CSA Assessment/Liability order

jon6743

Hi,

I was refused access to my Daughter back in 2004 when i was paying CSA payments monthly, i phoned CSA and told them that my ex has moved away with someone and i did not know where she had gone, and informed them i would no longer pay CSA until i get to see her again. I was advised that if i was refused access to her that i would not have to pay, ( THIS I NOW KNOW WAS THE WRONG THING TO DO AS I WAS ADVISED WRONG). Time has gone by now and in November last year the CSA contacted me for the first time in 6 years and advised me that i owe 21k and they would like this now and can take credit card details now, this off course made me laugh as they think people have that kind of money lying around. Anyway i organised to commence monthly payments even though i do not still see my daughter. They re-assessed me and told me i had to pay 501 pounds monthly, which off course i cant afford.

My circumstances are i am re married and had a child in January, i have informed the CSA which did affect the payments which came down to 48 pounds a month but then they reassesed me again when they found out that my wife was getting Maternity pay which took it back up again to 64 pounds a week.

The break down the the CSA assessment is 249 pounds Child Support and and 251 pounds arrears. I have been to the CAB they have taken me through my finances and can see i only have 125 pounds expendible income they have said there hands are tied because the CSA are a law to themselves. Anyway they applied to my work for a DEO which was granted this has been set up for 2 months now however after my protected income has been taken into acct which is only my Mortgage and Council tax there is only 155 ponds for them to take, i phoned them and they said that as this is the case i am defaulting.

I was sent an Enforcement letter from CSA on 12/072010 stating they were applying for a Liability order, i then received a letter on the 5th August saying that it went to court on the 4th August and it was granted, i phone CSA straight away and asked them why i was not informed to which they replied as normal we sent you a letter.. Great... So i went down the CAB again told them what had happened and they said there is no one here who really knows about CSA and they can do what they like.. I phoned the CSA again as it states on the liability order that they can send the Bayliffs round to seize my house and goods. They told me that if i do not pay 500 pounds now then the bayliffs will come around, so i had no choice but to put 500 pounds on a credit card just so they would not send Bayliffs round. They have now forced me into setting up a direct debit for 500 pounds a month which i know i cannot pay, my wife is now really worried and stressed out now as she is constantly thinking the bayliffs are coming to kick us out.. We are constantly arguing now as we do not know what to do, no one can seem to help us.

Any advice is welcome.

gratefulforhelp_2

You cannot mix issues of contact and child support.

Someone expert will come along and advise you, I'm sure, but

you can ask for a copy of your file, you can get an organisation called NACSA to deal with them on your behalf I think. You may want to contact your MP for support.

PlayingHardball

You were given excellent advice when you originally posted in November 2009 about this debt, where it was recommended that you go to the CAB and ask their help in providing a financial breakdown to present to the CSA of what your financial situation was. (although you can do this yourself, without CAB)

Reading your post from November, I don't think there is anything you can do other then negotiate lower monthly payments if you really can't afford £500 per month. You should ask for your data protection file. I'd be interested in knowing if your conversation was recorded with the CSA staff member that 'advised you to stop paying child support'.

I'm cutting and pasting the CSA Annual Report 2009 from ICE, in particular section 3.6 may apply to you.

3.5 In general terms, I fully support the principle that debt owed to children is unacceptable and ought quite rightly to be pursued vigorously and paid back over the shortest possible period. In most cases, I see nothing untoward about the steer given by the Agency to its workforce that such debt should be collected within two years at a rate of up to 40% of a non-resident parent’s income. I regularly do not uphold complaints from non-compliant individuals who I deem are seeking to avoid their responsibilities when they can afford to pay. I also take a keen interest in both legislative and procedural innovation surrounding this issue and am kept regularly informed of such by the Agency.


3.6 In most of the complaints I see, I find that the application of the debt steer has been reasonable; in some I have found that CSA has not used its discretion, and has applied the 40% guideline too rigidly. Where a non-resident parent claims financial hardship, and particularly when there are children in his or her household, I take the view that CSA should as a minimum invite the non-resident parent to provide evidence, which should be used to inform the decision about how the debt steer is applied. This has not always happened in some of the cases I have seen, and I have advised the

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Agency’s senior management accordingly. Senior Managers have advised me that they will continue to remind staff regarding the appropriate application of the debt steer, and in particular, that it does not preclude discretion from being applied when it is appropriate to do so.

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jon6743

Hi,

I have tried to Negotiate with them but as i am sure your aware, they are not interested and have demanded i pay what they want... I just keep telling them i cannot physically get the money they want..

bdt1

Ok, if they contacted you in November of last year, was this when a re-assessment had been made? Only asking as if this is case, then you can appeal - you have within 13 months of a decision/assessment to do so. If you disagree with CSA Appeal outcome, then you can go to Independent Tribunal hearing.

BUT........You really need to know if this is a IMA, or FMA, and how they have calculated this. Request your DP File via NACSA template, and put in writing fact that you want an account/arrears breakdown, send recorded delivery of course and keep barcode from Royal Mail as proof they received it.

Your DP File should hold the answers you are looking for, and will show if the assessment and associated arrears are correct.

PlayingHardball

bdt1 is right. As much as I believe you must pay the arrears, you need to ascertain they are correct. Good news about the appeal within 13 months - I didn't know about that.

If you are trying to negotiate as you say, then the CSA are failing according to ICE.

jon6743

No i had to ask them to do a re assessment as they were still going on my details/earnings from 2004.. I got re assessed in January then again in March and finally April.

Where do i get the NASCA template from? Do i just write them a letter asking for this file?

bdt1

Go onto the NACSA website, there is a section for template letters, simply pop your details in and send to CSA - recorded, keep copy etc etc, it will cost you £10 but well worth it, a subscription to NACSA may also be worthwhile, they truely are experts.

As you were assessed last in April 2009, you are 'out of time', but I would suspect that the assessments you mentioned are not Full Maintenance Assessments, but interim assessments, which usually carry penalties, meaning they can be higher than an accurate assessment.

If these turn out to be IMA, then you only need supply the details CSA need to turn them to FMA. Worth also writing to CSA, to request on each of 3 assessment dates in 2009, what info they need to turn them into FMA. Then you can have these changed (hopefully) your payents may be more manageable and your arrears also clarified - in turn it may mean this opens up appeal rights, as if the CSA do not/cannot change IMA's you can appeal this etc etc, so also giving you chance of Tribunal. You need to get onto this asap as bailiffs etc will start sniffing around soon, and then there will be a CCJ, and charge on your property

Steve40_2

There is no magic wand that can be waved here if they wanna take £500 a month off you then they will .the courts have no power over them parliament have no power over them the only people that have power to stop them doing it is the secretary of state or the ombudsman. my arrears were set at t £20 a month due to my financial position by one agent at the CSA but another agent was'nt happy with the amount and changed to £430pcm they do what they want when they want is the harsh reality and it takes years and years and years to get them to correct there errors.

so be prepared for a long haul you will have porbably paid what they want by the time it gets sorted .

sorry to be blunt but you needed to know the truth.

tiggerkian

been through all this and pm'd you jon......

GARDINER

This may help you -

Section 33 Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008
which amends the Child Support Act 1991 to inset Section 41E

You could also go down the line of official error in view of the fact that an official from the CSA gave you incorrect information.