16 years of CSA owed

Corinnaj

Hi there.

This is my first time posting so please bear with me...;)

Basically I have a daughter who was 16 in Oct. When she was 6 weeks old, her Father walked out on us and we have not had any contact with him since (we were unmarried). I was 17 at the time. When I came to claim income support for us the CSA got in contact with me & asked me for details on the Father. I gave them all the info that I had: name, DOB, last known address, his parents address, etc, etc. I heard nothing back and when I contacted them some months later to see what was happening, I was told that they were unable to trace him. Great...:rolleyes:

Soooo, this past 16 years I have managed (like you do). Eventually I got married and went on to have twins why are now 2. My daughters Father hasn't ever paid us a penny & has been completely absent from her life.

About 3 weeks ago I recieved a letter from the CSA saying that they have calculated that her Father owes us £2.45 a week (or thereabouts) from the date that I gave them all those years ago (the date he walked out). I was totally stunned to hear from them! I called them & spoke to a lady who was pretty clueless to be honest (albiet very helpful). She basically said that the CSA have been opening some archives and obviously came across our case from 16 years ago. They decided to see whether my daughters Father was NOW traceable & managed to find him. The last information that I gave them 16 years ago was that he was on income support (which he was) so they have calculated the weekly amount he owes ASSUMING he has been on income support all this time (which I doubt). They said that they are going to work out how much he owes then come back to me. They haven't so far.... She couldn't tell me whether they have actually been in touch or spoken to my ex. She couldn't tell me whether I will actually recieve any money that is owed to me. She couldn't tell me whether any money owed will come directly from him (cos I assume he hasn't got a pot to p*ss in cos he didn't all those years ago) or whether it would be paid from them (the state)

So all in all, I'm pretty confused. If any money is paid to us then this would come at a great time (just in time for my daughter starting college and wanting to learn to drive, etc) but will we actually see any of it???

Can anyone advice????

Many thanks. xx

Blob

You should contact your MP and ask them to chase it, also write to them and say you want to take the case to ICE, this usually gets them motivated as well. As for where the money will go is dependent as to wheather you were on Benefits or working. If on IS then the money will go to the Gov and not you.

Hope this helps.

Corinnaj

Hi.

Thanks so much for your reply. Excuse the silly question, but what it "ice"?

Also, I have worked full time since my daughter was about 2 (with a few spells of unemployment in between...)

Thanks for your advice. xx

Blob

ICE is the inderpendent case eximiner, the address will be on the bottom of the letter that you will get back from the CSA when you write in to tell them you want to take your case to them. ICE wont take the case untill you have been through teh CSA and told them what you are doing so that they have a chance to put it right, but don't hold your breath on them doing that!!!

ann1971

If they do backdate your assessment I believe you can ask them for an advance payment of the arrears due to you as the delay will have been caused by maladministration

Blob

I would go for a compensation payment from the special payments team as it would pos be more.

Mr_Falling_Star

Even if it is £2.45 a week thats £2.45 x 52 x 16 = £2038.40, not to be sniffed at (although morally it should be way way more)

CSA_Debt_Bod

Hi Corinnaj.

Unfortunately no-one can tell you if you will actually see any of the money owed to you until your daughter's father has actually made a payment to the CSA - there are no guarantees. If the CSA can't find him, or he doesn't have the means to afford to make payment, I'm afraid you won't receive anything until circumstances change (ie he is tracked down or he gets a job).

Any money you did receive would always be from your child's father. The CSA is only a middle man - they collect money from the NRP and pass it to the PWC.

I agree that the caseworker you spoke to does seem to be rather clueless! I would advise you to call back, and keep calling back until you speak to someone who can answer your questions. You can always ask to speak to a manager if the person you are speaking to is not helpful. Any caseworker should be able to tell you if they have spoken to your child's father, if he is working, or how any trace action is progressing, because all of these things are relevant to you. In my experience, the onus is on you to pursue your case and to keep ringing the CSA for updates on progress...the CSA has such a huge backlog of non-compliant NRPs that if you do not make a bit of a nuisance of yourself and chase things up, your case may slip to the bottom of the pile again.

Good luck!

Mips

Hold on, if they knew he was on Income Support - why wasn't it deducted at source?

13Kent

If your child is continuing in education the NRP will be obliged to pay until your daughter is 19. If you suspect that the NRP is not in income support then ask for a reassessment straight away - if he is now earning a decent wage then the reassessment will be dated from the time you request it - despite how long it takes to collect the money, and you could end up with a more reasonable amount of maintenance for her at least for the next few years.