Hi there,

Ive got a 6week old baby and my ex partner has moved away to the other end of the country and not seen his son since he was born. He hasnt paid a penny towards his up keep or given me one for that matter!

Iveread a few different things online and people have told me different stories that if i went to the CSA then ii would effect what benefits i receive as im not working so im claiming income support + child tax credits.

He hasnt worked for a while as he's been in the process of joining the army and now has a start date of November 09, he has told me he has got a job to put him on for the meantime but as you can imagine im struggling at the moment.

He said he will give me some money WHEN HE CAN!! which should really be his first priority should it not?! Oh and he also has another child to another woman (he's a serial love rat and which i didnt find out till i'd had my baby and he left us...!) who he has paid £15 a week to as long as id been with him and i know he will try and offer me something similar or less with his excuse being 'i have two kids to pay for' which is obviously not my fault!!

But with those payments he sometimes wouldn't pay her for weeks on end as he would of spent it on beer or drugs and would never back pay her to make up for it so i know hes not reliable at all.

I would just like some advice if anyone has been in a similar situation and if you could help me out because i really need to get the ball rolling.

Thanks

Lucy xx

I have just started to deal with the CSA for maintenance for my 10month old daughter, My ex has also done a runner and has met someone else and has since been denying our little girl (we were together 4 years he knows fine well shes his but just doesnt want to pay)

CSA contacted him on 18th May and he denied parentage. He has his swab test today and il have mine in a week or so so hopefully he will have to start payments by july. I know it takes a while but if he doesnt pay up theyl just arrest his wages. Im working at the moment but know that you would be entitled to 15% of anything he earns and he would have no choice but to pay. This wouldnt affect your benefits./

I didnt take action sooner because i didnt wanna ask him for anything but it sickens me that hes off on multiuple holidays with his latest bint while im working all the hours god sends trying support our LO. Aint happening anymore. Hit him where it hurts chick.

He can run away from being a father but he cant run away from finiacially supporting you xxx

Personally I found the CSA a waste of space.

SBjr's father was paying me £20 a week and was happy to do so. As I was income support, they said I had to go through the CSA or have my money cut by £20 a week. My ex wasn't prepared to make up the £20 loss so I had no choice and went through the CSA.

Both my ex and I told them that he was paying me £20 a week. My ex confirmed he was happy to pay that amount which would be reviewed as SBJr got older. He also contributed towards anything he needed as extras.

The very helpful CSA completed their assessment and decided that he didn't need to pay me that much, that he couldn't afford to (even though he worked full time AND owned a taxi which he hired out and worked part time himself) so they knocked his payments down to £22 A MONTH!! That was their minimum required payment at the time (I am going back 11yrs)

He then had another baby which meant that the minimum payment was removed. Apparently there is no minimum amount if there are other children to take into consideration. They reassessed him and said that because he was supporting another child at home, he couldn't afford to pay me anything and so assessed him at £0...nothing...sweet FA!! I went ballistic that they basically said that my child was irrelevant even though he was his first born!

So from my experience they are a waste of time. I went from having at least £80 a month from him to absolutely nothing in the space of a year. He hasn't paid a penny in 11yrs - which is fine by me as we don't see him anymore and I don't want him involved in any way.

Obviously I am going back a few years and things might have changed but from what I have heard, they haven't changed much.

Don't pin your hopes on getting any money through them. You might but be prepared they might shaft you completely.

I think SB is probably right tbh, i havnt contacted csa because i know i probably wont get anything as ex is out of work atm and even when he does eventually get a job, i am happy for us to just come to an agreement and for him to get extras that i might need!
You can give them a go but i wouldnt be to optimistic xx

My sister had to go to CSA after her ex stopping paying for her two kids. She's entitled to 20% of whatever he earns, plus any arrears have to be paid within two years or has to be paid in full!! Her friend is on income support and her child maintenance and tax credits are included in what she gets, so I don't know, the only advice is to seek help from either the csa or citizens advice.

im in the same boat my bloke left me as hes been promoted now he walked out cos he didnt want to part with any money. So i was gona go to the csa but he keeps on frauding his ni no and had great pleasure in tellin me and he said if i go to the csa i to watch my bac and tht i was a slag and a grass lol charming But im not doing it cos i no il end up wiv sfa cos he always gets away wiv everything he hasnt brought her even a baby gro since she has been born bolocks to him leesy girl dont need him anyway.