Child Maintenance (CSA) questions (merged)

Vashti

Just adding my penneth worth.

I separated from my husband in 1993, just on the cusp of the CSA taking over from court decision on maintenance. I was advised to go with the CSA. Ha. Ex husband paid grudgingly for about a year then the payments dried up. He now owes - fourteen years later - around fifty thousand pounds. I phone the CSA every week. Occasionally, they would find him, serve him with something then make deductions at source. On occasion, his bank account was arrested. He would then leave that job, and the whole long process of finding him would start again. I realise how difficult it is for the CSA with an absent parent who would rather burn his money than hand it over.....but I have since had letters stating that the arrears were to be written off!! I am in the middle of written correspondence with them about this, and have written to my MP. I also got the name of the head honcho of the CSA from the website, and all the under managers and sent them all copies of my letter of complaint. I do realise there is more chance of me sprouting another head than ever getting this money...but to write off the arrears? He must be laughing his head off. He is now living and working in Dubai. I think he works for a UK employer, so should still be paying tax...but they still can't find him.

Son is nearly seventeen, but staying in full time education so he is still liable for maintenance, and still acruing arrears. I know I will never get anything...but I just get so angry at the attitude of the CSA. It's like, ach, let him off with it...it's easier than doing something about it.

kelloggs36

Do you know the name of the company? If he works for a UK company he still has a liability. Do you know if he owns any property here? If so, then they can get charging orders on it and can apply to the Courts for an Order for Sale of that property.

shelovestobuystuff

janiegs wrote: »

Absolutely correct. If there is no longer a child to support then there is no good reason why the same payments previously made as maintenance plus arrears cannot continue to be made as payments to the arrears.

I phoned my local CSA in Falkirk yesterday and they have told me that they are no longer responsible for collecting any payments once the maintenance stops being paid,which is an imminent situation as son has turned 16.They suggested that if I still want to pursue the £10,000 or so arrears I would have to go and see a solicitor and pursue it privately.Does anyone know for sure if the info I have been given is wrong.This case is in Scotland so is subject to different overriding laws than other UK areas.I checked the CSA main website and cannot find anything about this type of situation there.

Vashti

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Do you know the name of the company? If he works for a UK company he still has a liability. Do you know if he owns any property here? If so, then they can get charging orders on it and can apply to the Courts for an Order for Sale of that property.

I wish I did know the name of the company Kelloggs. I would have been straight on the phone to the CSA. He is very crafty. He also sold his house in Aberdeen (worth 400 thousand) before he left to go to Dubai.

I try not to get bitter....it eats you up inside

Prudent

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

I phoned my local CSA in Falkirk yesterday and they have told me that they are no longer responsible for collecting any payments once the maintenance stops being paid,which is an imminent situation as son has turned 16.They suggested that if I still want to pursue the £10,000 or so arrears I would have to go and see a solicitor and pursue it privately.Does anyone know for sure if the info I have been given is wrong.This case is in Scotland so is subject to different overriding laws than other UK areas.I checked the CSA main website and cannot find anything about this type of situation there.

Is your son leaving school? You can only go via the csa while you are getting child benefit. This is not unique to Scotland, it is standard. If you son wants to go on to higher education he must then seek money from the nrp in his own right and this can be done via the courts.

auntie_pie

kelloggs36 wrote: »

but you need to be on the CSA's back constantly asking them what action they are taking - or intend to take next. I always ask what the next step is before they take it, so I can go back to them if they fail to take the action, and demand that they do what they say they are going to do.

kelloggs36.... fantastic advice! i will try that! i tend to phone them erratically, generally when i a monster bill arrives or some kind of hideous money issue crops up at my end.... then i get mad about the whole situation and think ' i'll give the good ol' csa a call, see how they are getting on!'.... i wouldn't mind quite so much, but for 2 years he lived in the village next to ours, does similar kind of work to me, and was often spotted driving about or, delightfully, staggering back from the pub!!!!.... Classy!!!!
i will make it my mission to call them at least twice a week now, and take down names of people i have spoken to and exact details of what happens next! at the moment it just feels as if stuff was only moves forward when i call, and they are 'just about to.....' do something mildly constructive!!

also, on another note... how DO i pm you please?..... am a bit of techno-dunce!!! and cheers again!!

auntie_pie

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Anyway,enough bitterness,whatever my son manages to get eventually in arrears will hopefully be enough for him to start up a small business.At least thats one good thing he got from his father, his entreupenurial spirit, oh and the gift of the gab.

hmmmm.... well we have to stay positive and look at the good things that come out of this all!!!.... my son has his father's lovely smile, but that's about it!!!..... and at 15, he is a thousand times the man his father is!!
......also, Karma is a wonderful thing!!!;)

auntie_pie

aMeLia'S~MuMMY wrote: »

The arrears will not just dissappear, this money is regular maintenance that has not been paid to you when due, therefore ~ although not paid when it should have been it is still due to you for your child.

Once your regular maintenance stops there is no reason why the CSA cannot still take the same money (the reg ma and arrears amount) from your ex just as the arrears amount . don't just accept £10 a week ~ like is being paid now as it is going to take nearly 20 years to pay it off, the CSA should be looking at getting these arrears paid off in a reasonable time and that is not reasonable.

:A

:T :T 'HEAR HEAR'.........:T :T

auntie_pie

janiegs wrote: »

It's not a recent thing. Anyone who has an interim maintenance order has always been able to have their arrears reset at the amount that they should have been paying when they provide their correct details.

ah...... i was only told this 2 weeks ago, that the arrears can be reduced. the csa guy i was talking to said that the government thought that it was unfair that the absent parent, after being scared ****less when eventually being caught up with and taking seriously the huge bill (43,000 in my ex's case) they had just received, that they couldn't go back and give the correct information about their earnings and have the whopper reduced! So they changed it to make it fair!!!! HA!!
That was the first time i had heard this, as all the way along, whenever i phoned them, i was being 'reassured' that the mounting debt could NEVER be escaped from!!!!...... not that i took this seriously, of course...... they may as well pick a random figure from the air, tie it to a helium balloon, and watch it float away!!!!!

auntie_pie

Vashti wrote: »

He would then leave that job, and the whole long process of finding him would start again. I realise how difficult it is for the CSA with an absent parent who would rather burn his money than hand it over.....

I am in the middle of written correspondence with them about this, and have written to my MP. I also got the name of the head honcho of the CSA from the website, and all the under managers and sent them all copies of my letter of complaint. I do realise there is more chance of me sprouting another head than ever getting this money...but to write off the arrears? He must be laughing his head off. He is now living and working in Dubai. I think he works for a UK employer, so should still be paying tax...but they still can't find him.

Son is nearly seventeen, but staying in full time education so he is still liable for maintenance, and still acruing arrears. I know I will never get anything...but I just get so angry at the attitude of the CSA. It's like, ach, let him off with it...it's easier than doing something about it.

how familiar this all sounds..... so close then he leaves his job!!...... i have suppiled them with info about 4 different jobs, and about 3 or 4 different addresses..... he just leaves, moves or both!!!!

and the bit about rather burning his money..... SO TRUE!!! nail on the head!!! hadn't thought of it like that!!!! and also aside from promising Kelloggs36 that i would phone the csa at least twice a week from now on, i will also contact the top dog there and, politely, 'kick some bottom'!!!!!!!

good luck with yours, and i am sure you will post to let us know any news!..... it really is sickening that a- it can get to this point of arrrears, and b- that there are people out there with absolutely no conscious whatsoever!!!!..... if we were all big companies who were owed piddling amounts by people on low incomes, they would make damn sure they would get their cash!!!!!..... hmmmmmm.... fuming!!