How have you found CSA?

Beth - posted on 05/19/2012

The main reason I use the CSA is so that I don't have to deal with my ex husband and also when they do manage to catch up with him (again) they can garnish his income/benefits and make sure that I have maintenance contributions to their upkeep. Also CSA have had issues in the past getting my ex's employers to sign off the paperwork to formally declare what his actual wages were. Certainly at one point when I was getting maintenance on a regular basis, I think it was partly in thanks to his 2nd wife (now ex 2nd wife), who helped make sure that it was paid. At the time, as some of her children from at least one previous relationship were living with my ex and his second wife, it meant that a percentage was taken off the child support calculation.

So be warned - if your ex is living with his/her current partner, then any children living with them gets allocated a set proportion of the child maintenance calculation. That's regardless of whether or not the children are biologically your ex's or not.

When my ex was on state benefits, I got a grand total of £5.00 per week for all three children in total, which I got every two weeks.

Deborah - posted on 05/19/2012

it is frustrating, my ex dropped out of the childrens lives 10 years ago (he's own choice) the CSA did find him at one point but he managed to convince them that he cared for he's elderly mother and that she gave him £5 per week they believed him. I did actually ask them what fool believed that, you could'nt feed a gold fish on that. This will make you laugh recently he contacted me on fb saying how 10 years was a long time with no contact but that he'd had a few problems (i would'nt mind having a few problems while sitting in my ferrari as he was) outside his mothers house, of course i have informed the CSA which they no doubt will not be able to do anything with. the problem is even if they were to get baliffs in to get he's belongings to sell and give the kids their money by the time they've done that he's gone again.

Beth - posted on 05/18/2012

Certainly I've given up ringing CSA now, a while ago, they actually rung me up early on a Sunday morning (before 9am) asking if I had any up to date information on my ex's location/work etc. Said no and that I'd given them all the information that I'd got about him.

Been informed that the case is going to be reviewed on a regular basis (about every 6 months I think) until they find him. As my ex is hiding, there is little that they can do, except trying to contact him at his last known address and phone number.

Deborah - I know how you feel, for the last 7.5 years I've had payments on and off from my ex. I actually took CSA to tribunal (can't remember actual reason, but to do with my ex), and they actually acknowledged that they'd lost some of the notes from my case. Anyway it was found in my favour and the amount that my ex had to pay went up.

Just waiting now until he's officially found again and he starts paying again. I get the feeling that my ex doesn't like to pay maintenance as his excuse (sorry reason) is that as he doesn't see the girls then he shouldn't have to pay. (Good reasons why he doesn't have contact with my girls, but that's another story).

Deborah - posted on 05/17/2012

Well here's a good one for you 11yrs of nothing, and the CSA have destroyed so many rainforests writing letters to him but they do have to give him a chance. last year they informed me he was working and were writing to his employers, well they only went and wrote to a company he left 6years earlier, daft thing is they were not allowed to tell me what company it was but once they had there reply informing them he did not work there any more they did tell me the company, I said to them that i cud of saved them the time and that i had told them 6 years earlier he had left that company. I don't bother phoning them anymore if they ever to manage to get anything it will just be a bonus, but on a good note ladies even when your child/children reach 100 any money that he owes from the age of 0 -18 is still owed.

Beth - posted on 02/15/2012

I've learnt the best way to get information out of CSA is to ask for an update on the case. Currently, waiting for my ex husband to show up on a trace with the inland revenue showing that he's paying tax/NI. CSA have confirmed that he's off benefits, but can't find out where he's working - they've said he's either cash in hand and/or not putting his wages/income through the books.



Also asked me to provide CSA with any information that I come across. Said unlikely that I'll hear anything as I'm the last person he'll tell.

Beth - posted on 02/15/2012

I've asked CSA to deal with the father of my three girls (my ex husband). I have had irratic payments of my ex. Last year they rang me up and asked if a) I knew where he lived and b) what I knew about his current situation. Answer - CSA probably knew as much (if not more) as myself. Said that as he didn't want to pay, the last person he would tell would be me. I haven't had any payments now for over a year and when I was getting the last set of payments from him, I had a grand total allocation of £5.00 per week for all three girls as he was on benefits. (That's in total and not individually). It looks like my ex has gone off the radar so they can't get any money off him, though looks like not by lack of trying. I've supplied them with information that I've got along the grapevine, but has yet to get any payments from him.



Ex's reason for not wanting to pay is that I don't let him see the girls. I've got good reasons - when we were toghether he hit me twice and threatened the two eldest with violence. Then when we split up - he would change dates/times - basically mess the arrangements up and/or cancel. One time, we'd arranged for him to see the girls on the Saturday, so I made plans for the Sunday. He then wanted to change the visit to the Sunday, but when I told him we'd made other plans he was not impressed.



I've given up any hope of getting any more money off my ex and if I do I will see it as a 'treat'. His family seem surprised that I would like to have some payments for the girls' upkeep, but won't let him see the girls. In 2010, after a three year absence, (and after his second marriage failed), he wanted to come back into the girls' lives. said he had to start writing letters and basically build a relationship up with my girls. Due to his past history (even though he claimed he was a changed man - had to prove to me that he had), I sent him some basic rules for his reintroduction into their lives. Also said it was to protect the girls - especially their mental/emotional welfare. He only managed to write to the girls for a few months before he gave up as it wasn't happening quickly enough for him. When he stopped writing/sending things to the girls, was when the girls were just showing some interest in writing back. The girls knew that it was their choose of whether or not they decided they wanted to write back - and their choose, regardless of what it was, was fine with me.

Georgina - posted on 01/06/2012

CSA are just a pain in the arse they are totally useless i have 2 kids with different dads my eldest kid's dad they cant fined and my youngest kid's dad they found and i started getting money off him then under a year of getting money and he stops paying the money they give me no real reason for the money stopping and tell me it will start again in the next few months they hope....... well it's now been about a year since he stopped paying money and i got a letter a month or 2 ago saying i'd be getting money again the end of that month and aint seen a penny yet so every few weeks i've been sending them letters and emails but no response off them yet. i would phone them but after phoning them so many times i now know that if they want to avoid answering you questions the person you need to talk to is always busy or on holiday or some times just not in the building plus if you don't have a BT phone line then it costs you shed loads to try and sort anything out so i gave up trying to phone them they are just useless

Stephanie - posted on 12/19/2011

there a complete joke, my partner pays £50 a week to his 2 kids and his ex won't even let him see them, everyone says there is nothing we can do, i think if the mother stops the father having access then money should be stopped!

Persia - posted on 01/10/2010

Hi, I've not had a great deal of trouble with CSA, they used the info I gave and tracked my sons dad down. I guess My only problem with them is...£5 a week?...Ermmm I can't even buy nappies on that! =] x.

Mandy - posted on 08/26/2009

Hi Sian!

I have had lots of problems with CSA! Like you i kept giving them information which they didn't use and had to keep phoning them all the time. They are awful!

What DID work for me was that I put a complaint in writting to them. I then had a compaints case manager working on my case. I got more information than before my complaint but they still weren't doing there job. So i wrote another complaint, this time complaining about the way my original complaint was being handled and sent it to the Director of CSA. I also asked for compensation because they kept making so many mistakes in my case. It took a while but after about 6 months i started getting maintance at last and also got £50 compensation for their mistakes.



It's so annoying that a government run body can be so awful!