Hi All,
My Ex is moving to the other end of the country with my 8 year old son, who up until recently has been living fairly local. She is going with her current partner. I have always had good access, the formal weekend every fortnight with him spending most holidays with us.
At the moment my maintenance arrangement has been by mutual agreement, and I have always paid over the recommended calculations on the CSA website. Even when redundant for 8 months I paid.
Apart from the emotional side of this move...my question is whether or not to formalise the agreement via the CSA so that I can justifiably cover the cost of the drive to go and see him (and accommodation) as I just can't afford to do it to maintain the current level of contact - and she is not willing to make the return journey or share the drive.
Any advice?
Cheers.
I understand from CSA (and the CSA publication p26 How child maintenance is worked out) that you can claim expenses - from discussion with CSA in my case 15p per mile or 94p per litre but the minimum claim for travel by care is £15 so effectively by my calculation that means you will have to travel a minimum of 100 miles or more to claim £15. My question also is; a) Is the round trip claimable b) is it calculated to the specific home / pickup venue or can an allowance be included to then take him - her to the nearest town (if they live in a remote village perhaps) as this costing you when visiting to do so – also c) what to do if you in my opinion feel 15p per mile is too low and doesn’t cover the wear and tare of the vehicle [indeed most organisations are higher than this in realty so how did they make this assessment and when is this reviewed by CSA] often you are having to buy a car to visit your child so who does one escalate these sort of issues to or lobby and if needed be reviewed if considered necessary ? the principle here in my view is that you should be put back in the position as if they lived with you demographically and be recompensed for this as a "deductible expense" from your maintenace payments, as you are paying outside this calculation CSA maintenance already, but would appreciate some comment on the above points by a specialist (Moderator or otherwise)
As I understand the rules, the £15 per week isn't a minimum, it's what the CSA expect you to pay yourself for contact, and you can then offset costs above that against your income. Additionally, I don't think (could be wrong though) that they will take wear and tear into account, it's simply the cost of the journey, so petrol costs or public transport costs.
Hi
I'm Sarah the Child Maintenance Options Consultant. Child Maintenance Options is a separate organisation from the Child Support Agency (CSA).
With you having a family-based arrangement in place (FBA), it's between you both to decide how much child maintenance you pay and what's taken into account, for example including your travelling costs.
The CSA can take into account travelling expenses. If you'd like to know how they'd calculate your payments, you'd need to contact them directly. You can find the right number for your area here: https://www2.dwp.gov.uk/csa/v2/en/contact/index.asp
For more information about child maintenance and to access our useful tools and forms online you can visit www.cmoptions.org, or if you'd prefer a confidential chat you could call the Child Maintenance Options team on 0800 988 0988 (free from a landline).
Thanks
Sarah
Child Maintenance Options