CSA advice

Ambera_2

Hi Folks

I'd appreciate some advice as at the moment I'm writing a letter to the CSA regarding LO and alleged arrears. I can show that I have overpaid for a considerable time as I can show that their assessments were incorrect, however I do believe I shouldn’t be paying predated arrears.

I'll try and make it brief...

I'm on CSA2, had court agreement with PWC where she was given matrimonial home and xx% per month of my income until youngest had left study.
Upon divorce case going through the Judge advised that any court order agreed could be rendered useless if PWC involved CSA. That happened a week after court case.
Prior to divorce for 24 months I'd been paying around £1200 a month in indirect support. The last 8 months prior to divorce that was around £700 as strangely enough needed my own place to live in and 2/3rds of my wage went on former home.
Csa wrote to me and told me that PWC despite being paid xx per month that she was transferring the money back into my account... AND that as she received a benefit (boggling when partner on high salary) that my claim would be backdated 8 months until that date.

So, minus 5.5k before I pay csa a penny. I appealed, proved I paid 50% more than assessment in prior 8 months, but apparently as it was a state benefit I had to pay secretary of state. I never received any documentation telling me CSA were involved at any point until after agreement and when you have other parties own brief organising child maintenance you don’t (when you agree it and pay it,) think that there’s an invisible predator lurking.

So for the last 5 years or so I’ve been paying 12% on top of base for arrears, all paid via DD to CSA(yep they lost it on no less than 11 occasions, but that's another story). 3 years ago, PWC decided to prevent access to children and has moved around the country in rented addresses. I’ve been unable to take further court action as even when I have traced her, she’s moved again without forwarding address and court system is ineffective when PWC is non compliant.

I got DEO as I was late with first ever payment and even had to send my own pay slips to CSA to get them to accept what they had been taking… I lost my job last year through ill health, through this and am working part time on a significantly lower wage after being u/e for several months. During the time of the DEO and a result of incompetence (14 different CSA agencies) I’ve worked out they were taking well over 40% of my salary and that I overpaid and cleared all arrears and ate into the 8 months predated arrears. I was paying so much I could not pay mortgage. After recalculating my assessments and taking into varying factors I should have been paying about £79 a week, yet they were taking £850-£900 a month.

If I take into account the predated arrears I would owe about £1500. If not, clear, yet they argue both.
What can I do about these predated arrears? I really believe they did not act impartially and have just put so much pressure on me as a public servant and an easy target that now I’ve lost that job and am broke. In the last 2.5 months I have about 10 requests for allsorts of weird and wonderful amounts ranging from 2k to 14k and then got a summons to go to court.
I went bankrupt when out of work, lost my house etc and am close to discharge. I don't own anything.

What’s the best way of sorting this. Summons shows 9k /boggle. I went to see a solicitor and got told cant fight csa via legal aid as I'm now broke. The bloke that did my csa appeal introduced himself as being from the CSA...

As i said I'd try and make it brief, I've so much I could rewrite war and peace on the farce it is. ;/

kelloggs36

Something not right here - it looks like the PWC has either split with her other partner, wasn't living with him or she has committed benefit fraud as she would only have been obliged to claim if she was claiming income support and she could only have done that if either she was a single parent or her partner had no job and claimed JSA for her.

You need a full breakdown of arrears due - and ask for your Data Protection file which will show details of assessments and contact made with you etc.

The CSA had no choice but to be involved if the PWC was on benefits, but I was under the impression that your liability started from the date they first made contact with you - your data protection file should show that.

Ambera_2

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Something not right here - it looks like the PWC has either split with her other partner, wasn't living with him or she has committed benefit fraud as she would only have been obliged to claim if she was claiming income support and she could only have done that if either she was a single parent or her partner had no job and claimed JSA for her.

The CSA had no choice but to be involved if the PWC was on benefits, but I was under the impression that your liability started from the date they first made contact with you - your data protection file should show that.

Thanks for the reply and advice. I've prepared the data protection letter found on this site and will get that sent off.

When I appealed this, the CSA claim they wrote to me when PWC claimed a benefit. That most certainly did not happen as I was written to by PWC solicitor to agree post divorce child maintenance. That was duly agreed as aforementioned and would not have been agreed as I would have paid csa had i known about them. I sent them copy of PWC's legal offer, but they chose to ignore it.

They ignored facts I put to them that PWC was sitting on well over 6 figure equity and that her partner bought mortgage off me... again well over 6 figures and that I had paid 50% more than her assessment entitlement in indirect support AND she was co-habiting.

All they offered me was a reduction for voluntary payments for 1 part of the equation. I repeated the situation that if PWCs partner had bought my mortgage off me AND was residing at the address, then she couldnt be entitled to a backdated claim. I was advised to report benefit fraud...I couldn't believe it.

It just really flies in the face of fairness. I had a horrendous conversation telling me what qualifies as indirect support, ie first £15 per week of anything doesn't count. So all the things that were paid were reduced to almost zero, then advised wasn't worth paying... A joint loan, I had to pay, I had to quantify everything purchased, carpet, doesn't count, sofa, doesnt count, flooring, ditto, car, less first £15/week, bills, dont count as before assessment or not more than £15 /week over a sustained period..

I didn't appeal the appeal as I just didn't see a way around it and I didn't want to cause any further anxiety for my children. I was also in a safe, reliable job and thought I'd eventually pay it off. Sadly i didn't reckon for the spite that followed from PWC and denying access and the total incompetence of those charged to manage payments.

I'm hoping there is some way to have this impartially reviewed from the start.

kelloggs36

Ambera wrote: »

Thanks for the reply and advice. I've prepared the data protection letter found on this site and will get that sent off.

When I appealed this, the CSA claim they wrote to me when PWC claimed a benefit. That most certainly did not happen this is what your data protection file will show - if the file shows that they DID write to you then unless you can prove that you didn't live at the address at the time, then the liability is correct from that date. as I was written to by PWC solicitor to agree post divorce child maintenance. That was duly agreed as aforementioned and would not have been agreed as I would have paid csa had i known about them. I sent them copy of PWC's legal offer, but they chose to ignore it.

They ignored facts I put to them that PWC was sitting on well over 6 figure equity and that her partner bought mortgage off me... again well over 6 figures and that I had paid 50% more than her assessment entitlement in indirect support AND she was co-habiting. I'm afraid that this is irrelevant to the CSA - they don't deal with benefits and can only deal with CSA claims - if she is on benefits then they had no choice but to pursue you for maintenance - this will have cancelled the Court case maintenance as CSA overrides it.

All they offered me was a reduction for voluntary payments for 1 part of the equation this is correct, it is the Initial Payment Period and any payments made direct AFTER the maintnenace had been calculated cannot be taken into consideration - they will be treated as extra voluntary payments - they have acted correctly here. I repeated the situation that if PWCs partner had bought my mortgage off me AND was residing at the address, then she couldnt be entitled to a backdated claim. I was advised to report benefit fraud...I couldn't believe it. This is correct advice - as I said, the CSA are not benefit investigators, nor do they decide upon what benefits are due or not due - if you suspect benefit fraud then you have to report it. Only if fraud is proven can anything be done about it.

It just really flies in the face of fairness. I had a horrendous conversation telling me what qualifies as indirect support, ie first £15 per week of anything doesn't count. So all the things that were paid were reduced to almost zero, then advised wasn't worth paying... A joint loan, I had to pay, I had to quantify everything purchased, carpet, doesn't count, sofa, doesnt count, flooring, ditto, car, less first £15/week, bills, dont count as before assessment or not more than £15 /week over a sustained period.. there are also other things to consider - does the PWC have the benefit of all these things you had a loan for? If not then you won't get a reduction, also if any of it was bought on a credit card, it won't be counted either.

I didn't appeal the appeal as I just didn't see a way around it and I didn't want to cause any further anxiety for my children. I was also in a safe, reliable job and thought I'd eventually pay it off. Sadly i didn't reckon for the spite that followed from PWC and denying access and the total incompetence of those charged to manage payments.

I'm hoping there is some way to have this impartially reviewed from the start.

The only way you will succeed is if you prove that they did NOT contact you at the time they said they did, ie when she claimed benefits. If the records do NOT show that a Maintenance Enquiry Form was sent out to your address, then you will have a case. You won't know until you get the records - good luck.

Ambera_2

Quote:

All they offered me was a reduction for voluntary payments for 1 part of the equation this is correct, it is the Initial Payment Period and any payments made direct AFTER the maintnenace had been calculated cannot be taken into consideration - they will be treated as extra voluntary payments - they have acted correctly here.

The payments were made before PWC asked CSA to become involved, from an 8 month period prior to divorce.

CSA claim that they wrote to me 8 months prior to advise me that PWC was involving them. I was not aware of this.

Following divorce and legal discussion AND that I'd paid her first post divorce payment, PWC decided that she wanted to involve CSA. This was without warning, her brief was sacked and CSA then wrote to me. My first contact was then. At this point they interviewed me over the phone and calculated assessment, then wrote to me again and said it was backdated 8 months. During this 8 month period I paid bit more than £700 / month, my assessment was £380or so.

does the PWC have the benefit of all these things you had a loan for? If not then you won't get a reduction, also if any of it was bought on a credit card, it won't be counted either.


It was a loan taken out and she had all the benefit of it as everything that was bought remained with her.

kelloggs36

You can appeal against the decision not to allow the departure.

Ambera_2

kelloggs36 wrote: »

You can appeal against the decision not to allow the departure.

Thanks, what exactly is the departure, the decision they made without taking all matters into account?

kelloggs36

The departure is the application to have your debts taken into consideration.