Still waiting on CSA payment

Sarah1971

My ex husband used to have a private agreement with me to pay monthly child maint. to me for our 2 children (although he still owes me thousands and thousands in arrears). However since December 2008 he has stopped paying as he lost his job (we think through drink driving)- and then he was claiming benefits, flitting from 1 cash in hand job to another and paying nothing at all to me.

I contacted the CSA in September 2009 and they assessed him - he claimed he was working 1 or 2 days per week as a post man and my payments would commence (after lots of chasing up on a weekly basis by me) from the end of November and be in my account around the 5th of the month (1st month being Jan 2010). I received a payment schedule confirming this and that it would be £35 per week in total.

However, the payment never came though and again after many phone calls from me and chasing the CSA confirmed that he had stopped the payment and would not take any phone calls, hanging up each time they tried. Anyway they said they would contact his employer and start the ball rolling to get an attachment of earnings....this didn't happen as my ex requested a re-assessment as his hours had decreased and he couldn't afford to pay the missed payments!

I am getting pretty fed up now of phoning the csa EVERY week for updates and really getting nowhere. I am amazed at how he is getting away with not paying anything at all right now and seems to have the CSA eating out of his hand with his hardship stories.

To put the icing on the cake my ex (the part time post man) picked the children up yesterday in an almost new VW passat, he has also recently had a 2 week holiday in Poland with his girlfriend but still cries poverty!

I've spoken to my case worker today and she said the employer confirms that he does work there part time but earns lots of overtime (funnily enough he didn't include these payslips in the ones he sent in to the csa).

I'm just wondering why the csa are giving him chance after chance to pay when all's I want is a fair amount to be taken direct from his wages as an attachment to earnings as he has already proven he is selective with the information he is providing, is obviously earning a lot more than he declares and is in total control of cancelling his direct debit and/or clearing his bank account before the CSA get to take any money from it.

Any advice on how I should be handling this would be appreciated.

Thanks

missmontana

Can't you just tell them you want a DOE??

Sarah1971

Would it be that simple to ask them to do it via a DOE? I'll no doubt be speaking to them later on this week so I'll ask if that's an option, I don't mind waiting a few more months to sort it out...as long as it's all done fairly...after all this money is for the children not me so I've got to get what they are entitled to.

missmontana

exactly, I'm not sure, I am new to all this to! I have asked to have him pay them so he can't fluff up with the payments, but i don't know if that's DOE or if they only do a DOE if he's been refusing to pay...
Usually someone who knows jumps in and gives an answer!

ACon

What I dont get is, if you lied about earnings anywhere else it would be illegal, how comes they get away with it with the CSA? My ex lied and said he wasnt working when he was, and that delayed our case by months, even though I told them his flippin car's outside there every day.
Its now *just about* in motion, but as they were about to make a DOE last week, he paid all his arrears (well the 3 mths they are asking him for) in one lump sum, and they let him off the doe, now hes not paying again.... *sigh* Don't know how long I have to wait for them to make him pay again. He makes one payment of £142 in 18mths, and they think thats ok, oh and only gave me £32 of it :think:

PlayingHardball

Hi Sarah,
I would suggest that you put the facts in writting, ask the CSA when they will look at his total earnings and what they will be asking for as evidence, and are they persuing a DEO. I'm shocked at how much wrong information I was given over the phone by the CSA, times when I informed them of changes and they never acted!

You shouldn't have to be hounding them, they should be doing their job!

After several months of frustration with the CSA I wrote a letter to my local MP. He then wrote to the CSA and my case got looked into with more interest from that point. The CSA still took ages to conclude anything, but by having MP's involved, it gives the CSA a kick up the backside.

Your ex's overtime IS taken into account, but he sounds like the sort that would stop the overtime just to spite.

Good luck, and don't give up.

ACon

I second the MP involvement, it took my MP writing to them to get my case made clerical so it actually got sorted, as it was "technically stuck" for so long, and for some reason nothing can be done about this until an MP tells them to sort it out!
I got compensation, and they are promising me a 12mth backpayment in one lump sum, direct from them with interest. Im not holding my breath but it would be nice!

Sarah1971

Thanks everyone. I will go down the route of putting it all in writing and possibly getting my MP involved...I am sick of doing the CSA's job for them now. I have had a message on my phone today from the CSA saying that they finally got hold of my ex and have agreed figures with him and that the payment schedule will be with me shortly....so I'll wait and see what that says first before any further phone calls to them...

Of course this phone call today between my ex and the CSA has prompted a cra**y text message to me from my ex.....it doesn't get any easier - even after over 5 years of us splitting up

PlayingHardball

Hi Sarah, sounds positive. I have just registered with NACSA as my problems with CSA and nrp have gone on so long, I am finally going to Tribunal, which is great but CSA error has meant a huge delay in getting to this stage.

I've just spent about 45 minutes on the phone with someone from NACSA this afternoon, if you get nowhere with the CSA with your situation, I'd consider using them. (They too recommend involving MP's) There is a registration charge of £50, I wish I'd known about them 18 months ago! The lady was very knowledgeable and I know feel confident that I will be able to present my tribunal case on my own with their help. They know all there is to know about the child support system and its failures.