does not live with her anymore. He however is working.

she would like to receive CSA payments to help with the upkeep of the kid etc.

the CSA have written to her ex-hisband but he has ingnored the request.

she has been to the solicitors has the CSA have said unless he replys to there letters they cant force him to make payments etc.

after seeking the advise from a solicitor they also confirmed this.

Is this really the case, i thought if the ex did not reply the CSA would take enforcement action to obtain the payments etc. IS this not the case?

regards

Dave

Hello Dave,

On the CSA's own site it states clearly all parents can claim for child support in the event of a split.

this is their site:

Who can use the CSA - Setting up child maintenance - Child Support Agency

Who can use the CSA

You can apply if you are a parent with care or a non-resident parent at any time to ask us to work out child maintenance and set up arrangements for payment.
Child maintenance and benefits

If you are the parent with care and claiming either Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, your claim will also be treated as an application for child maintenance. However, you will not receive full child maintenance payments as well as your Income Support or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance. This is because the Government keeps some of the money paid as child maintenance to make up for the money paid as benefits.
Instead, you will receive whatever benefits you’re entitled to, plus a child maintenance premium – any amount up to £10 a week of any child maintenance that the non-resident parent pays.
You can find out about what happens if the parent with care is receiving benefits and does not want to apply for maintenance.


This page from the site gives more detail on how to claim and where:

Your Case - Child Support Agency


I think your friend should return to the CSa after doing a little research on how best to claim. If her ex is self employed there are other issues coming into play.

To be honest the CSA are fairly useless, in my own experiance, as my own child gets nothing from her father however some fathers do pay over the odds.

There appear to be new rules coming in for the CSA to allow them to be effective and not just a waste of time.

So I suggest do some reading on the web and then see how to move forward. Good luck.

[Bearmaggie]

CSA can take action if the father is failing to respond to their letters and/or is failing to pay.

Under child support law it is a criminal offence to fail to provide information, as per Section 14A(3) of the child support act 1991. if a customer fails to provide information when requested to do so by the CSA, then criminal proceedings can be taken against him.

I recommend your friend contacts the CSA and asks that a compliance inspector visit him if he is failing to provide information.

if he is failing to make payments, then i suggest your friend ask the CSA to make a deduction from his earnings, or start enforcement action.

Hope this helps

[Invasive_Frost]

A word of caution, if your friend is claiming Income Support then she will only receive £10.00 a week, with the rest being taken as income and thus a reduction of Income Support.