CSA - Arrears Help

Eighteen75

Good Afternoon MSE's, need a little bit of advice on where I stand with arrears and the CSA.

Recently my wife gave birth to our first child together, I informed the CSA of the change in circumstances as per you would expect. A re-assessment was done as my wife now only gets SMP from her employer.

Previously I was paying over 360 quid for one child from a previous relationship. This has been coming out of my wages as a DOE. I struggled to pay it but we managed to get by somehow.

They have now re-adjusted this figure due to the reduction of income in the house and also living expenses, due to having a baby in the household, are now being taken into consideration.

Thought everything was going rather swimmingly then recieved a letter about my arrears (about 1900 quid apparently) that I accrued some 5 years ago from being out of work, health etc etc.

The CSA have now re-re-adjusted their figure to re-claim these arrears and now will be taking off me, almost, exactly what my previous deductions were.

What I need to know is essentially how do I fight this, is there a minimum repayment that will be accepted etc etc.

Any information would he hugely and wholly appreciated and if you require any further information then please dont hesitate to ask.

Many thanks in advance.

CSA_Debt_Bod

Hi Eighteen75,

It may be possible to negotiate with the CSA to pay your debt off at a more affordable rate, but you don't say how much they are going to take for arrears every week/month so I don't know how feasible this will be. They will officially expect you to clear your debt over 2 years at the most, which will in your case work out to around £18 per week, although sometimes if an NRP can prove this will cause him/her a great deal of hardship they may allow the debt to be paid over a longer period.

When you ring to renegotiate your DEO payments, be sure to have all your reasons for asking for a reduction prepared ie. new baby, bills, other debts etc - also it sometimes helps if you offer to make a one-off goodwill payment by card. The officer can use all of these things to put to their manager when accepting a lower repayment amount.

Eighteen75

Well my new payments went from 365 to 70 quid, but they are asking over the next 5/6 mths that I pay 285 for the first month and then 365 for the following ones, the 365 would take me below my protected threshold.

Should be getting a call from them later on as I spoke with them already today, I was just wanting some additional information on what I can/cannot offer. They did ask for a lump payment but I cant afford it in all honesty.

They have said that they are willing to send out and income and expenditure sheet and as my wife is now on SMP (this does fall into protected earnings doesnt it?) the only "wage" we have coming in is mine. My only issue is will their arrears collection be put on hold until they have all the information they request? (the answer to this question couldnt be given at the time hence the reason they are calling me back)

Thanks for the information thus far CSA_D_B - much appreciated.

CSA_Debt_Bod

They may put a hold on collecting the arrears while they gather your info, but they are not really supposed to. Who is the debt owed to, the secretary of state or the PWC? If it's the SOS they are more likely to hold off on collection and also to agree to a lower repayment amount.

I understand what you say about not being able to afford a lump sum, but even the offer of £30 by card today might swing things in your favour. And as for the income/expenditure sheet, an officer should be able to accept the two year repayment figure without this being necessary. I personally would only send one of these out if the NRP was asking to spread the debt over more than two years; if you ask to spread it over two years, detailing the hardship the higher amount would cause you and with the additional offer of a card payment today, I can't see why any reasonable officer would refuse this. Good luck!

markeymark

i thought CSA calculations where done on your wage alone, your wifes SMP will not count
and all arrears should be negotiated by CSA

if im wrong in the above someone please clarify

CSA_Debt_Bod

markeymark wrote: »

i thought CSA calculations where done on your wage alone, your wifes SMP will not count
and all arrears should be negotiated by CSA

You are right in the first part as in his wife's SMP would not count in his CM calculation as far as regular maintenance is concerned, however, it can be taken into consideration at an officer's discretion when coming to an agreement for an arrears repayment figure, which is what the OP is talking about.

I am not sure what you mean by "all arrears should be negotiated by CSA".

markeymark

CSA_Debt_Bod wrote: »

I am not sure what you mean by "all arrears should be negotiated by CSA".

sorry if i wasnt clear but i was under the impression that arrears repayment had to be negotiated by CSA and NRP

CSA_Help

markeymark wrote: »

sorry if i wasnt clear but i was under the impression that arrears repayment had to be negotiated by CSA and NRP

If you are on talking terms ditch the csa as long as none of the arrears are payable to the SOS .

As for negotiating i am a NRP and i negotiated mine through the CSA as they act in the best interest of the PWC as we don't talk

markeymark

CSA_Help wrote: »

If you are on talking terms ditch the csa as long as none of the arrears are payable to the SOS .

how can u check if arrears are to SOS?

CSA_Debt_Bod

markeymark wrote: »

how can u check if arrears are to SOS?

You need to ring the CSA and ask them who the debt is owed to.

CSA_Help

markeymark wrote: »

how can u check if arrears are to SOS?

Ask the CSA they openly tell me although they were a bit cagey at first .

They even told the PWC what i allegedly owed even though she wasn't getting that amount .:)