CSA have over paid me

Susan_King

I have recieved a letter from the CSA to say that money is owed to the CSA by me to the amount of 4980 pounds. I am the lone parent and have had CSA payments made to me by my ex and have asked for them to stop paying as my 2 boys have now secured work and left education. I do not have savings and we live on a low wage. What can i do, the letter is wrongly addressed with loads of errors and my name doesn't even appear on it, but it is obviously for me. They have already paid the absent parent the money that they now want back from me. Scared of Bedfordshire

Caz3121

you need to ask them (in writing) for a full breakdown of how they come to that figure.
Were you paying your ex through the CSA or direct and, if direct, do you have the evidence to show what you paid and when.
Depending on the answers there may be different things to think of.
Regarding stopping paying, if this is arrears then it is due no matter how old your children are .



can I just confirm as I think I was confused :-)
You were the pwc
ex was paying you through CSA
maintenance case should have been closed but they kept taking the money and making payments to you
they have now refunded ex and want you to pay them back
did you tell them when the case should have been closed (eg child maintenance stopped) or did your ex ask them to close it

kelloggs36

They can ask you for the money but they can't force you to repay it - was it their error that they kept paying you? That makes your position even stronger.

Susan_King

Caz3121 wrote: »

you need to ask them (in writing) for a full breakdown of how they come to that figure.
Were you paying your ex through the CSA or direct and, if direct, do you have the evidence to show what you paid and when.
Depending on the answers there may be different things to think of.
Regarding stopping paying, if this is arrears then it is due no matter how old your children are .



can I just confirm as I think I was confused :-)
You were the pwc
ex was paying you through CSA
maintenance case should have been closed but they kept taking the money and making payments to you
they have now refunded ex and want you to pay them back
did you tell them when the case should have been closed (eg child maintenance stopped) or did your ex ask them to close it

the money should have stopped last sept and i advised them so unsure how they have come to this amount. I am too scared to contact them as they have paid him. I do not know how much they have given him but I feel it is now down to me to pay them as they are obviously out of pocket....Scared

Susan_King

kelloggs36 wrote: »

They can ask you for the money but they can't force you to repay it - was it their error that they kept paying you? That makes your position even stronger.

Hi thank you but they, ..... CSA... will be out of pocket for the money they have paid to him
I am scared as they will persue me and I do not have anything to pay them with

stressed_eric_4

If you knew that the csa should have stopped why did you carry on spending the money? did you contact csa as soon as you received the payments that you know that you shouldn't have had, the most sensible thing to do would have been to put this money into another account, not spending it, until it was all sorted out.

why shouldn't the pwc be expected to pay any overpayment back asap even if it was due to csa error, nrps are expected to pay underpayments to csa even if it was due to csa error and usually immediately too!!! the csa will not pay these underpayments out of the public purse so why should they pay the overpayments too.

i'm sorry if i sound harsh but you spent money you were not entitled to and so it should be repaid - although to be fair they should give you time to repay it.

did both your children leave school and find jobs at the same time? if not then the csa would/should have reduced from when the first one left until it ceased when they both left.

stressed_eric_4

also did you tell csa when the child benefit stopped or when they started work, if the child benefit stopped before they found work, csa should have stopped at the same time, chb (unless i'm mistaken) has to be inpayment for csa to be payable

kelloggs36

Even if the CSA are out of pocket, the PWC is not actually liable to repay the debt if they say they can't do so as it was used in good faith. HOWEVER if the PWC was aware that they should not have had the money then that MAY be different - I would ring them if I were you and say you can't afford it and see what they respond with.

Butterfliesarepretty

Susan_King wrote: »

I have recieved a letter from the CSA to say that money is owed to the CSA by me to the amount of 4980 pounds. I am the lone parent and have had CSA payments made to me by my ex and have asked for them to stop paying as my 2 boys have now secured work and left education. I do not have savings and we live on a low wage. What can i do, the letter is wrongly addressed with loads of errors and my name doesn't even appear on it, but it is obviously for me. They have already paid the absent parent the money that they now want back from me. Scared of Bedfordshire

Hi Susan, ring them and tell them straightaway. They will check back on previous payments and come out with the right amount you have received. they will work out a schedule for you to pay back at your affordable rate. they will not expect you to pay it all back in one go. If they are at fault then you can also send a complaint letter with details of payments from them into your bank account. Not to worry they will sort it out clerically.;)

stressed_eric_4

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Even if the CSA are out of pocket, the PWC is not actually liable to repay the debt if they say they can't do so as it was used in good faith. HOWEVER if the PWC was aware that they should not have had the money then that MAY be different - I would ring them if I were you and say you can't afford it and see what they respond with.

Again this unfair to nrps, so if the pwc has used the money in good faith they will over-ride it, what about an nrp who has to pay say £20 per week but can still afford to pay £10 on activities/clothes etc for his/her child, then the csa realise they made an error, the csa should be £30 per week. They expect the extra £10 per week off the nrp unless the pwc (and how many actually would) signs to say that the nrp has paid for certain things so can be deducted from the arrears. If the csa has made an error - either way it is only fair for the money to change/stop from the date the error is discovered. i know it's not you kellogs and your one of the nicest csa (or are you ex csa now) people who try to help, it's just the goverment and selfish pwc and selfish nrp (who never seem to be with each other it's always a nice one v a selfish one - either way)

keep giving your advice you're one of the ones that i trust the most - you and mr green genes

eric

stressed_eric_4

i know they will give the nrp time to pay it (well some do) but again it is money that has been spent and the nrp might struggle to pay normal csa and the arrears on top