Please help... CSA Dept years ago

167donna

hi, please can anyone offer any advice please?

Last week my husband recieved a letter from CSA saying case closed (as child now 18 yrs old)

My husband and I are both self employed and have been for approx 10 years.

During this 10 year period we have been assessed at £0.00 to pay.

We get a phone call from csa today saying we need to pay £6500,00 arears from 1997 to 2001 and they wanted it on credit card.

We explained to them that if we've been £0.00 assessed for past 10 years, how on earth were we going to magic £6500.00 up ??

We've been married for 10 years and have 3 boys all under 16

Please help..dont know where to go for advice?

shell_542

If they won't explain where the arrears have come from, your husband needs to request a copy of his records under the data protection act. There is a charge of £10. Details of how to do this are in one of the stickies at the top of the forum.

You'll have to go through it all then to try and work out where the arrears have suddenly come from and write a letter of complaint if they are incorrect.

PlayingHardball

Shell, that isn't my experience. My ex has arrears and they gave him a complete breakdown of how they concluded the arrears.

167 Donna, have you asked for a breakdown detailing the arrears? Is it possible your husband circumstances changed at all during the period in question? I'm asking because the reason for my ex's arrears are that the CSA didn't act on information that I provided regarding changes to circumstances during a period of a few years (several changes). My ex didn't necessarily know that I requested reassessments, hence he is disputing his arrears now (don't blame him really, end of the day it was a CSA error)

DUTR

167donna wrote: »

hi, please can anyone offer any advice please?

Last week my husband recieved a letter from CSA saying case closed (as child now 18 yrs old)

My husband and I are both self employed and have been for approx 10 years.

During this 10 year period we have been assessed at £0.00 to pay.

We get a phone call from csa today saying we need to pay £6500,00 arears from 1997 to 2001 and they wanted it on credit card.

We explained to them that if we've been £0.00 assessed for past 10 years, how on earth were we going to magic £6500.00 up ??

We've been married for 10 years and have 3 boys all under 16

Please help..dont know where to go for advice?

Sounds dodgy, especially as we are in 2010, trying to collect 'arrears' from over 6yrs ago seems very odd.

167donna

Ty for your advice.... Just got off phone... Guess what that department closed.....just scared now..... I will ask for breakdown of assessment/figures, but what worries me he cant prove or disprove figures as he hasn't got payslips from then and I don't know how to argue it from here.

kelloggs36

It sounds like they suspended arrears from previously because you had a nil assessment, and now they want it paying back. Have you asked whether the statute of limitations applies to the debt prior to July 2000?

167donna

Dose statue of limitations not apply to csa.... Thought they could claim back as many years as they liked?

shell_542

PlayingHardball wrote: »

Shell, that isn't my experience. My ex has arrears and they gave him a complete breakdown of how they concluded the arrears.

167 Donna, have you asked for a breakdown detailing the arrears? Is it possible your husband circumstances changed at all during the period in question? I'm asking because the reason for my ex's arrears are that the CSA didn't act on information that I provided regarding changes to circumstances during a period of a few years (several changes). My ex didn't necessarily know that I requested reassessments, hence he is disputing his arrears now (don't blame him really, end of the day it was a CSA error)

Sorry Playinghardball, what isn't your experience? I didn't say they definitely won't give an explanation, just what to do in case.

If the CSA give the OP a breakdown over the phone, excellent! But from reading the forums, sometimes it appears they are not very forthcoming with their explanations or they don't make sense, so a copy of the records for a breakdown of all the assessments in the past is the best way for an NRP to find out what's happened and where these arrears they suddenly acquire, have come from, whether accurate or not.