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I am an 'Absent Parent' in the eyes of the Child Support Agency. I guess this is true when I live in Cambridgeshire and she lives in Tyneside. My ex and I split when I was still serving in the Army and wasnt prepared to leave before I had served my full 22 years. The ex remarried 6 days after the decree absolute was finalised overnight I became 'Old Dad', he became 'Big Dad'.
I have to say he's a nice bloke, it just his wife who I can't stand. I have been dealing with the CSA since then, paying what they ask regardless of whether I think it is the correct amount, easy life is better than fighting them and running up masses of arrears.
I now no longer serve my country and am no longer earning the same income. The CSA paid me a visit asking why I hadn't paid for 3 months, I said "How can I pay when I'm not working?" It wouldn't appear to matter to them. She took away my last 3 payslips and the latest copy of my mortgage statement. Meanwhile I crossed my fingers and hoped that I would still be able to afford the nice house my new wife and I had bought three years previously.
Somebody within the CSA couldnt read...
Unfortunately, somebody within the CSA couldnt read and typed the wrong address into their system. I heard nothing until a bailiff popped a demand through my door 12 months later asking for over £4,000. I had been taken to court without my knowledge and found liable for that amount.
Twelve months further on, I am still fighting what is their mistake, not mine. I have eventually cleared the amount owing to the bailiffs but now face arrears for the 12 months during which this dispute has taken place. One step forward, feels like 20 or more backward! Yet again the Child Support Agency make a mistake but somebody else has to pay for it.
When will the Government finally put the useless thing out of its misery? Probably never, they couldnt afford the redundancy package for all the staff no doubt! Hopefully the CSA complaints team will look into this. I finally spoke to someone in the Agency who was helpful and explained the correct steps to take.
I wait with baited breath for the outcome, although deep down I'm so sceptical about the whole thing that I probably get stung for even more cash than I am already lumbered with. Here's hoping.
By: Fostered Gaz
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18 MONTHS AGO I PAID A CSA WORKER TO WIPE MY FILE NOT HEARD A THING SINCE ... NOT LEGAL I KNOW BUT ALLOWED ME TO AT LAST HAVE MY LIFE BACK
09/03/13 PAUL ... LINCOLN
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The link works fine if you copy & paste it.
08/02/13 grumpyoldwoman
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Well it would seem that the CSA can pretty much do what they want. My story is this. In 2002 my marriage broke up and i immediatley started paying for my daughter to date i have paid 35,000 pounds, worth every penny. However last june my daughter decided she wanted to move away from home and due to English/Scottish educational syaytems i moved my daughter in with my mother, paying my mother support for the duration. 3 months later my daughter decided she wanted to move home to her mothers. The CSA was informed of the move and move back by myself and i was told it had to come from my Ex. They informed my that because my daughter moved back i was still liable to pay including the three months she was away, after much deliberation i informed them i would cease all payments until this mess was sorted ( daughter was financially supported directly) in Feb 2012 i nofrmed the CSA that i no longer work in this country and am selling my property and that we need to sort out any arrears, they informed me of a fugure which i disputed and aked for a breakdown. Upon recieving a breakdown i called the accounts department and disputed 4 fugure that were show. Figure one was the three months my daughter was living away from her mother the other figure they claim was a new assessment that they have held onto for 10 months and the final figure was unkown...total sum was 6400....ammount disputing was 4000. They immediatley took off 2000 as an error on there behalf but are now taking me to court over the oustanding balance. I have stated in my representaion (to court) that i am willing to pay the sum of 2200 but not the 1800 that i feel isnt owed. The purpose of my story is more of a stand, i will always support my daughter financially till the day i die but refuse to pay an government body monies that are unjust. I am only able to fight this as i am no longer acruing arrears due to my daughter having left full time education. I feel for those that have just started your fight as thats what it is. My court date is 29th August and i have made representaion by post as i am out the country....i will guarentee i will have to pay the full ammount although agreived to do so. Good luck all
20/08/12 Paul
0
I have been paying my child support since 1988 and have paid this off three times
North Carolina keeps finding another way to keep adding more to the support
Than I owe, my son and I keep in touch a couple times a week every week
He lives in Rocky Mount NC I live in Idaho Falls Id. He has brought his family and my two grand kids
to Idaho several times and I have gone to NC several times to visit also, point I am getting at is we get along very well he is a good kid , at this time he his 26 years of age, Belinda Harper Justin’s mother abandoned
the boys at the age of 6 years old, due to a bad drug problem, so they went to there Grand Mothers to live
and after talking to Belinda the mother she has told me the boys Never went to a foster home
I have paid my child support off 3 times now, now North Carolina is saying that I owe 1790, more
Because the kids were put into a foster home, there was no foster home they went to there Grand
Mothers home to live, then to an aunt’s home to live.
There was never anything said to me about this until now that they were in a foster home
And after talking to my son he has made it clear that they were never in a foster home
Is there anything I can do to put a stop to any of this?
Diale Davis
04/04/12 Diale
North Carolina keeps finding another way to keep adding more to the support
Than I owe, my son and I keep in touch a couple times a week every week
He lives in Rocky Mount NC I live in Idaho Falls Id. He has brought his family and my two grand kids
to Idaho several times and I have gone to NC several times to visit also, point I am getting at is we get along very well he is a good kid , at this time he his 26 years of age, Belinda Harper Justin’s mother abandoned
the boys at the age of 6 years old, due to a bad drug problem, so they went to there Grand Mothers to live
and after talking to Belinda the mother she has told me the boys Never went to a foster home
I have paid my child support off 3 times now, now North Carolina is saying that I owe 1790, more
Because the kids were put into a foster home, there was no foster home they went to there Grand
Mothers home to live, then to an aunt’s home to live.
There was never anything said to me about this until now that they were in a foster home
And after talking to my son he has made it clear that they were never in a foster home
Is there anything I can do to put a stop to any of this?
Diale Davis
-9
If you get a WDP and are on the new rules they can only take £5 per week
http://child-support-agency-cmec.blogspot.co.uk/
Here is some information which is quite helpful as the CSA/CMEC staff will not tell you and funnily enough they have taken it down from their site - I wonder why?????
The flat rate of child maintenance is £5 a week - no matter how many children are involved.
The non-resident parent pays a flat rate for child maintenance if:
their net weekly income is between £5 and £100, or
they or their partner who they live with gets Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income based Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit, or
they are getting one of the following benefits:
contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
State Retirement Pension
Incapacity Benefit
Carer's Allowance
Widowed Mother’s Allowance, Widowed Parent's Allowance, Widow's Pension
Severe Disablement Allowance
Industrial Injuries Benefit
Maternity Allowance
a training allowance approved by the Department for Work and Pensions
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
a War Disablement or War Widow’s Pension For our ex servicemen!
Bereavement Allowance
a social security benefit paid by a country.
20/03/12 Bully Beef
http://child-support-agency-cmec.blogspot.co.uk/
Here is some information which is quite helpful as the CSA/CMEC staff will not tell you and funnily enough they have taken it down from their site - I wonder why?????
The flat rate of child maintenance is £5 a week - no matter how many children are involved.
The non-resident parent pays a flat rate for child maintenance if:
their net weekly income is between £5 and £100, or
they or their partner who they live with gets Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income based Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit, or
they are getting one of the following benefits:
contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
State Retirement Pension
Incapacity Benefit
Carer's Allowance
Widowed Mother’s Allowance, Widowed Parent's Allowance, Widow's Pension
Severe Disablement Allowance
Industrial Injuries Benefit
Maternity Allowance
a training allowance approved by the Department for Work and Pensions
Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
a War Disablement or War Widow’s Pension For our ex servicemen!
Bereavement Allowance
a social security benefit paid by a country.
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i am also a father of two, i dont see them as there mother has packed up and moved with no forwarding address, the past 12 mths i have recived 4 payment break downs, im paying what they say i should pay, and today 19-12-11 i recived a phone call from them saying i oew them £204, ive gone through banks statments and in 2010 they were taking the wrong amout from my wages, almost 2 years on there saying its there mistake , but i have to pay the bill.
19/12/11 craigo
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it seems to late for me but here is just a little thing i would like to share with all the parents out there, especially the male ones !!
I am a resident parent who thanks to the csa`s fantastic regulations have to pay them as well as supporting my kids living with me at the same time ....... why because dispite providing the csa with all the evidence they have asked for my ex denies i have my kids 4 nights per week therefor i am not telling the truth, but to quote the csa " we are here to collect on behalf of the non resident parent and not to carry out an investigation into fraud"
16/08/11 THE REAL RESIDIENT PARENT
I am a resident parent who thanks to the csa`s fantastic regulations have to pay them as well as supporting my kids living with me at the same time ....... why because dispite providing the csa with all the evidence they have asked for my ex denies i have my kids 4 nights per week therefor i am not telling the truth, but to quote the csa " we are here to collect on behalf of the non resident parent and not to carry out an investigation into fraud"
14
John surely you cant just wipe a file and there not be any enquiry?? the resident parent would just kick clean off and demand a new claim??
14/08/11 Denise
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apparently there is someone who works within the CSA who for £500 will delete your records from there files . a few people already have had a weight lifted out of desperation by this method...
13/08/11 John (oxford)
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The csa are evil, inconsiderate bullies! They claim my husband owes £25000 in arrears, they don't care a jot about our 2 small children, they want their money and thats that! They are claiming letters that we sent have not been received! They have even written to the mother saying that she will be getting the £25000 soon, and like so many others she is one of these delightful people that has always lived off the state and never worked, whilst my husband works all the hours god sends to keep a roof over our head. But thank the lord, we are getting proffesional help with it all now, as I am very sorry to say that running away from this company does not help, they will catch up with you eventually one way or another!
28/04/11 fedup!
0
The csa are taking £160 a week from me a week and I earn £420 a week my gf works part time and they now want her national insurance number to get more money off me even if I don't give it to them they will assume she has a full time job and charge me for that.It is an unfair system and no father should pay more than the mother gets from the social like my ex does.So your not safe they always win.
01/04/11 a2kent
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Unfortunatly no, there is no help out there! as you will see from other posts and comments the CSA are a law unto themselves. They really don't care, even if you threaten suicide. The best thing you can do is accept that they're going to take every penny they threaten to. You could, of course, contact your MP because after all the CSA doesn't work and they all know it. I am a fellow victim so I know what your going through and you have my sympathys.x
31/03/11 Miss Grimreaper
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my husband has been contacted again by the csa to say he has to pay £118 a fortnight out of his £274 wages a fortnight, he is paying for a kid that is not his but they wont let him see the copy of the birth certificate that he has meant to have signed, he is paying for his own four kids that he doesnt get access to, now the csa are demanding this extra money, he is considering going on unemployment benefit, hes losing the will to live or he'll have no life cause he's got no money left by the time he contributes to the rent and council tax and other bills, is there any help out there?
31/03/11 depressed
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I have a son that lives with me full time and a daughter that lives with her Auntie. The Auntie was devious and went to CSA after I went to court with her, on her side, and allowed her to get a residency order.
I had a letter from the CSA saying that they were going to attach an order on my earnings to the tune of £300 a month. It's a lot but I don't mind paying for my daughter. Then coming up to Christmas I did a load of overtime so I could give my son the best Christmas ever. Strait after Christmas I did even more overtime so I could save for us to go on holiday for my boys birthday in May.
Now for the second month running they have taken £422 out of my earnings, leaving me just £830. That means they have taken their 300 plus all my overtime! My rent alone is £600. After Council Tax and bills we will again be living off the child benefit for the month. No holiday for us. I dread something happening to the car because how could I afford to fix it. No car, no job (I live out in the sticks) and to top it all, my daughters Auntie is complaining because she hasn't received ANY money from the CSA yet. I spoke with CSA and they said she will get £150 this week. So where is the rest of the money going??? Am I paying for other children with absent fathers that don't pay?
I don't know how we will survive. I have worked out that with petrol costs and deductions of earnings, I would be £160 a month better off on benefits. How is this country ever going to get better? I'm one of the lucky ones to have a job...or so I thought. I get £5 a week from my son's drug addict mother who is and always will be on benefits. Compare that to the £422 I am paying every month.... Can you believe, when I said this to the CSA they told me to stop doing overtime!!! I just don't know what to do. Can anyone help?
31/03/11 Andy Bishop
I had a letter from the CSA saying that they were going to attach an order on my earnings to the tune of £300 a month. It's a lot but I don't mind paying for my daughter. Then coming up to Christmas I did a load of overtime so I could give my son the best Christmas ever. Strait after Christmas I did even more overtime so I could save for us to go on holiday for my boys birthday in May.
Now for the second month running they have taken £422 out of my earnings, leaving me just £830. That means they have taken their 300 plus all my overtime! My rent alone is £600. After Council Tax and bills we will again be living off the child benefit for the month. No holiday for us. I dread something happening to the car because how could I afford to fix it. No car, no job (I live out in the sticks) and to top it all, my daughters Auntie is complaining because she hasn't received ANY money from the CSA yet. I spoke with CSA and they said she will get £150 this week. So where is the rest of the money going??? Am I paying for other children with absent fathers that don't pay?
I don't know how we will survive. I have worked out that with petrol costs and deductions of earnings, I would be £160 a month better off on benefits. How is this country ever going to get better? I'm one of the lucky ones to have a job...or so I thought. I get £5 a week from my son's drug addict mother who is and always will be on benefits. Compare that to the £422 I am paying every month.... Can you believe, when I said this to the CSA they told me to stop doing overtime!!! I just don't know what to do. Can anyone help?
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sharribell