In people's experience (not opinion) how effective have they found the csa?
Answers:
I found them very helpful.
I left my husband due to domestic violence and he didn't pay anything for a year ,I contacted the CSA and although they cannot make him pay back pay they do make him pay every month , if he refuses they can take it from his wages.
I asked them to collect it for me to save any hassle in the future if he does not pay and it goes in my bank every month without any problems. I KNOW he would not have paid anything if they had not got involved. The payments start from the day they contact him too so if there is a delay in the system they have to collect the arrears
I have found them really effective, they have always managed to get the money to me more or less on time but it doesn't help if you have a man like I did who quit working as soon as the CSA got hold of him. he doesn't have to pay if he gets benefits
If the father is on benefits you will get £5.00 per week, if he has other children with other women then the £5.00 is divided by the amount of children. If he is on benefits then the CSA take it straight out of his benefits but the CSA are crap and do not always pass the money on to the mother.
What does not help is when 1 mother took the wrong child on purpose, for the DNA test, so the test came out posative and blamed the youngest child on the wrong dad (coz she was a slapper), yes this really did happen, you will be amazed what some women will do.
I am an ex benefits officer and you would be amazed at some things, 1 women told the CSA this guy was on the birth cert, so he went and got a copy to find out she had lied. He paniced thinking she had got some man to pose as him at the register office. If the father is on the birth cert then he can not ask for a DNA test with out going to court.
I have found them utterly and completely USELESS. I was sent a letter when they first started up, saying my income support would be docked if I didnt give the father's info. I gave it and gladly, MORE than enough for them to get the money from him. I then gave them the same information at LEAST twice a year EVERY year since then. I repeatedly asked why they hadnt got anything from him as he was working full time. But you see he was self employed as a hackney taxi driver and so it was too much like hard work for them to get money from him. Cut a VERY long story short, involving me contacting them at least 40 times, my son is now 16years old and they only started getting money from his father 6 months ago. I cannot state enough my disgust of the CSA. They seem to chase the "easy money" and ignore anything that is more difficult.
My ex-husband had 2 children from a previous relationship & left when our son was 18 months old. My son is now nearly 9 years old and I have received £48 in that time. At first they couldn't find him (despite me giving them an address and his parents address) then he stopped work, then he moved etc etc and it has continued. He is supposed to pay me £38 per month I believe and they have already written off over £2000 of money that he owes. I am glad that he is no longer in my or my sons lives as we are doing fine without him, but just sometimes it seems unfair that we have to scrimp and save when just a bit of extra money would make all the difference.
I guess if someone doesn't want to accept their responsibilities then no organisation in the world can change them without an infinite supply of money/resources which will never happen.
My daughter's father has never contributed financially to bringing up my girl and threatened me with violence when the CSA got involved so my case was closed. I'm quite capable of providing for my child but the when I was made redundant I had to go on the social for a little while. The Benefits Agency cut my money to force me to give details on him, then said I wasn't entitled to anything cos he wasn't working. A Bunch of W**kers if you ask me.
I have found them absolutely useless. For the last 9 years my ex was meant to be making payments of £5 a week and I have lost count of the number of times he has never paid it. The CSA are meant to be there to make sure that lone parents are looked after and if the absent parent doesn't pay then they are meant to step in. The CSA have been in touch with me on numerous occasions to find out information about my ex when, as far as I know, that is their job! I have told them I have no contact with my ex but still they keep asking! They have been of very little help to me.
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