HELP! CSA and arrears.

jimmyjammer

I'm hoping that someone here will be able to give me some pointers regarding arrears and the child support agency.
Basically I received a call back in Feb saying I had arrears of a couple of hundred pounds, and after numerous previous problems with them I just decided to go for an easy life and promptly paid what they were asking. I was then told that my account was all up to date and there were no further arrears outstanding, and as I was on a nil assessment I wouldn't have any further dealings with them unless my circumstances changed.

Then roughly 6 months later (August).......I received a phone call out of the blue from someone from the debt enforcement team telling me I had arrears outstanding for a few thousand pounds. I told him I had paid arrears back in Feb and as far as I was aware there must be some mistake. He basically went on to say that it looked like someone had suspended arrears when the account changed over from the old system to the new one...........but I had never been informed of any arrears or suspension. I have since received a breakdown of my account and from what sense I can make of it, it seems that there was a period between 1998-1999 they were requesting payments that in total are close to the amount of arrears that they are now seeking. My problem is in the fact that I have no memory of what was happening so long ago or what my circumstances were at that time.

I am also wondering if in fact they can pursue me for any arrears (if any) after telling me in Feb I was clear and up to date.

I am at a total loss as to what to do next, I have always complied with the CSA, and never tried to avoid them......but the fact that they are seeking such an amount now has me worried sick. I dont know if this is relevant but at the minute I am on a NIL assessment.

Please post any help or advice that you may have, and thankyou.

kelloggs36

jimmyjammer wrote: »

I'm hoping that someone here will be able to give me some pointers regarding arrears and the child support agency.
Basically I received a call back in Feb saying I had arrears of a couple of hundred pounds, and after numerous previous problems with them I just decided to go for an easy life and promptly paid what they were asking. I was then told that my account was all up to date and there were no further arrears outstanding, and as I was on a nil assessment I wouldn't have any further dealings with them unless my circumstances changed.

Then roughly 6 months later (August).......I received a phone call out of the blue from someone from the debt enforcement team telling me I had arrears outstanding for a few thousand pounds. I told him I had paid arrears back in Feb and as far as I was aware there must be some mistake. He basically went on to say that it looked like someone had suspended arrears when the account changed over from the old system to the new one...........but I had never been informed of any arrears or suspension. I have since received a breakdown of my account and from what sense I can make of it, it seems that there was a period between 1998-1999 they were requesting payments that in total are close to the amount of arrears that they are now seeking. My problem is in the fact that I have no memory of what was happening so long ago or what my circumstances were at that time.

I am also wondering if in fact they can pursue me for any arrears (if any) after telling me in Feb I was clear and up to date. I'm afraid they can, yes.

I am at a total loss as to what to do next, I have always complied with the CSA, and never tried to avoid them......but the fact that they are seeking such an amount now has me worried sick. I dont know if this is relevant but at the minute I am on a NIL assessment. this may give you some leeway for negotiation - have you asked what the minimum is that they would expect from you?

Please post any help or advice that you may have, and thankyou.

Do you have the proper arrears breakdown? This will show all money due and all money received. If you do then perhaps your next step is to get a data protection print which will show any contact you had with CSA at that time. AT the end of it though, you will probably find that it is due - it was very common to suspend arrears as they had no powers to write them off.

jimmyjammer

Thankyou for your reply.
I was sent a breakdown of payments due and payments made, but it only went back to 2006..........there's nothing to do with payments before then.

If there are arrears, why would it be that I have never been informed about them before, even back in Feb when I was informed of the arrears for a couple of hundred pounds.

What are my options if I do have to repay them? Do I need to pay by D/D, or can I pay by giroslips if I wanted...........can they force me into repaying within 2 years, and does it need to be monthly payments or can I pay weekly if I wanted?

They are saying that back in 98-99, I was to pay just over £100 per week, but I cant remember my circumstances at that time, plus would I not have had to be in a very well paying job to be asked to pay such a big amount. I've never had a well paid job, just your average basic wage......nothing over £1000 a month, and at the time stated........if I was working it would have been more than likely to be around £800 a month.

Dancing_Shoes

If you can afford it I would join Nacsa and get them to help you deal with what it is that you actually owe. They are absolutely fantastic and have saved alot of people money, but if it is correct then yes unfortunately you will have to pay it

Angel3108

My Husband was in a similar situation, when he was changed from cs1 to 2, then they decided to backdate 6yrs worth of payments (even though he paid what they asked every month without fail in that 6yr period)

I don't think that There is alot you can do regarding the arrears, except pay it.
The only advice I can offer is to pay them by S.O ( even though they will claim that this is not possiable and that it has to be DD) if you do a direct debit with them, they can change the amout they take whenever they like and more often than not will not give you prior warning! :eek:

jimmyjammer

A couple of other things I forgot to ask are.

If i received the breakdown at the start of the week, how long roughly do I have before they start turning the screw so to speak. I ask this as I'm trying to figure out if I have time to request the data protection stuff.

Do I need to contact them to say I'm wanting to delay any payments, as I want to be sure that there are in fact arrears.

I dont want them thinking I'm just ignoring the situation, but at the same time I dont want to speak to them in case I get pressured into immediate repayments.

I'm sorry for all the questions, but I really dont know much about how to go about dealing with them.

Also I mentioned that they say I was on payments of £100 per week back in 98-99.........does that seem like the correct assessment from a wage of approx £800 - £1000 per month?

Once again, any help or advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Angel3108

If you go onto the csa website, there is a maintance calculator, if you put in how much you were earning, how many children and if you are on cs1 or cs2 etc it should give you a rough idea of how much you should have been paying.
It depends largely on which system you were on at the time. cs1 I think takes into account your housing costs, but cs2 doesn't?

Donedoingdebt

Unfortunately, the old rules (CS1) was quite a complicated formula & it's near impossible to guess whether that payment would be correct without all the exact information from that time.

However, if you did not inform the CSA of your housing costs (mortgage/rent), council tax payments & any pension payments you made, plus you received no shared care allowance for that period, then it is possible the assessment could be correct given the rough figures you've provided.

blimey40

Due to it being pre June2000, I would object to paying it and don't be bullied by them.

jimmyjammer

but how can i check that the arrears are def from 98-99? I am assuming that they are, going on the amounts from the breakdown i received. the amount they are claiming i owe is exactly the same amount as a period between 98-99.

and where would i stand due to the fact i paid arrears back in feb? could they not say what i had paid was part of the current amount their now seeking................even though there has never been any mention of them before.

kelloggs36

Trouble is Blimey, unless the OP was self employed, the CSA can take the money.