Csa/ Baliffs and pressure!

Cornishman35

HI I am having problems with the CSA

The problems started when I moved from being PAYE where I paid every month and didn't miss a payment, then I became self employed. This happened a few years ago.

I then cancelled the direct debit payments thinking I will send in my accounts to the CSA after 12 months of working self employed. This is my mistake according to the CSA I should off informed them within 3 months of going self employed and they would of assessed me on the first 3 months income. Instead they gave assessed me on my previous PAYE income with was £21,000 and not the self employed income which was around £12,000.

On January 28th 2008 I went to court to argue the debt of £3600 which the CSA said I owed them. I did not agree with the figure and the judge gave awarded them their request but said for me and the CSA solicitor to agree some sort of payment and come to an agreement. I took this to be yes I do owe them some money and we would sort out the amount. This is not the case however.

I have had no contact with the CSA since that date of 28th January 2008 until 2 days ago when they wrote to me threatening me with bailiff action. I paid £1000 on my business bank card to show good faith but now they are insisting I pay the balance on my credit card. A Card I didn't know I had!

I have offered them £100 a month to clear the debt but they are refusing it.

Can they do this?

I don't agree with the amount of arrears can I appeal?

Can you help or have I got to pay this amount?

The arrears goes back to 2000 but I cannot understand why they have gone back to that date to re assess me. They sent me a very complicated calculation sheet which said I should of paid this amount between this date and that date but you only paid this amount and there were lists and lists of it. They kept sending me that sort of sheet with different amounts and different dates on prior to the court date 28th January 2008.

I do not trust the CSA calculations.

I need help, I don't trust the amounts the CSA are coming up with and feel they are pressurising me into paying this debt with threats.

They are due to call me Friday morning (9th Jan) so this is pretty urgent

Thank you

dimbo61

First of all dont pay anything to them on a credit card.
Why did you leave a job paying £21,000 a year to earn £12,000 self employed ? POOR MOVE ! and not informing CSA of drop in income.
Dont worry about CSA calling you back there are hundreds of people on here who are told by CSA that they will call them back ( still waiting ! )
Offer to clear the debt over the next 2 years if you can afford the sums involved. GOOD LUCK

Cornishman35

Thank you for the reply.
I hated my job so had to try something new

I have offered them £100 a month to clear the debt but they are refusing it and saying I have to clear it in one lump payment

Smart_Mart

Hiya Cornishman,

In a similar situation myself but not wuite the same. My thread is on this forum at the top...:rolleyes:

Have a look at the links contained therein, might give you some help and advice there....

Good luck.:rolleyes:

kelloggs36

It is correct that you were assessed on your PAYE income as you did not notify them of the change AT THE TIME THAT IT HAPPENED. Therefore all arrears which built up over this period are genuine arrears and must be paid.

What is the reason that you don't agree with the figures? Is it because of the change in circumstances? If so then you cannot win as it is very clear in the rules that the CSA can only effect any changes from the time you notified them of that change - it cannot be backdated.

It does however, seem rather harsh that they are refusing your offer of £100 per month towards the arreas, considering that their steer was (not sure if it still is) to collect all arrears within a 2 year period; your offer would only just fall short by £8 per month, meaning that it would take an additional 2 months to pay off. However, you have no 'right' to dictate to them what period of time you will repay, you can only ask. If they refuse then they may choose to take alternative action to recover the debt - whether or not it is successful is anyone's guess!! I would pay the £100 per month anyway as it shows that you were totally serious about the offer and if they go for legal action then I'm sure that a judge would take into account what payments you have made and make an order that you keep paying it until the debt is cleared.

pd001

kelloggs36 wrote: »

It is correct that you were assessed on your PAYE income as you did not notify them of the change AT THE TIME THAT IT HAPPENED. Therefore all arrears which built up over this period are genuine arrears and must be paid.

What is the reason that you don't agree with the figures? Is it because of the change in circumstances? If so then you cannot win as it is very clear in the rules that the CSA can only effect any changes from the time you notified them of that change - it cannot be backdated.

It does however, seem rather harsh that they are refusing your offer of £100 per month towards the arreas, considering that their steer was (not sure if it still is) to collect all arrears within a 2 year period; your offer would only just fall short by £8 per month, meaning that it would take an additional 2 months to pay off. However, you have no 'right' to dictate to them what period of time you will repay, you can only ask. If they refuse then they may choose to take alternative action to recover the debt - whether or not it is successful is anyone's guess!! I would pay the £100 per month anyway as it shows that you were totally serious about the offer and if they go for legal action then I'm sure that a judge would take into account what payments you have made and make an order that you keep paying it until the debt is cleared.

I agree with kelloggs36 regarding the fact that you should continue to pay a monthly figure.
However you have not committed to £100.00 per month because they have refused your offer.
You should pay them something every month, a reasonable figure that you feel that you can afford
Do not miss a payment and send it by
recorded or registered mail.
Registered mail is better when sending stuff such as cheques or postal orders
Never use normal mail when sending stuff to the csa and
its far easier if you never phone them and you never speak to them if they phone you.
If they are going to take you back to court it is far better that everything is in writing. Send all your letters recorded delivery. Print off the delivery reports from the royal mail website and build a paper file. Keep copies of everything and do not lose anything

Again as kelloggs36 has said, the csa may choose to take alternative action to recover the debt and this may include all sorts of stuff including further court action. If you are taken back to court then as kelloggs36 has said a judge will take into account all sorts of stuff that the csa don't, including the amount that you are already paying the csa, your monthly salary and other outgoings.
He/she may reduce that amount that you are paying but he/she can also increase it if he/she feels that you are not paying enough. The csa have to abide by the judges decision and so do you.
You pays your money and you take your chance!

Cornishman35

I dont agree with the amount because when they sent me assessment forms they seemed to give me different amounts for the same periods. They also went back to the year 2000 for reassessment when I was already paying the CSA the amount they requested.

For example they said I should of paid £34.15 per week from 1/1/2000 to 3/3/2000 but you only paid £27.15 there for you owe £7 per week for that period. Then you should of paid £31.15 per week from 6/6/2001 to 9/9/2001 but you only paid £29 per week etc etc etc etc

There was a whole list of figures and dates like that and I have no idea where all those figures came from. How can you argue against them?
I set up a direct debit as instructed by the csa and just left it running.

Thats why I wanted to go to court to argue against the amount of arrears suggested by the CSA but there was no chance in the court to argue against those figures.

If I start paying the £100 a month or enough per month to clear the debt in 2 years, will that prevent the CSA passing this debt onto the baliffs?

kelloggs36

It looks to me like they have gone back and revised all the decisions made on your case - which means that there were undercharges, even though you paid what they asked for in the first place. It is very common practice.

I would be asking for a face to face meeting with them for them to explain why they have revised these decisions.

In

Cornishman35

Am I likely to get anything changed now their is a liability order against me? The order was made on the 28th January 2008

Thanks for your help by the way

blimey40

A year since a liability order served?

Cornishman35

Yh I have had no contact with the CSA since then. I have not seen the liability order and the first letter I had from them since the 28th janaury 2008 was 2 days ago letter dated 6/1/2009.