CSA or whatever they are called now...

A question about : CSA or whatever they are called now...

Have the maintenance amounts changed recently..?

My ex earns around Ј600 per week. I only get Ј30 by private arrangement at the moment.

I am sick of being taken for a fool and am now going to make things more formal.

I went on the government calculator things and it says the amount should be Ј53 a week..?

She has our child for the summer holidays which if you average it out over a year it falls into the 52 - 103 nights per week bracket.

She also has two other kids living with her.

Now i did some sums via what i thought the csa amounts were 15% for one child. I know she does have a couple more but really does it go down from 15% = Ј89 a week to Ј53..?

*Edit*.

This is something i have just thought of. She is getting married to her b/f next year. Would any of his income be taken into account..?

is it just her earnings or other benefits she receives too such as tax credits and cb...

Best answers:

• Yes, the new scheme is worked out on Gross pay, not net and the % are different.
  If you were to open a case you would have to pay a Ј20 application fee. I believe that its 12% gross but she would have discounts for children living in her household and further discount for overnight stays.
• Just her income will be taken into consideration. And no, you cannot insist on a DEO. Infact, she will be encouraged to pay you directly because if the CMS collect and pay then you and her will both pay charges based on the assessment (you 4% of the assessment and her 20% charge on top of assessment).
  The cut off is 20 years old as long as child in education.
• Ok, if she pays directly, how is the assessment done and handled?. I would prefer to at least let the csa handle it. I dont mind paying 4%
  She is devious and probably wont provide recent pay slips as she would have convienantly lost them. All i want is what i am due, nothing more. I have been ripped off for the last few years, my own doing i admit. Time now as i said to get what i am due.
• You call them, pay Ј20 and they will look at her last P60 information via the HMRC and make an assessment on that. Its is then reviewed each year. She can have a deduction for her pension as well so the Ј600 a week you claim to know she earns wont be the figure used. It would be less and then subject to the deductions for overnight stays and other children.
  Even if she did have to provide payslips, if she couldn't, then the CMS could go to her employer.
  You sound quite bitter, I would try and calm that down and if your adamant that you cant have an adult conversation with her regarding increasing the CM then give the CMS a call.
  Bear in mind though, in reality you have no idea how much money she earns. Anything could have changed which she wouldn't have had to have told you regarding her salary. You might be cutting your nose off to spite your face. Ј30 is quite a decent assessment per week.