It is the Child Support Agency’s aim to reduce child poverty in the UK. The CSA provides a means by which parents with care can collect maintenance payments, for their child or children, from the non resident parent. As part of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission the CSA is able to trace non resident parents and enforce financial responsibility.
What The CSA Does
By collecting information, regarding income and circumstances, from the parent with care, the Child Support Agency can assess and process a maintenance claim, collect periodic payments and distribute the funds to the parent with care. The agency’s aim is to support the main carer of the child, or children, throughout the maintenance set-up process. This is done by calculating the amount of payable maintenance and handling the payments from the non resident parent.
The CSA also has the power to track down absent parents who avoid paying child support maintenance. Tracking is done by accessing information held by government departments like HM Revenue & Customs, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and agencies like Jobcentre Plus. Specialist tracing companies are also used by the CSA, and the agency has the power to take someone to court and impose a fine of up to £1,000 for failure to provide information.
Child Support Agency Activities
The CSA maintains contact with parents with care and non resident parents in order to facilitate the maintenance process. The CSA will discuss the amount of maintenance that is payable and provide payment options for the parents to consider. The agency also ensures that the suggested periodic payments are continually made by monitoring maintenance and taking any necessary action to re-establish payments and recovery of child support maintenance arrears.
When enforcement action has to be taken the CSA will continue to provide information regarding the individual case, to the parent with care, so that they are able to consider all options and update claim application details.
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Having collected relevant information from the parent with care the Child Support Agency then processes the application and requests maintenance payment from the non resident parent. The payment can be taken directly from the parent’s wages, if they refuse to pay maintenance. The CSA can also use the courts to claim the payment, and can freeze accounts, register the parent’s debt, force the sale of property, confiscate a driving licence or send the parent to prison.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
How Parents Can Take Action
An increasing amount of liability orders are granted each year. Appealing against a CSA decision is a simple process that requires the parent contacting the agency and requesting an explanation of the decision. A formal appeal can also be requested by submitting the appeal to the Social Security Child Support Appeals Tribunal. Around half of the appeals currently made are resolved directly within the CSA.
CSA Changes
Child maintenance arrangements made through the Child Support Agency (CSA) will be ending between now and the end 2017. If the CSA currently handles your child maintenance, you’ll get a letter telling you: when your child maintenance arrangement will end and how and when to make new child maintenance arrangements. The Child Maintenance Service(CMS), is the agency which is replacing CSA.
Thank you
fast forward 3 years and my circumstances have changed considerably (lower income and kids now in mainstream education) I am struggling with the court payments of £200 a week as its about 40-45% of my weekly after tax income and I have asked if I can lower them, but its met with the threat of legal action.
I have had no reviews as such in that time and i have also found out that my payments have been used as "secure income" against a mortgage with out my consent.
Where do i stand in this situation... im making my self increasingly ill due to money worries and what feels like blackmail
And he say that they have told him everything I've said to them over the phone call is this right ?
Firstly I was seeing a girl casually, who told me she was on the pill. We had a conversation previously about protection and also around what would would happen in the event of an accidental pregnancy. She assured me that she would terminate and that as she was on the pill, we wouldn’t need condoms. This was all lead by her.
We spoke about it only being a casual, set only arrangement and were clear on all the boundaries.
She then told me that she was pregnant and wasn’t on the pill whilst we were seeing each other. I told her in no uncertain terms that I didn’t want her to go through with it and would like her to terminate based on the parameters of that relationship. She’s told me she is keeping it and has also told me she will pursue me for child maintainable to pay my way.
I believe that she has knowingly planned for this and has acted to trap me.
Where do I stand?
My child father had a very good highly payed job . Now I have asked for child support for my 16 year boy he has supposedly quit his job and set up a company with no email or contact details , now the agency has told me he cannot be made to pay anything. How can this be right
He has 2 houses , 3 cars , a horse ,a motorcycle yet not even £5 to help my son
I have a daughter with my ex partner who hasn't been involved he also has another baby in same position the mother has claimed for Csa but I haven't and I wanted to find out if they would make the father pay for my daughter as well or if I'd have to do it because me and the other mother have been trying to sort it together
Since 12 years living in angla has no contact with him, I do not know adrsu recently stopped paying alimony.
Called CSA they said will send letter out.
Where do I stand and will I manage to get anything from him, as he has got away with 9/10 yrs of paying
My mother passed away in 2013 and I have no real information on my dad and hes never been involved in my life but I'm now 29 and really want to reach out have been looking for a few years but with little to no information its difficult. My mum once told me when I was roughly 2 years she went to csa to get support from my dad who fled, would they give me the information on my father? and how would I go about approaching it cause it is a long time ago
What do I do?
Can do my child's father was supposed to
Be traced but you did nothing to
Get what was owed even after I
Gave His address , his now driving and has a vehicle if you can afford a vehicle and a wedding you can afford maintenance simple
I have always been the absent parent and always paid and had contact with my daughter. For a number of reasons my daughter now lives with her grandmother and has done for many years. I have been paying her grandmother the payments for the last 5 years.
My daughters mother in this situation is now also the absent parent has she doesn't have care of her. The grandmother used to have a residency order in place for my daughter being there but it is no longer in place, however she lives with her grandmother permanently.
Essentially what I am asking is, should it be just myself paying maintenance or should her mother be paying as well? If so, how would her paying impact my payments? Would they be split, as in, what she pays would be taken off what I would usually pay?
Many thanks.
However, he was told that due to him getting his state pension he does not have to continue paying child maintenance for his daughter (she is 16 and going to continue her education - A levels).
This is grossly unfair: Is there some loop hole: I cant believe that this is the Law??
Crime and taxation.
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On direct.gov it clearly says it is a LEGAL obligation to pay for a child. And so therefore a CRIME not to.
CSA never got one single penny from him despite me contacting them many times about him working. During the handover to Child Maintenance Services, someone at the CSA actually admitted to me on the phone that they could have done more, but that it was nothing to do with them now!!!!! CMS seems to be much more switched on and although I have still not received anything, they are persuing him. So far he has denied even knowing me to them but was shown to be lying. They have all details of various types of properties he owns etc. I recently had a 'texting conversation' with him, first contact in over 15 years and coincidently on my son's birthday. He denied knowing about my son.....must have conveniently forgotten me telling him and the talk of our plans....also must have forgotten my doctor phoning him when I broke down in the surgery. He is if course pleading poverty, despite showing everything of on a certain social media site over the years, and has even interviewed by BBC WALES years ago concerning one of his 'properties'. However he did say that he would give me back my savings.....nope, I am definitely not holding my breath as I haven't heard anything since. The CSA, for me, may as well have never existed. Every letter I got from them saying he had paid nothing over the prev 6 months, and would be paying the same for the next 6 months, was like a kick in the teeth. All they did was make me feel worse, just rubbing my nose in how stupid I was to believe in the man.
I have provided some proof needed but I was not aware that I could have received child benefit for her, something that is now being held against me. I would have claimed if i knew i could. I am worried about if i am made to pay back any payments he made during that time (my daughter now is on medication and has had therapy and now in college thankfully)
My daughters have been failed.
Am i wrong , but i thought csa payments covers all clothing needs or do i have to provide them for when he stays ?
.
Can anyone give me some advise please?
It's ok though because hIs excuse is having a new family, therefore he dosent have to support his other children. When myself and my partner of 2 1/2 years decide to have a child of our own, I still INTEND on supporting my eldest 2. I'm very lucky to have met a lovely bloke, who supports my children and treats them as his own. Shame there father isn't a big enough man to stand up to his responsibilties, He far more interested then being bitter and twisted, and using his children as weapons. (actually just the one child as the eldest has the sense to see what his father has done) And yet again I'm the one that has to wipe the tears away when he has screwed up their heads. One day when it is far to late he will realise that all the time he was trying to spite me, it was the children that he was hurting!! Some men/ and women don't deserve to have children when they treat them like that!
What am I supposed to do? I work partime, would like to go fulltime but am unable to as need to be there for the children when they finish school.
He sees the kids every other week, this i arrange through his mother as i can't stand to be anywhere near him. Is this a case of i have to grin & bear it? it makes me so angry, that i sacrifice everything for my children and he does what he wants when he wants ....surely theres a way to enforce child support, USA do it, why don't we??? Ive contacted the benefit fraud bods 4 times and the tax man, figured if i he is forced to pay tax or stop benefits then i might get something ...so far NOTHING !!!! ANY ADVISE WELCOME !!
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