Parents With Care

The most common problems faced by parents with care are:-

• Unpaid maintenance
• Unpaid arrears
• Low assessments in comparison to non-resident parent’s income
• CSA’s failure to collect either regular maintenance or arrears
• Unreasonable delays on the part of the CSA
• Maladministration by the CSA
• Ineffectual enforcement action
• Not being listened to
• CSA ignorance of the law
• Loss of maintenance
• Proving the non-resident parent’s income

We successfully deal with  problems like those listed above every day.
Below is just a sample of  parents with care we have helped over the years.

Success Stories

Mrs B - The CSA had calculated that the non-resident parent should pay nothing despite Mrs B’s protestations that he earned a good income from his self-employment.  By ensuring the CSA applied the law correctly the assessment was increased to over £100.00 per week which was then backdated producing arrears of well over £10,000.00.  This sort of scenario is not uncommon and we have helped numerous parents with care in a similar position who now receive much higher maintenance payments along with arrears contributions.

Mrs H - The non-resident parent was claiming that both children lived with him and had appealed his case to a Tribunal.  We represented Mrs H at the tribunal hearing who found in our client’s favour and ordered the CSA to assess the non-resident parent accordingly.

Ms B - Arrears of over £12,000.00 were owed going back 7 years.  The agency had failed to collect any payments for Ms B and we were able to demonstrate maladministration by the agency which resulted in a lump sum payment of £7,000.00 (paid by the CSA).  The remaining £5,000.00 being paid by the non-resident parent aswell as his ongoing liability for regular maintenance.

Miss O - had received no maintenance whatsoever for more than 8 years.  The CSA had assessed at nil and had included housing costs which did not qualify.  We requested a review of the assessment which we then appealed and applied for a departure on the relevant grounds.  A tribunal agreed with the arguments we put forward and increased the assessment to £155.00 per week which resulted in arrears of more than £12,000.00.  A deduction form earnings order was then imposed collecting more than £800.00 per month.

Mrs S - the CSA decided that both children lived with the father despite evidence to the contrary, ie. one of the children lived with Mrs S.  We appealed the case to the Tribunal who accepted that Mrs S had a child living with her and as a result the CSA calculated that the father should pay £100.00 per week and Mrs S should pay £35.00 per week.

Miss H - came to us with an assessment in place of £22.00 per week.  We appealed the assessment and applied for a departure on the grounds of Lifestyle inconsistent with income, Assets and Diversion of income and the tribunal found in our clients favour on all grounds thereby increasing the assessment to over £150.00 per week with arrears of more than £14,000.00.

Miss G - we made an application for maintenance upon Miss G’s behalf ensuring that the CSA had the information they needed to produce an assessment for the maximum amount.  The non-resident parent then changed his job which resulted in a much lower assessment which we subsequently appealed.  After listening to our arguments a tribunal  decided that the assessment should remain at the maximum.

Miss L - had a court order in place for child maintenance, however, after one year either party could apply to the CSA and this is what the non-resident parent did in the hope that his liability would reduce.  The CSA assessed the non-resident parent to pay half of the amount he had previously paid via the court order.  We appealed the assessment which was then increased to an amount not far short of the original court order.

In addition to the above cases we have, over the years, significantly increased many assessments too numerous to mention here.  We have also successfully argued shared care disputes and jurisdictional issues on our clients behalf.  It is not uncommon to hear from parents with care that they have been struggling for years to obtain a reasonable amount of maintenance for their children, or indeed any maintenance at all, and many get to the point where they give up hope, believing that they have done all that can be done.  Unfortunately Child Support Law is extremely complex and it is therefore not surprising that people feel they have reached a dead end.  At Child Support Specialists Ltd. we understand the law and are able to ensure that the CSA applies the law correctly resulting in a much fairer outcome.