How long to obtain a liabilty order

slscarborough

I have today received a letter from the csa to say they are taking NRP to court to obtain a liabilty order. How long does this process take and what exactly is a liability order?

CSA_Debt_Bod

It can take at least 3 months to get a court hearing date, and this can be further delayed by various hitches, such as if the NRP decides to ask if the case can be heard at a local court and the process has to start all over again.

A liability order is the official registering of a debt; it's basically just a judge saying the debt is owed (they don't usually look in to the case in any depth but trust the CSA to have done their job properly!) and that the CSA can collect it through bailiffs.

slscarborough

Just wondering how likely it is that I will ever see any money? We have been seperated for 8 years and never received a penny!! The CSA seem to give NRP so many chances to pay.

slscarborough

Also letter states for arrears going back to 2004 but we split in 2002?

CSA_Debt_Bod

Well that really depends on your ex's circumstances, whether he has assetts that a bailiff could seize and sell to repay the debt, and whether the prospect of court action would frighten him in to paying before it got that far.

If he doesn't own his own home, and doesn't have valuable assetts (including cars) or savings, then enforcement action isn't likely to be fruitful.

If he does have the means to pay but is found to be deliberately avoiding doing so, or won't let the bailiffs on to his property, the CSA may progress to legal action and the threat of imprisonment and taking his passport.

It all really depends on whether he can't pay or won't pay. The CSA can't get blood out of a stone and he may feel he has nothing to lose anyway, but if he has goods and assetts he doesn't want to lose he may pay up.

slscarborough

Doesnt sound promising as although he has a good wage - he doesnt own his own home or have any assets or savings.

The CSA did contact me a while ago as they believed him to be self employed and not paying any tax and national insurance. They were going to pass this information on for him to be prosecuted.

CSA_Debt_Bod

In answer to your other question, there is a statute of limitations in force that means the CSA can only enforce (through courts) debt going back to a certain date (I forget which) in 2004. I am afraid any debt accrued before this cannot be collected in this way and is called 'unenforceable', but it will still remain on your case and be technically owing to you - it could still be collected through a DEO if your ex is employed at any time in the future.

It does rather beg the question of why didn't the CSA enforce this debt owed to you before time ran out and it became unenforceable. Have they done anything about enforcing it before?

chall1964

CSA_Debt_Bod wrote: »

In answer to your other question, there is a statute of limitations in force that means the CSA can only enforce (through courts) debt going back to a certain date (I forget which) in 2004. I am afraid any debt accrued before this cannot be collected in this way and is called 'unenforceable', but it will still remain on your case and be technically owing to you - it could still be collected through a DEO if your ex is employed at any time in the future.

A LO can not be granted by the court for debt that accrued before 12/07/2000!


slscarborough, you should contact the agency and find out if there are arrears older than the date in 2004 on your case, why such is not being included.

CSA_Debt_Bod

I have deleted this post because I am not 100% about when the CSA stopped being bound by the statute of limitations and don't want to confuse matters further!

slscarborough

Have telephoned the CSA and apparently they agreed with the NRP to write off the debt prior to 2004 some time ago in an effort to start getting him to make payments on a clean slate. Nice of them!!

All they have done is written to him in the past which he has ignored.

The amount he is meant to pay per week is a joke really compared to what he earns!! I dont really know what the CSA are their for?

slscarborough

I feel I have been very let down by the CSA. There have been periods where he has worked for an employer but they never attempted to make a DOE. At one point he fiddled his outgoings to get a lower assessment and ended up with an assessment of £18 a week!!

Its our son I feel sorry for though as now that he is 15 he is finding this very hurtful! He sees his dad standing outside the pub everyday but he is not willing to pay £30 a week for his upkeep.