CSA taking whatever they want!

kazza1980

Hi,

This is my first post so hello everyone

My partner is having a real problem with the CSA atm.

He left his wife back in Oct 2008 and continued to pay the bills and gave her £200 on top of that for 4 months until he lost his job. He took out a big loan at this point and gave her £3,000 as a lump payment, transferred through his bank to her's marked as "child maintenance". We then relaxed while he looked for another job knowing that the payment would easily cover a year of maintenance payments, probably a lot more!

His ex went to the CSA the month he stopped paying everything and they took £5 a week straight out of his job seekers. When he was re-employed in April 09 he called the CSA and said that he was now earning and could they check what his payments would be and reminded them of the £3k payment. They said no worries and they'd be in contact. He changed job in July and they contacted him again asking for paperwork which he sent (at this point we still were not worried as the lump sum was still more that enough!!)

In Nov 09 they called to say they hadn't received anything! We had sent 5 wage slips by now along with his p45! The next week we received it all back with a compliment slip from the CSA lol!!!

So just before Christmas we get a letter - he owes £1269 in arrears. We call, write to our MP and both come back saying that his ex had said the money was for something else, not child maintenance so we have to pay up!! They refused to check the bank statements from the time and said they'd take 40% of my partner's wage until they were paid. We had a baby in Sept 2009 and i have 2 other children, i was on maternity leave so we had no spare money each month especially with the loan repayments. We had no choice but to pay on a credit card in my name.

At the time my partner was told they could re-evaluate as there are other children here - they did that (the arrears paid in Jan), we were contacted last month with details and another £400 arrears to pay, we were obviously expecting it so paid up and set a direct debit from 23rd of each month to take over from there.

He received direct debits details including an overpayment on his part of £107 which is going to be taken off of his payments in 3 months.

Anyway - he gets a call this evening and they said they need a payment of £160 today as agreed. He never agreed to paying anything and he has received no paperwork detailing an extra payment. He asked what it was for saying that he'd already overpaid and the guy on the phone said at first it was a "protection payment", my partner said we dont have the cash (after paying £400 anyway this month) so can they send a letter detailing the payment and then just take normal payments for the next 3 months instead of paying back the "overpayment".

The guy then said that he has 7 days to pay it or they'll take it from his employee or take him to court. He said we owe it from last month but my partner made sure to ask that there would be no extra payments before the direct debit kicked in.

It seems to me that CSA are taking whatever they like. We've had no letter and they just call out of the blue saying he's got to pay this?! Surely it cant be legal.

We are fed up now. We still believe that the £3k should have been taken into account and feel completely done over by the system and his ex.

I am pregnant again and really do not need the extra stress right now. Atm the only thing we can think of is him going part time and me working full time to try to get back ahead in some way! We don't really want to do this as he is all about paying for his son (who he has no access to as we can't afford a solicitor and his ex refuses access unless we pay her another lump sum!!) but we see no other option.

We both really feel as if his ex is using his son as a tool for money.

What can we do?

Sorry it's so long and thank you in advance

sfm82

What a mess, I can't offer advice on the csa as they are a law unto themselves and there are other people on here who have more experience. I will however always say to insist that they only communicate with you in writting and when they call simply say 'I have requested that you only communicate with me in writing I look forward to your letter' and hang up. This way you have a paper trail.

As for access I think your partner should fight for access to his son. IME most courts regard mothers that deny access for no reason with disdain and will arrange for access.

Most soliciters will give you 20-30 mins free time (just call round local family lawyers), and this coupled with other bits of knowledge could be enough to threaten her with legal action (always put everything in writing). Just the mention of a few relevant laws, policies and court action nipped our BMs access threats in the bud. If your BM doesn't take the bait, and wants to go to court, you can represent yourselves or get the assistance of a McKenzie Friend http://www.fnf.org.uk/law-and-information/mckenzie-friends/mckenzie-friends-open-page

The Child Law Advice Line also provides a free legal advice and information which may be of some use: http://www.childrenslegalcentre.com/Legal+Advice/Legaladvicelines/thechildlawadviceline
Definately have a look to see if you are eligible for legal aid (the pay threshold is relatively high).

Remember that child maintenance and rights to access are two different things, your BM should not be using it as an excuse to deny access.

As your partner was married to his ex he also has parental rights and should do some research as to what this entitles him to with regards to decisions being made about his son.

kelloggs36

I'm afraid that you cannot pay a lump sum in advance and expect the CSA to agree to it unless the PWC agrees: just because you say it was for maintenance does not mean legally that it will be accepted as such. From what you say, he paid her the lump sum before the CSA became involved, in which case they cannot take it into account in any event.

I have never heard of a protection payment - I would be asking for a written explanation as to what this is. Don't worry about the threats about court, that is a very long way off - if it happens at all. They are very unlikely to do anything for the sake of £160 especially if they can do a DEO. You need a complete breakdown of the account - you feel you are in advance, but they don't so you need to know why. I would be asking for a meeting with somebody there who has read the case and knows what the payments have been. You will need to fight for this, and be flexible as they won't visit your home any more, but may be more willing to meet with you at a DSS office.

iluvfreebies

i think its a protected payment they were calling you for
This happens when there is a schedule already in place with another method of collection
When a case is set up as direct debit there is a timeframe (14 days i think) before the system will ask for a payment due to set up times.
If the old schedule was looking for a payment before the direct debit will be set up the system will still look for payment of this - This payment is known as a protected payment.

Your partner should request an accounts breakdown in writing to estalish the status of the case.

As Kellogs has stated the £3000 paid before the case with the csa wouldn't be considered unless the PWC agreed for arrears not to be collected before this amount as only payments from the csa effective date would be considered.

HTH

Dissillusioned

You have my sympathy and you will join a long long list of people the CSA have wronged with there bungling,rude staff.

My case was botched to the max with delays,incorrect adding up,being told different things by phone and then letter culminating with them demanding immeadiate payment of arears they caused which no way could I afford.And trying to reason with them,well,forget it,despite NEVER having missed one payment in 10 years!I got my MP involved and won,and,also got sent a cheque for compensation for maladministation.

I actively loathe having to deal with these people,the day I send them my last payment I will be the happiest man alive.Seriously.
A sad aim in life,I admit. But the stress these jokers have caused me is immeasurable.Talking to a plank of wood is more useful and constructive.

I have decided never to have more kids,ever,entirely because of this outfit.
There is no way again I will be held,helpless to ransom,unable to do anything because the law is behind them 100% even when there wrong.
I will NEVER put myself in that position again as long as I draw breath.
So to the OP,your one of many.My sincere sympathy.

A more hated and useless gov dept cant be found

kazza1980

Thanks for the replies. The worst thing was the money we now pay each month is almost £70 a month under what we offered to pay away from CSA. There really is no pleasing some people.

Unfortunately we were advised at the time to make sure all payments to his ex were marked clearly through a bank (she wanted cash!) so that we couldn't be "had" at a later time. Wish we'd known then as she would definitely not have had that £3,000. The only consolation about that is that we still have the bank statements to show his son when he is old enough to understand, along with emails begging her for access and her replies demanding more money.

No doubt he will already be poisoned against us so we are glad for evidence to prove that my partner always tried to be the best father he could. His ex is seriously evil though, she plays mind games with him every time they spoke and openly told their 2.5yr old son that the man with her was not his daddy! She made sure to always put him down in front of his son and say things directly to his son to make him sound worse. She had the police involved over nothing, luckily our elderly neighbour was there to tell the police it was his ex who was acting crazy!! It's all done to try to stop any access. She is now talking about moving miles away with him. My partner made the decision to not see his son when she was around to save his son anymore heartache. His son always ended up crying.

I wish the system was fairer. Especially to us and many other people who actually want to provide.

Thank you all again so much, i will look at the links and make sure my partner requests everything in writing.

Good luck to everyone else dealing with this awful company!

xMonsoonx

If you have it in writing from the CSA that the 3k is not counted at child maintenance can you not claim this money back from her?

Personally I would get a little free time with a family solicitor and check your options.

13Kent

I'm sorry to say that you just have to ride out the storm with the CSA - if you read some of my other posts you will see we tried the MP route - without success. They are a law unto themselves, and in our experience they always take the PWC's side over the NRP - even when there is documentary evidence to the contrary. We also have an obstructive PWC.

All I can say is don't let it ruin the relationship you have with your partner, try not to stress, and focus on doing the right thing so that you conscience is clear and hopefully in the future when the children are adults they will look back at their childhood and realise who it was that tried to do the best for them.. (At least that's what we hope!)

Unfortunately there are lots of us in the same boat....and what a big boat it is!!!

Sorry I can't be more constructive! Good Luck!