This is the sort of thing the Government should crack down on ...

[Fred Bassett]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1317014/Bentley-driving-estate-agent-gets-tax-credits-poor--means-ex-wife-pay-child-support.html

 

That really is taking the mickey.

[tiglet]

Sounds just like my ex. The CSA have been trying to get him to up his payments for some time now, but he seems to have managed to convince them he is on minimum wage due to a similar sort of arrangement - so I get less than £100 per month. Hmm, a plumber earning minimum wage - highly doubtful in my book.

 

He, meanwhile, runs two vehicles, is always in new clothes, always goes out, has holidays abroad and no mortgage left to pay.

 

£70 a week? Mine works out at less than £20 and there is nothing the CSA will do, despite knowing exactly how much money is going into his bank account, as he is claiming virtually all of the money is going on business "expenses". I, meanwhile, have not been able to work for the last few years due to our child's disabilities and cannot claim JSA etc. as my husband earns too much.

 

Hardly seems fair, does it?

[Fred Bassett]

It's not fair at all Tiglet. It's not very honourable either on his part. What sort of man would not want to provide properly for his kids? The CSA has been an unmitigated disaster for too many people.

[SOD'EM]

I was quite happy to be the family man and provide for my ex and my son 16 years ago. She then decided that I wasn't good enough for her and went with someone else. She also decided to move away so I couldn't see my son. She then decided to report me to the CSA who wanted my boss to give them £350 per week out of my wages (I only picked up £189 after tax). I then had to leave my job as the CSA wouldn't back down. I have had to leave 2 other jobs since, and cannot take a job on unless it pays sufficient amount for me to feed my family now. CSA is one big cock up, and I for one would like to blow the place up. The Government don't seem to care about it either.

 

What about all the absent fathers that had kids before the CSA was formed? Where's their payments?????

I have a really deep hatred for the CSA and I don't particularly like anyone who reports men to them. It's a joke, and so are they. People survived just fine before Slaggy Maggie invented the cretinous institution. Until they assess people right and take the right amount, they need to stop. I have a savings account (which my son or his mum know nothing about) in his name for when he turns 18, but the CSA can go and whistle. I will kill myself before I start giving them two thirds of my take home pay..

 

I wouldn't mind so much, but when they were taking money from me, it wasn't even going to my son because his mum was claiming benefits. It's only this year that the CSA have decided to pay mums that are on benefits. Before that, they kept it all themselves.

 

CSA=Complete ****** A***holes.

 

 

IMHO

Edited October 3, 2010 by SOD'EM

[babybear39]

I quite agree SOD'EM!

[Fred Bassett]

Precisely. The CSA seems to get it wrong every time. It either wants too much, doesn't want enough or doesn't collect at all. I'm not speaking from personal experience here but it is quite obvious to all that this institution simply doesn't work.

[SOD'EM]

I know someone that worked there, and they say that the Government has just brushed them to one side and let them get on with it. Because the mothers now get the money if they are on benefits and the Government doesn't keep it, they don't want to know. It would be a different story if the Government kept it.

[tiglet]

It does seem that they fail to get it right for either side in so many cases.

 

TBH, I think it would have been so much better to have left the courts to decide it.

[sillygirl1]

I agree, whilst I don't have any kids I've seen enough evidence on both sides to know it is very one sided, was only set up to get people off benefits, well living off an ex IS living on income obtained by dubious means (in some cases).

 

Take the case of an ex of mine, his wife decided to take up with somebody else and had three more kids in five years (she is now 52 with three under tens...) as well as the two kids she had from my ex, she demanded £100 a week EACH for the elder kids so they could live on their own... needless to say a report went into social workers and her little ruse was found out.

 

Apparently now she is living somewere in the west country, having hit lucky with a house transfer, and is a lot happier as the kids are now going to a school where they have 'after school classes' where they can stay til 6pm...

[unbelievably angelic]

Having worked in the DSS just after the CSA came into being, I can't honestly paint a good picture. It was initially seen as a great move forward but after a few months of reality became a bit of an embarrassment and a paperwork headache.

There was a bloke on the news the other day that was claiming Disability Living Allowance for a bad back but they had footage of him as a children's entertainer and a gym coach.

The thing that puzzles me is why there's no crackdown on people claiming 'ordinary' benefits such as Jobseekers Allowance.