CSA Payments - Arrears unrealistic amount???

Wayne-Kaz

Hi all

Just opened a letter from the CSA, who state they're going to be taking £231 a month plus £377 a month for arrears on a DEO, making a total of £609 per month

My take home is just £1518 a month

Now dont get me wrong, I have no qualms paying for my daughter (even though I dont get to see her - her mother moved house and changed all contact details - disappeared off the face of the planet), and also about paying the arrears, but £609 will completely cripple me. I phoned them up to ask if I could make a more reasonable repayment of arrears, but all they said was the only way to do that is to make them a lump payment of part of it now and they'll consider it

I'm currently off work with stress and depression (full pay thankfully for now!!), and this is the last thing I need. I have no savings to make this lump payment

I've been in debt to the tune of 5 figures for a number of years, and have been working hard to clear them - down to just £3k debt left (or so I thought!), and so still have alot of monthly outgoings to creditors etc. This means I eat simple foods and never go out. I have no life and no friends since I cannot afford to socialise

Anyway, the relevant question...: Whatever happened to "reasonable offer of repayment" for arrears??? Doesnt that apply for the CSA?

HELP!

Kimitatsu

The CSA are entitled to take up to 40% of your net pay for arrears and ongoing maintenance which is how they have got to that figure.

However, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel because the current steer is that you can have up to 2 years to clear the arrears if you can show that you would be in considerable financial hardship due to these payments. The CSA dont take into account any other debt except if it was caused at the time you were together with your partner and it was for the benefit of the family unit.

I would ring them and explain that you will find it difficult to make these payments and ask them for a longer time to pay with a smaller amount if this will be cleared within 2 years. Explain that you are off work with a stress induced illness and this will only contribute to it.

Good luck

borders_dude

If you are incapable of negotiating a more realistic amounts towards your arrears then I would suggest you contact your local CAB!

Good luck!

It is well document that the CSA is not fit for purpose and by default their staff are not fit for purpose!

Kimitatsu

borders_dude wrote: »

It is well document that the CSA is not fit for purpose and by default their staff are not fit for purpose!

I think that is unfair - the staff that I have spoken to at the CSA are just as frustrated as their clients much of the time at having to implement policies that do not address the real issues. There are of course some staff that dont have a scooby but in the main they do their best.

Wayne-Kaz

The arrears total £5.904, so if they make it over 2 years that would be a monthly payment of £231 + £246 (arrears). Still nearly £500 a month, but possibly a little more manageable than £609

Why is there a 2 year max? I'm not trying to get off the hook, just trying to pay it back sensibly

It wasnt just stress I'm off with, I actually attempted suicide through the stress of debt and everything which followed on from that. While I'm off I opened my mail (which I'd ignored for a few weeks) and saw this

Doesnt help...

Kimitatsu

Hiya

I couldnt honestly tell you why there is a 2 year maximum, I just know that there is! Have you had your assesment checked to make sure it is correct? NACSA will do it for nothing http://www.nacsa.co.uk/ its just that the CSA have been known to get it wrong before........

Have you sought help for your other debts? I realise that you have cleared a lot of it off already but if you saw a debt adviser at the CAB or any other free debt service they may well be able to reduce your payments down to a more manageable level. A debt to the CSA counts as a priority debt so will take precedence over any other unsecured debt.

Important thing is not to let it get to you, and to take care of yourself

Wayne-Kaz

I dont doubt the assessment, nor the arrears

My other debts, I lurked here on MSE for advice, which helped alot. I didnt go to the CAB or any debt agency, instead made some calculations, prioritised my debts according to the highest interest, and now only owe ~£3k in Council Tax for a previous address. Because it is CT, its also (I believe) classed as a priority debt

I take home £1500, and I calculate my outgoings (rent, bills, food, general living, debts) to be £1250 a month. That leaves a little over £250 a month which would go towards CSA

I can cut back further on food, and leave the heating off, so barely could possibly make the £500 a month. But why? I work hard, long hours. I come home and do nothing as I have no cash left. Whats the point? Do the CSA know what theyre doing to guys?

Kimitatsu

If you feel the arrears and the assesment are correct then unfortunately all you can do is come to an arrangement to pay them.

A bit of a case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted but had you taken advice then you could have asked for the interest to be frozen on your other debts and then paid off the priority debts first. You are correct that CT is a priority debt as you can be imprisoned for non- payment. Is there any chance of the council re-negotiating the amount that you are paying? Was the debt entirely in your name? If not then the Council will chase both parties for it, and many will take your half of the debt in payment and then feel that has absolved you of any liability.

I will say it before anyone else does and this thread descends into a slanging match (be warned all of you ) if you knew that you had the liability from the CSA then you should have made some sort of arrangement to pay. The money goes towards the upkeep of your daughter, and it may well have been that they have had to cut back on other things without the money that was owed to them. I cant comment on that because I dont know the full facts of the case and there is certainly no need for you to post them onto a public forum - I just know that someone will point it out!

The CSA is there to ensure that NRP's do make a contribution to their children, and so there are broad guidelines in place. Unfortunately if you have built up arrears then the collections team is not very good at seeing the bigger picture and their brief is to collect the arrears pretty much whatever. You could try going through your MP to see if they can negotiate a better repayment plan for you given your recent medical history, they may have some sway.

blimey40

The 2 year process is a CSA steer and not a legal requirement. time and time again it has been proved when it goes to court, NRP's have longer to pay.

trouble is, getting it there.

Wayne-Kaz

But the usual route of sending in a list of your income and expenses, and suggesting a reasonable repayment wont work with them?

simon4amiee

Wayne-Kaz wrote: »

Hi all

Just opened a letter from the CSA, who state they're going to be taking £231 a month plus £377 a month for arrears on a DEO, making a total of £609 per month

My take home is just £1518 a month

Now dont get me wrong, I have no qualms paying for my daughter (even though I dont get to see her - her mother moved house and changed all contact details - disappeared off the face of the planet), and also about paying the arrears, but £609 will completely cripple me. I phoned them up to ask if I could make a more reasonable repayment of arrears, but all they said was the only way to do that is to make them a lump payment of part of it now and they'll consider it

I'm currently off work with stress and depression (full pay thankfully for now!!), and this is the last thing I need. I have no savings to make this lump payment

I've been in debt to the tune of 5 figures for a number of years, and have been working hard to clear them - down to just £3k debt left (or so I thought!), and so still have alot of monthly outgoings to creditors etc. This means I eat simple foods and never go out. I have no life and no friends since I cannot afford to socialise

Anyway, the relevant question...: Whatever happened to "reasonable offer of repayment" for arrears??? Doesnt that apply for the CSA?

HELP!

There is help if you want to fight them, I contacted Office of Fair Trading and my local MP who both helped me stop this, they cannot ask for unreasonable amounts, well they can but the collection agencies have to abide by the office of fair trading guidelines, if which it states the following note section 2.6 F:, and ram this down their throats get an email from the company, find out as many names as possible, tell your MP to contact them all and the CSA, trust me within hours of this I had them backpedling faster the Usain Bolt on speed.

Physical/psychological harassment
2.5 Putting pressure on debtors or third parties is considered to be oppressive.
2.6 Examples of unfair practices are as follows:
a. contacting debtors at unreasonable times and at unreasonable intervals
b. pressurising debtors to sell property, to raise funds by further
borrowing or to extend their borrowing
c. using more than one debt collection business at the same time
resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different parties
d. not ensuring that an adequate history of the debt is passed on as
appropriate resulting in repetitive and/or frequent contact by different
parties
e. not informing the debtor when their case has been passed on to a
different debt collector
f. pressurising debtors to pay in full, in unreasonably large instalments,
or to increase payments when they are unable to do so
g. making threatening statements or gestures or taking actions which
suggest harm to debtors
h. ignoring and/or disregarding claims that debts have been settled or are
disputed and continuing to make unjustified demands for payment
i. disclosing or threatening to disclose debt details to third parties unless
legally entitled to do so
j. acting in a way likely to be publicly embarrassing to the debtor either
deliberately or through lack of care, for example, by not putting
correspondence in a sealed envelope and putting it through a letterbox,
thereby running the risk that it could be read by third parties.