Will I get my money?

A question about : Will I get my money?

My son's father pays me maintenance for him monthly via the CSA. He pays a higher rate as it took them 10 + years to catch up with him and when they did he was offered the higher rate for the duration of maintenance or account for and pay the arrears from the previous years. This month my payment came through at a third of normal. Right before xmas too!
I contacted the CSA and was told they had no idea about it and nothing had been changed. They said they would be contacting him to chase it up. A week later I called again to see if anything was happening. No attempt to contact him was listed on the file and the advisor said there seemed to be a request for a change of circmstances pending, but no supporting evidence yet.
Last I heard he wasn't answering the phone and a 7 day warning letter to pay would be sent. Am I likely to get the rest of the payment? What action will they take if he just refuses to pay?

Best answers:

• If he is on a DEO, and had a change in circumstances for the month in question, IE was sick, then he will of earnt less and will possibly of fallen into his protected income level meaning his employer could not legally take the money.
  This will be taken in the future by his employer with no intervention should he be back onto normal earning levels...
  Is there any reason he would not of worked...? Do you know if he was off sick...? Extended holiday or something similar...?
  You will need to chase it up with the CSA, but it could take some time...
• Either way, it is HER money, not the childs...
• And if you want to be argumentative about this then i will explain in a different way wayne0
  Arrears are owed, now this could be any amount, but the CSA work things slightly differently in that you do not clear arrears 1st...
  Personally i would see it that ALL money owed is paid 1st, and any money due is tagged onto the end of the arrears meaning that the arrears are always being added, only when ALL the arrears are paid then you are paying current obligation...
  On that basis, SHE is owed the money as SHE has already paid all the bills so it is in fact HER money and not the childs. When and only when the account has NO arrears, then you may well be able to say it is the childs money... But it is still her that decides what it is spent on...
  Or do you think that owing the money to the child is better, and that when he pays the child the child then contributes to the bills that she has already paid...
• Thanks Kevin. As we don't have any contact whatsoever I have no idea on what could have changed or why.
  It's my money in the sense that I am the one who has to pay rent and council tax so my son has a home, shopping so he has food and clothes, gas so he has heat etc etc or do you think a child of 15 should have to be legally responsible for these things Wayne? It was also me who had to find a nice chunk of that elsewhere this month with no warning or explanation , so yes, it's my money.
• kevin i think you forgot about the tax payer, she doesnt mention she has a job (i dont know why shes not working) its not her money that pays her bills or for her child, its the tax payers money, so she her self isnt paying never mind the dad
• why isnt it relevant if she works or not ? i think that is the big issue - so you say it doesn't matter if she works or not? thats ok yeah? thats ok that the tax payer picks up her bill? is that what yr saying? someones gota pay for her, i think your wrong here
• Back to the OP's question, as we appear to have gone off topic 'a bit' (although it does make me angry when the PWC in my case smokes 20 a day and goes out to the pub all weekend despite my kids going without meals and desperately needing new clothes and school shoes....priorities and all that....) :
  If the OP's ex is on a DEO, there could be a number of reasons:
  Sick pay taking pay down below protected level
  Lost job
  Left job
  As the CSA say there is a Change of Circumstances request pending, it sounds like he has either lost his job or left his current job.
  If it was anything else (assuming he is on a DEO), the CSA would already know what was going on.
• Withabix - I'm a PWC. And I'm a smoker. I've worked damned hard to make sure my kids had a roof over their head, we're not all like your x. And some on here (not you) should remember that before assuming that we p1$$ any CM up the wall. Hell the CM I get wouldn't buy me two beers in the pub, never mind keep the wee one going in bread for a week
  Would be so nice on this forum if people would stick to the questions asked instead of jumping on that high horse and being so judgmental.
  Please remember this forum is for getting advice people
• Very true mazza!
  I pay Ј7000 per year CM for two daughters PLUS EXTRAS, plus another Ј800 per year direct to my eldest daughter as pocket money, so I shouldn't expect to see my children going without!
  ....and yet the PWC still goes to the CSA for re-assessments whenever I don't 'fall into line' with her demands. That backfired on her in 2012 as the assessment was reduced by 15%!
• Sorry was a wee bitty hungover when I wrote that this morning I get Ј5/week for the wee man. Just annoys me when we all get tarred with the same brush. I've retired now on medical grounds, and it's been a struggle through the years, but I know who the kids respect more, and it's not through me bad mouthing him, cos I never have
  There are good things and bad things to come out of separation/divorce. I just think some people need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture
  Just like not all NRP are like my ex (thankfully), not all PWC are like some of the exes we see on here (thankfully)
  anonx - It's none of our business whether she is working or not. She's came here to ask about her CM. Not about what benefits she can get....