CSA help needed very confused!!!

regallady

Hi there ive not posted to the forum before, but i hope someone can help us. My partner split up with his ex 3 years ago and we got together, the CSa contacted him when the divorce went ahead. He started paying them as he was running at the time his own one man taxi cab, but had to finish that as there was no work(thanks to his ex!), he was then unemployed for a while but was to proud to claim any benefit, and finally started work last year again. in the meantime he started paying the CSA but then they decided that he had to pay an amount that he was'nt even earning.He had no help from the CSA just basicallyt elling him he has to pay(he already knew that). since then he has had a letter saying it went to court to claim the arrears, the letter came back in someone else's surname, the baliff came out and i rung them back and said we were prepared to pay £50 a month as thats all we could afford, we never had any giro slips or anything even though we were told from the baliff that they would be sent. He now has a deductions of earnings they are taking as as it is only part time work(£80pw) his boss has said he has to let him go they want to take 330 pm off him, plus they are also taking it out of his£300pm forces pension, we are struggling as we have my 16yr old son with us in school we are not entitled to tax credits and dont seem to be able to get help anywhere. His son is over 18 but as it was made clear in the divorce he wanted nothing to do with his father and never has done we dont know if he is in college or what he is doing. where can we go for help or can anyone help please, my partner is getting close to a mental breakdown with it all, and noone seems able to help us. We dont know if the amount to be paid is right or even if he is supposed to pay it now, although we know obviously the arrears have to be paid, the cSA have been no help at all even to the extent of calling my partner a liar at one stage on the phone. thank you for any help you can give.

Loopy_Girl

Did your husband keep the CSA informed of all his change of circumstances?

Why aren't you entitled to WTC/CTC? If your son is still at school and there is a low wage coming into the house then you should be

You need to ask them for a complete breakdown of the arrears so that you can see what money has been due at what point. If your husband did not keep them informed of changes (losing job, starting new work) then they would have (quite correctly) used the last assessment amount they have.

Do they know that there is a dependant child in the house as this would reduce his liability.

And finally, the fact that his son wanted/wants nothing to do with him is irrelevant. CS still needs to be paid even if there is no contact.

I would strongly suggest you get your MP involved as to be honest, it sound like your husband has buried his head in the sand and now things are coming to a head and you may both need some help getting it sorted.

regallady

he did let them know of all the changes in circumstances and they kept sending figures out that we could'nt understand and when we rung them was told that basically thats what they worked it out at, even when we explained that it was more than he actually had coming in. He has had correspondance for another person with the same first name but a differant last name as well, we asked for a breakdown but never got one off them.

CSA_Debt_Bod

First of all, your partner should call the CSA and ask them to do a child benefit check to see if child maintenance is still payable. If his son is still in full time education, regular maintenance will continue to be payable until his 19th birthday.

It sounds like your partner could do with discussing his past assessments with a caseworker, to check if they are correct. However if your partner did not inform the CSA of changes at the time (eg that he was unemployed), then they will not make backdated changes to his assessment. It might be an idea to request a copy of an account breakdown to be sent out - however these can be confusing, and your partner may then need to ring in again and have the breakdown explained to him.

Why is your partner's employer going to 'let him go'? Is it because of the DEO because I don't think they can do that.

If your partner doesn't feel the CSA person who he speaks to is helpful, he should ask to speak to a manager. He should certainly not be called a liar. However it does sound to me like a case of your partner 'sticking his head in the sand' - something that NRPs do a lot of in my experience, as though they think by ignoring it the debt will go away. He would have had plenty of oppoprtunity to come to an agreement to pay, or question his debt, before the case reached court.

CSA_Debt_Bod

Oops, looks like Loopy Girl replied as I was typing! Well at least we both seem to be in agreement with what you need to do next.

Loopy_Girl

regallady wrote: »

he did let them know of all the changes in circumstances and they kept sending figures out that we could'nt understand and when we rung them was told that basically thats what they worked it out at, even when we explained that it was more than he actually had coming in. He has had correspondance for another person with the same first name but a differant last name as well, we asked for a breakdown but never got one off them.

Defo get the MP involved then. If you have tried to sort it yourself and got nowhere then you need his/her help.

How much are they saying the arrears are?

regallady

thank you for the help, he has tried to be in contact with them and seems to get differant people on the phone saying differant things. its become so confusing. We are going to start again with what you have said child benefit, breakdown etc and see what happens from there.

regallady

thats the other problem loopy we have had 3 differant figures and none of them match up,and noone seems to know why even at the CSA its from between £1000 to £1500

CSA_Debt_Bod

That's very bad, regallady. Your partner has a basic right to know how much he owes! You could also try making a complaint in writing, to the complaints department at the address that you have on any CSA correspondence.

regallady

CSA_Debt_Bod wrote: »

That's very bad, regallady. Your partner has a basic right to know how much he owes! You could also try making a complaint in writing, to the complaints department at the address that you have on any CSA correspondence.

thank you, you can see now why we confused

13Kent

Ask for a 'clerical breakdown' which should not only give the amount owed but the calculation that led to these figures.