General Chat

I have been informed that it will be around in it's present form for about 2 and half years.

My OH's Ex wife was very wealthy due to inheritances from abroad. Her second husband was a solicitor who fiddled the books to make it look like they had £40 income per week. even though they had a house worth £400,000 and all the trimmings. My Oh was supporting my eldest 3 and our 2 on £ !,200 per month but the CSA wanted £558. i'm lucky my OH didnt gas himself too. We went through hell. Carolx

I would just like to add that I have found your reponses interesting however there are always other sides to things that you may not know the whole story about.

About time perhaps they will give me back the money they owe me and my ex wife (no 2)

My OH paid regularly for his daughter until his ex got greedy and involved the csa, After the 'calculation' we were left with £30 a month to live on, OH asked why they hadnt allowed for his 2 step daughters (my 2) in the final figure and thier very words were,,'They're not your kids so they're not your problem' When revue time came around and they wanted details of my income, as i was working by then,,,i refused to supply the info.. 'Oh but you must' they said,,, 'Rats,,,says i,,,,she's not my kid so she's not my problem'. Needles to say,,i love he to bits and she has never done without anything,,she's 19 now, But we battled the csa and won,,As my hubby always said,,,'I dont object to paying for my daughter,i expect to,,,,but i object to being robbed'

Spare a thought... The Times, Thursday, 3 August 2000 CSA demands 'drove father to kill himself' By Alexandra Frean, Social Affairs Correspondent THE fiancée of a British Transport policeman who gassed himself in his car has blamed the Child Support Agency for driving him to suicide. Lana Matthews said yesterday that Terry Brett, who had two teenage children, killed himself because of the 'impossible' demands made of him by the agency. Mr Brett, 47, from Murrow Banks, Cambridgeshire, was asked to pay £1,217 a month from his salary of £1,798 towards the maintenance of his children. He told friends that the money he was left with to support himself was not sufficient to allow him to buy birthday presents for his children. Mr Brett's suicide brings to 55 the number of deaths linked to the CSA. The agency has admitted the possibility of potential connections with two deaths. The campaign group NACSA (National Association for Child Support Action) has documented 42 suicides and eight murders that it believes can be laid at the agency's door. An inquest was told that Mr Brett gassed himself in a car in the garage of his home on January 31. He had attempted to take his life twice before. Ms Matthews, 44, told the inquest in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, that she woke to hear the car engine running inside the garage. Police officers dragged Mr Brett from the car but they were too late. A verdict of suicide was recorded. Ms Matthews said later that Mr Brett had been forced to rely on her for financial assistance to pay his mortgage and run his car, a situation that he had difficulty coping with. 'He was happy to support his children but the amount the CSA asked for was just impossible for him,' she said. A spokeswoman for the CSA acknowledged that it had been blamed for suicides before but said that she could not comment on specific cases. Whatever you are doing, stop now and think about Terry Brett. The CSA was stealing nearly 68 per cent of his monthly salary. It is clear he hadn't enough money to support himself and he could not even buy birthday presents for his children. And now his children will never see him again. This theft was all dressed up in legal language and all done in the name of the children when all the while it was simply the thugs of the state picking the pocket of the children's father in order to give money to the selfish, greedy woman -- the thief -- who used the children as hostages in order to feather her bank account. There are those who say that violence cannot be used against the feminazis and their collaborators because they have offered no violence: in other words, they don't see any blood so that must mean nothing has happened. To this I say, Terry Brett is dead. He and at least fifty-four other men have been driven to their deaths by the CSA and greedy women. To this I also say, that countless other men have had their lives destroyed: their children have been kidnapped, they have had to face false allegations of domestic violence and child abuse, they have had their houses and wages stolen. Oh, I forgot: there are no remains of bombed-out buildings, no armies marching through the streets, no sounds of gunfire, no flames -- no blood and so nothing terrible *really* happened, did it? We can all just look the other way and pretend that this was just a hiccough, a minor glitch in the system, and that everything will work out for the best in the end, if only we write very stern letters to our MPs. Is this not, after all, the best of all possible worlds, for if the CSA were not in existence, the greedy woman holding Terry Brett's children hostage would have had to support herself? After all, she is a woman, so she can't possibly face the full consequences of her actions. She *had* to have the children and she *had* to have custody and she *had* to have all that money and so everything worked out for the best in this best of all worlds. Except it didn't work out for the best for Terry Brett. But he didn't count, did he? For after all, he was only the children's father. After all, he was only a *man*. COPYRIGHT 2000) THE LONDON TIMES

My daughter has just got her case sorted after 10 years , he`ll be laughing up his sleeves now. Craig`s Dad has just had another child who`s claiming Csa too. Ros

to be honest I havent had any probelms at all with the CSA.......so this news will be right up my ex's street as he will do his utter damndest now to get away without paying a penny for his kids..... can just see him rubbing his hands with glee

About time too!! I never got a penny out of my daughters Dad, despite 10 years of trying, they actually admitted that it was far too time consuming for them to chase him when there were other men easier to target. I was disgusted. My ex had loads of money, a posh house, several holidays abroad each year, and then when he had 2 lads later in life he gave them everything. My daughter has had 2 birthday cards and just £20 from him in her 21 years............so is it any wonder she refers to him not as her father but her sperm donor!! I am bitter about all the times i had to struggle to feed her while the CSA looked the other way, but equally disgusted that all those decent men (and women) that have been fleeced over the years when they willingly do their best for their child/ren have been victimised. I doubt we will ever get an apology! Yvette (getting off my soapbox now, lol)

Jack, as they say you reap what you sow, and thank god we did, Lil

You can blame Labour, they have had ten years fo fix it and have failed.

The CSA has been a failure since the CONCERVATIVE GOVERNMENT STARTED IT! You can't blame Labour for EVERYTHING.... they have made enough mistakes of their own. Deanna X

Thank god for that I was getting a bit worried there! Marie:)

Marie, they'd be mad to cancel any agreements that they already have in place! Jack x

Lil, looks like your son is like my new partner. Good for him, he obviousley cares very much about his child/ren. Dean pays more than he would have to through the CSA and buys his boys clothes, shoes, footballs, pays club subscriptions, football stickers etc. His ex still complains if she doesn't get her cheque the day he gets paid lol, if only she knew how lucky she is. Jack x

Does this mean that those of us who do actually get regular payments wont be getting any in the same way. My ex pays the csa through a standing order at the moment and I receive it everyweek, so will this mean that he wont have to do that any more? Sorry to sound thick here but I dont really know the ins and outs of how they do things, or not do things as the case maybe Marie

Jack thats so sad, My Son had a right time trying to get them to take his money, he got in contact as soon as he and his partner split up, they sent him a letter which said we cannot process your application untill his partner applied what a joke, went to court etc £8,000 later they decided they would take it, never got any support from them at all just hassel, lucky he had put the back dated money to one side Lil

I contacted the CSA after my ex decided to pay me when he felt like it. They were great while he paid but now I haven't received anything since 21st April. They are going for an attachments of earnings order. He's just changed jobs so it may take a while longer but I should get the money (and arrears) in the end. The hardest thing for me is understanding why he does not want to pay towards his own daughter. She stays at his house once a week and if it happens to be Sunday I have to send her with a cheque for her dinner money! He never takes her anywhere apart from the pub, which he seems to be able to afford to visit several times every week. He doesn't buy her anything - clothes, shoes etc. He takes his 2 stepdaughters on holiday (13 and 16) abroad every year but never takes Ellie(9). I hope the new lot tag him so he can't go to the pub!!!!! Jack x

About time too! It seems it will take years to sort out though - probably be too late for us. They are a complete waste of time - cripple those Fathers who are honest and leave very many others alone when they pay nothing at all. We pay fortnightly or monthly and they still send us letters chasing up payment and they still get my Step Son's Surname wrong! Kaye x

Hubby once recieved a letter from CSA stating that a certain female had named him as the 'probable' father of her child, In actual fact, the CSA had randomly sent letters to all men who had the name that she had given,,!! Imagine the unrest that could cause between hubby and wife..??? How cavalier of them,, OH rang them and raised merry hell ..oh the tales i could tell of the CSA,,,