If the NRP was on benefits the PWC would get that £5 p/w from the NRP as well as all there other benefits, that £5 p/w will not affect anything.

Can I just clarify a point.

Child Tax Credits are for all families that receive less than a certain income each year. It is only the amount each couple or single parent receives that is different.

It is true that Child Tax Credits replaced the Child Element of Income Support.

Anyone that seperates and is the NRP is liable to pay Child Maintenance to the PWC. It is irrelivent whether the PWC is in receipt of benefits or not.

Income Support is seen as the amount that a single adult needs to survive each week (a joke if you own your own home and find yourself in this position due to divorce or seperation). Therefore the DWP always involve the CSA so as to claim money back from the NRP (although effectively they are taking it from the PWC as it is she/he who receives less), the NRP would be paying this amount anyway but it would be going direct to the PWC and hence be used for the benefit of the children. I only received IS for the initial 4 weeks after my seperation but still had to pay this back through the CSA a year later when I had no choice to use them due to my ex-husband stopping paying CM by direct payment.

I can see where you are coming from in as far as both parents are obviously on benefits and the money we are talking about is chicken feed, but I think it is more the moral and legal obligation that is being brought home in this case (not yours personally you understand) so that parents realise that they are financially responsible for their children whether a resident parent or not.

Regards Sarah

Surely almost any father is aware of his children and their needs and would help.
Do they need to be reminded by authority about some 'notion' of morals?
The CSA (like Social Services) are there to make sure people behave????This involvment is just to monitor NRP mostly male.
If there are a few NRP that run off - that is their loss.
But to harrass low or unpaid people is just to cover up the fact that they cannot get better off NRP's who have good accountants and lawyers.
The system discourages geting back into employment too.

The CSA was set up to make people like my ex responsible for his children. this very system has let down many children , we have had big massive computer error and civil servants that were not trained to do the job.

not only NRP's get it hard by the CSA the PWC does too , too many loops holes with in the system and it seems to be that the NRP's word is to be belived at all times this is after the PWC has turned detective.It's hard when benefit takes into account the CSA money and ­base­ your housing benefit on this ,which takes weeks to sort out if there has been a change in the NRP's circumstances.I know of too many PWC who never got a single penny to raise their children these children are now adults and the CSA let them down.I once was getting £472 pm which later went down to £229 for 3 children that were suppose to be living with him those 3 children were on the system for 2 weeks so maybe had it been 4 weeks my kids would of got nothing.Many folk call the CSA the criminal support agency and you can see why , the sooner it's gone and a fairer system for all the better the children will be.

Divdad,

Sorry, if you were to speak to a few PWC on this site, both male and female, you would realise that yes, the NRP does in fact need reminding of the "notion" of morals, both emotionally and financially.

I am by no means saying this is the norm, but on the same note it is not the small minority either.

It is their loss, but it is also the children's loss, both emotionally and financially. If I don't receive CM one month that means I have to make the decision to either not pay my mortgage or not feed my children, it is as simple as that. Even if I was in rented accomodation (which is hard to come by when you have 5 children) I would still have the dilemma of paying my rent or having to maybe complete umpteen forms to see if I was able to claim any housing benefit that month (by which time the landlord will have marked my card).

I am not on benefits, rightly or wrongly, I do not qualify but I have chosen (not really, had no choice) to go through the CSA to at least have someone to chase non-payment through official channels.

This is reality for some Divdad.

Regards

Sarah

Hi IKNOWNOW,
I see how bad your situation is and sympathise. Your Ex
seems to have acted irresponsibly.
The point I am trying to make is that from recent bad experience with mediation, and other authorities is that fathers are automatically treated as suspects because of a few. The laws make relationship breakdown worse.
The CSA intrudes where agreements ccould be made.
There are good fathers (even NRP) but it does not seem to matter.
As I mentioned I mostly brought up daughters when young, as partner had things to do.
I was stopped in street 7 times in one year by police while it was assertained that they were mine.

UK society makes it hard to be a father.
Now they are older, and I might get to see them once a week 'if it is ok with my wife'
Sorry I guess I am angry.

Hello,

I have just seperated from my husband and gone on to income support. I claim the maximum child tax credit available and your ex does NOT have to make a claim through the CSA if she is on income support.

I was informed that due to a change in law, the resident parent is no longer forced to make a claim with the CSA if they are in receipt of benefits.

This applies to new applications only, all exsisting cases of income support and CSA claims by default will remain in place unitl October 2008. The resident parent can then close their CSA cases if they wish and it will not affect their benefits.

I hope this helps and clarifies the situation.