Arrears. Be aware be very aware.

Mr_Green_Genes

ceebeeby wrote: »

Did you forget to pay

Is that a helpful comment?

Cozworth806

Mr_Green_Genes wrote: »

Is that a helpful comment?

It may be, as the reasons for the arrears can have a bearing on what course of action can be taken.
Is calling the CSA "Gestapo" in every post you make about them helpful?

Mr_Green_Genes

Cozworth806 wrote: »

It may be, as the reasons for the arrears can have a bearing on what course of action can be taken.

Regrettably not. They don't take any notice of anything they call an excuse. They want their pound of flesh, regardless of the consequences.

Is calling the CSA "Gestapo" in every post you make about them helpful?

Just reminds people which organisation they base their behaviour on.

Butterfliesarepretty

Mr_Green_Genes wrote: »

Just reminds people which organisation they base their behaviour on.

That is absolutely not true. The csa are trying to get the money to the child. If you have arrears they will take a vol lump sum payment and then the arrears is stretched over two years. I am a nrp (the mother) and pay on time and if you respect the csa caseworker they should respect you. that is the way they are trained, to keep calm, and to reclaim the debt owed to the child.

You may get the odd caseworker who handles the call incorrectly by raising their voice etc, but I have always found my caseworker very helpful and polite. Yes you get mistakes but as long as you are assertive and helpful to them they will help you too.

pd001

Cozworth806 wrote: »

It may be, as the reasons for the arrears can have a bearing on what course of action can be taken.
Is calling the CSA "Gestapo" in every post you make about them helpful?

Actually we all know that Mr GG is trying to make a point about how bad the csa, and the 'service' it is supposed to provide, can be.
They can indeed be bully boys and they do, in many cases, act like the 'Gestapo'.
The word 'Gestapo' merely reinforces that point.

So, in my opinion, yes it is helpful.
In your opinion, evidently not.
Everybody's opinion counts, wether it is right or wrong.

billytsoul

It should be pointed out that the paying back of arrears in a two year timescale is csa timescale-theres no law which says you have to pay it back in a specified length of time, as long as its reasonable

ceebeeby

Mr_Green_Genes wrote: »

Is that a helpful comment?

I don't quite know how to answer that! I thought it was at the time - but I guess it could be read in a multitude of ways!

I think what I'm trying to get down too is why they're (in your eyes) behaving like the "Gestapo". Have they ever given any reasoning too it.

Don't get me wrong, the CSA were knocked off of my Xmas Card list many years ago in their first round of being, before they re-organised themselves and messed up many another person. However, at least they gave me a reason for messing up - "their computer systems weren't capable of dealing with complex cases :rolleyes: ".

I just wondered if they'd given you a reason, and when you mentioned that arrears were at the root cause, I wondered if you'd fallen into the complex case trap (which used to mean your case transferred to Belfast where they didn't seem to have a scooby).

Hope that explains.

pd001

billytsoul wrote: »

It should be pointed out that the paying back of arrears in a two year timescale is csa timescale-theres no law which says you have to pay it back in a specified length of time, as long as its reasonable

Agreed.

Also, I think that arrears are negotiable

Mr_Green_Genes

shawtj2 wrote: »

That is absolutely not true.

Let's just agree to differ, eh?

The csa are trying to get the money to the child.

If only. They are actually trying to meet their targets and if a PWC (not child) is fortunate enough to get money whilst that's happening, all well and good. If not, well, so what, they crossed another case off the list. Never mind that it was wrong so it reappears on another one, that's someone else's problem. If they send an outlandish demand, backed up with serious threats, to an innocent party, who cares, that's someone else's problem.

If you have arrears they will take a vol lump sum payment and then the arrears is stretched over two years.

According to the law, arrears are negotiable. That's not how they see it. They impose any payment schedule they like, irrespective of the reasons behind the arrears in the first place. Don't be fooled by that pejorative term either - many people's arrears have built up solely as a result of gestapo (there I go again :cool: ) incompetence but that makes no difference to them. Another DEO is a little more in the bonus pot.

Also, arrears are supposed to be calculated accurately. They almost never are, and, in fact, are frequently completely bogus. They tried that one on me. I was the PWC for God's sake but they still sent me a demand. How moronic is that???

... if you respect the csa caseworker they should respect you. that is the way they are trained, to keep calm, and to reclaim the debt owed to the child.

Tragically that is very rare - I know because I've been told what goes on in a real CSAC. Casual staff are simply allowed to trawl through real live cases to see what they can make of them, with absolutely no training whatsoever.

And, don't forget, they are certainly not trained "to reclaim the debt owed to the child". It isn't owed to the child but to the PWC or frequently to the Secretary of State, because don't forget why the CSA was set up in the first place. It was to reduce the welfare bill, it had little to do with children really. Look back into history. Read Hansard. The bill went through Parliament in 1990 and the SoS at the time was Tony Newton.

You may get the odd caseworker who handles the call incorrectly by raising their voice etc, but I have always found my caseworker very helpful and polite. Yes you get mistakes but as long as you are assertive and helpful to them they will help you too.

In my experience all the case workers are extremely odd .

If you have a helpful and polite caseworker, you are very lucky. If that was true of many of them, there would be little need for sites like this, organisations like NACSA or their extensive complaints teams and certainly they wouldn't have to pay out such huge quantities of compensation etc. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I did very well financially out of knowing the law and their procedures better than they do so I suppose I shouldn't mind about them being such a bunch of wasters.

Mr_Green_Genes

ceebeeby wrote: »

I think what I'm trying to get down too is why they're (in your eyes) behaving like the "Gestapo". Have they ever given any reasoning too it.

They are poorly paid, untrained, badly supported by management, probably not all that well educated, they know that millions of people in the general public loathe and detest them and the government constantly messes them around by imposing ludicrous targets on them. Shall I go on?

I just wondered if they'd given you a reason, and when you mentioned that arrears were at the root cause, I wondered if you'd fallen into the complex case trap (which used to mean your case transferred to Belfast where they didn't seem to have a scooby).

No, in my case they were just plain incompetent, rude, and unhelpful, and that was before the computer system failed them. It was long after that, when the case (where I was the PWC!!) was finished that they sent me a demand for arrears.