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Question from PWC re: disregard for arrears
LouiseErd
Posts: 14 Forumite
I have (unexpectedly) started receiving £120 a month from the CSA, after years of not receiving any money from them.
I was on income support for a five years, ending in 2007 when I went back to work full-time. During the period I was on I.S., I was required to make a CSA claim & my ex made a few sporadic payments to the CSA & I then received (IIRC) about £10 a week for a while. Since going back to work & no longer receiving I.S. I have closed my claim with the CSA, but AFAIK he is still liable for the arrears relating to that time.
He's now in a better position financially than he was then & seems to made an agreement to make regular payments to clear his arrears with them.
They are now passing on every penny he pays (I have spoken to them & this is what they told me) - the problem is that I do not know if I am allowed to keep the money!
If I was currently receiving I.S., it would be my responsibilty to inform them how much I was receiving & let them work out what I was entitled to keep, but I don't have a current claim so there is no-one to inform...
CSA have told me that the money I'm receiving relates to the period up to 2007 when I was receiving I.S. but they can't tell me if I'm allowed to keep it, just that if was currently receiving I.S. I should tell them about it. My impression is that they are just washing their hands of it & saying "not my problem".
It's really worrying me that I may be committing some kind of fraud by receiving the money - having finally reached the point where I am supporting myself & doing just about OK, I would honestly rather not receive the money than have that hanging over my head - but I can't STOP the CSA from paying it into my account, they are obliged to pass on what they receive & say they must collect the arrears even though I have closed my claim with them. They did say they would send me a letter stating exactly what period the money was for, I would feel better if I had this, but they haven't sent one yet.
Am I an idiot to be so worried by this?? I am trying to pay money into a savings account in case I have to pay some of it back but am not succeeding very well so far
I was on income support for a five years, ending in 2007 when I went back to work full-time. During the period I was on I.S., I was required to make a CSA claim & my ex made a few sporadic payments to the CSA & I then received (IIRC) about £10 a week for a while. Since going back to work & no longer receiving I.S. I have closed my claim with the CSA, but AFAIK he is still liable for the arrears relating to that time.
He's now in a better position financially than he was then & seems to made an agreement to make regular payments to clear his arrears with them.
They are now passing on every penny he pays (I have spoken to them & this is what they told me) - the problem is that I do not know if I am allowed to keep the money!
If I was currently receiving I.S., it would be my responsibilty to inform them how much I was receiving & let them work out what I was entitled to keep, but I don't have a current claim so there is no-one to inform...
CSA have told me that the money I'm receiving relates to the period up to 2007 when I was receiving I.S. but they can't tell me if I'm allowed to keep it, just that if was currently receiving I.S. I should tell them about it. My impression is that they are just washing their hands of it & saying "not my problem".
It's really worrying me that I may be committing some kind of fraud by receiving the money - having finally reached the point where I am supporting myself & doing just about OK, I would honestly rather not receive the money than have that hanging over my head - but I can't STOP the CSA from paying it into my account, they are obliged to pass on what they receive & say they must collect the arrears even though I have closed my claim with them. They did say they would send me a letter stating exactly what period the money was for, I would feel better if I had this, but they haven't sent one yet.
Am I an idiot to be so worried by this?? I am trying to pay money into a savings account in case I have to pay some of it back but am not succeeding very well so far
0
Comments
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Technically you won't be entitled to it aside from the £10 disregard that was in place at the time so you would need to work that out (am assuming you are on CS2 as CS1 cases didn't get a disregard at the period you are talking about).
I would suggest getting in touch with the IS department that dealt with you (or even a JCP in your town to start off) and see what they say.
I suspect that they may not go to the trouble of reclaiming from you but better to be safe than sorry and sit and worry.
How much money are we talking roughly do you know?0
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