Direct Maintenance CSA 'overpayment'

kazloui

Hi, I'm after some advice please!

My ex has just sent me a letter demanding £750 for quote 'overpayment' of child maintenance for a period of 9 months last year. To explain: The CSA calculated the amount but he paid me direct via Direct Maintenance. Then sometime during the year he contacted them to explain he was increasing his pension contributions (this would then reduce his income so maintenance payments for his son would reduce). They took the 8 months to recalculate the payments and to advise me that they would change; I knew nothing before this.

Now he says he shouldn't have paid the £750 element over 8 months and I should pay it back within the week or he will issue a court claim for it. The CSA don't want to know as payments weren't made through them, they just made the calculation.

I don't think we owe him anything and my son has of course benefited from the maintenance. He obviously knew what effect the increased pension contributions would have on the maintenance but didn't mention it to me and did nothing for nearly 8 months to sort out CSA.

He also claimed a reduction (in advance at the start of the year) for shared care that year but didn't meet the requirement for overnight stays which in effect meant that he underpaid an element too - I mention that as an aside as I wasn't going to take that further.

Where do I stand with court do you think?

missmontana

I would hope he would be laughed out of court!

Can you not work out an invoice for amount of over night stays that were missed, totalling £750?!!

kazloui

missmontana wrote: »

I would hope he would be laughed out of court!

Can you not work out an invoice for amount of over night stays that were missed, totalling £750?!!

Thanks for your reply and I would hope that he would be laughed out too. However, things are never that strraightforawrd are they!!! I could work out a figure that takes into account the missed nights and if it comes to it issue a counter-claim but I wish I didn't have to. He just wants to give me stress as he is certainly not short of money and this probably amuses his sad-self. I just wondered how the courts looked generally on this kind of claim.

kelloggs36

The CSA may well calculate backdated reduced payments, but all that should happen at worst is that you negotiate a reduced amount over time to recover the overpayment. As CSA guidance is to recover underpayments within a 2 year period, you could suggest that he recover his overpayment within the same timeframe - so divide the £750 over 24 months and reduce it by that, or if you are feeling generous divide it over a year.

missmontana

If it were me, being bloody minded as I can be, I'd let him take it to court and see where it gets him!
But you're probably best off taking kelloggs advice, but as it is a private agreement, I'm not sure what ground he has to stand on.
Have you thought about actually going through the CSA?

Miss_A__2-2

Do it all thru the CSA. so, basically nights your son did not stayu over he wants to back date?????

markeymark

and what court action is he going to raise against you?

kazloui

Thanks for all your replies. As I said as it was a private agreement and the CSA involvement was via Maintenance Direct then they don't want to know, though in future I have asked them to receive payments so that situations like this are avoided. I think I will just let him try and take me to court (for what eactly I don't know) since as far as I am concerned he was just paying maintenance at a rate we both agreed and now he's decided differently. I will then issue a counter claim for the 15% 'shared care' reduction he was not entitled to as this follows his flawed logic.