Child Support, disasterous!

midnitecaller

Ladies and gentlemen I am after some much needed advice, Please bare with me whilst I fill you in on everything that has happened and any advice anyone can give is greatly appreciated.

14 years ago aged 18 I slept with a girl on a few occasions, she was 6 years older than me. I went on holiday and came back after a fortnight to find that the girl I had "been seeing" had got a council house and moved in with another women. It became apparent that she was indeed a lesbian.

1 year later I get the dreaded knock at the door from the CSA. I went for blood tests and it was confirmed the child was mine. I had a great job with the prudential at the time and the csa assesment meant I had to pay £330 per month, to which i did aslong as i could afford to (a detatchment of earnings). After a year or so my wages dipped and with the csa taking £330 it meant some months i only brought home £350 myself (the job was commision based)

All this was 10-12 years ago and I did try a few jobs between then and now but as the short periods out of work became longer the "arrears" became bigger. I had my final assesment some 5 years ago when it was deemed that as I no longer worked I had to pay £11.25 per week. I had been living at home with my parents, unable to get a proper job because everytime I did the csa took huge portions of my wages leaving me with next to nothing so I took the stance not to pay as I wasnt working. I had many a phonecall to the csa to try and resolve the situation, asked for payment slips so I could pay when I was fortunate enough to have spare money, I asked them to re assess on many occasion only to be told "its not our problem, your circumstances havnt changed"

I was summoned to court in july and the guy from the csa was far more understanding than any of the other dimwits I had spoken to, however he did say the arrears had gotten out of control (£5000) and if it wasnt addressed then a custodial sentence would occur, I agreed to pay £100 per month as I have now got a small job on minimum wages (sub contracting) I was asked to pay £100 per month for a period of 2 months then re appear in court in september, I did this and appeared on the 17th of september, the guy from the csa then said to me that the £100 was for arrears (£5000) and the new payment they would be seeking would be the "minimum" £30 per week for future csa payments, taking my total payment to £220 per month, I simply cannot afford this money, added to this they have since sent me a letter stating that my new payment of £30per week has been backdated to 2007 when I was last in employment, I explained that I was in employment for 6 months until the contract ran out but he says because I didnt notify them they have to back date it, the letter now states my arrears have gone from £5000 to over £10k.

I am due back in court on the 17th of november.

The reason I seek advice is over the past 2 weeks I have fresh information and I am wondering if this will affect the csa and the decions they make.

The mother of the child was a lesbian and her partner at the time has since approached me and explained a few things, they have now split up but she said to me that The mother targeted me to get pregnant, her words were that they used me as a sperm doner, she seduced me and had the intention of getting pregnant and never had any intentions of letting me see the child, be part of his life or anything, her sole ambition during this period of her life was to get pregnant, I wasnt the only person she had targeted either. The 2 lesbians had planned it for months for 1 of them to get pregnant and get the council house for them to move in together, mission complete I'd say.

Do these special circumstances change anything as far as the csa are conceerned, would a judge take pity on an unsuspecting individual like myself, I clearly had no idea she was a lesbian at the time as she was much older and from a different town, however when they had a house together rumours did surface from other people who knew of her.

many thanks

CSA_Help

I understand your frustrations but it wouldn't work i'm afraid as it is only hearsay evidence.
You are the child's father and needs supporting and your not the first or last to fall for that scam trick with getting a council house and benefits etc. Not all woman are like that though.

We all learn by our mistakes.

I would get a hold of your data protection files and make sure your asesments are 100% accurate.

midnitecaller

hi csa help, what are the data protection file exactly and how can they help me, Id also like to know why the csa can alter the amount owed without any notification where as I cant appeal without notification!

CSA_Help

midnitecaller wrote: »

hi csa help, what are the data protection file exactly and how can they help me, Id also like to know why the csa can alter the amount owed without any notification where as I cant appeal without notification!

The data protection files are all the relevant case notes which the csa hold on you. They are very valuable when investigaing of what has went in the case. It doesn't provide details specific about the parent with care (this comes later on when at tribunal if it is relevant) but will show income details of the parent with care. There is a sticky on the top of this forum how to apply for them. Specify All case notes relating to you and also which offices has had dealings with your case. They have 40 working days to supply you with them.

PS mind your £10 fee also

midnitecaller

Hi thanks again csa help, but as I am a little unsure on the goings on by the csa could you clarify, If I was to get the data protection files, it gives me all the relevant details of my case, even the mothers income and expenditure? If so how is this going to help me, are there certain rules or regulations I should be looking for? sorry to ask again but I really dont know what im looking for.
I know the mother did some work cash in hand for a few years and I could get proof of this I would imagine, I dare say she didnt let the csa know about these earnings either. Would that help my cause.
So if i get the files what am I looking for specifically?
thanks

romanempire

You DP file holds all the info the CSA have on you. With it and the info you have on your earnings since they started leeching you, you should be able to figure out if their assessments were correct.

If the assessments are wrong then you can appeal them. It will probably be a struggle as your case is CSA1 and the calculations are complex. And the CSA will resist. But if you've got the balls they can be beat.

Deal with them ONLY in writing, sent recorded delivery. So when they get things wrong (and they will) you have the evidence for complaints and appeals. Never believe anything they say on the phone as they are slippier then politicians or lawyers!

You probably won't get the arrears down to zero but from the sound of it the real amount should be considerably less. There is no reason (legal or moral) you should have to pay more then legally required to.

Compile your info, break the problem down into managable chunks (periods of employment and unemployment?) and come back here for further info. Kallogs is the expert on CSA1 calculations.

For a start off you should have been paying little or nothing when you were un-employed. Did you get re-assessed when you were out of work?

R.

CSA_Help

midnitecaller wrote: »

Hi thanks again csa help, but as I am a little unsure on the goings on by the csa could you clarify, If I was to get the data protection files, it gives me all the relevant details of my case, even the mothers income and expenditure? If so how is this going to help me, are there certain rules or regulations I should be looking for? sorry to ask again but I really dont know what im looking for.
I know the mother did some work cash in hand for a few years and I could get proof of this I would imagine, I dare say she didnt let the csa know about these earnings either. Would that help my cause.
So if i get the files what am I looking for specifically?
thanks

Thing is if you have paid the CSA then they should give you money back if she hasn't provided a DNA test. They did trick you in a way you provided your details and they presumed parentage. We have a situation now of are you or aren't you. If i was you i would fill in the enquiry form and deny parentage. Apply for your data protection files to find out what you have paid and ask them for it back in a letter. They will either say yes or no and go through the complaints procedures.
As far as the dna test it takes 3 people and it would appear that the only willing one is you. Play her at her own game.

CSA_Help

Double post

romanempire

midnitecaller wrote: »

I know the mother did some work cash in hand for a few years and I could get proof of this I would imagine, I dare say she didnt let the csa know about these earnings either. Would that help my cause.

Irrelevant. Basically she's got away with screwing you :mad: Nothing you can do. Chalk it up to experience.

midnitecaller wrote: »

So if i get the files what am I looking for specifically?

You use the file to find out where the CSA have got their calculations wrong. Then use the complaints and appeals system to reduce the size of the debt they are trying to saddle you with.

R.

midnitecaller

romanempire wrote: »

You DP file holds all the info the CSA have on you. With it and the info you have on your earnings since they started leeching you, you should be able to figure out if their assessments were correct.

If the assessments are wrong then you can appeal them. It will probably be a struggle as your case is CSA1 and the calculations are complex. And the CSA will resist. But if you've got the balls they can be beat.

Deal with them ONLY in writing, sent recorded delivery. So when they get things wrong (and they will) you have the evidence for complaints and appeals. Never believe anything they say on the phone as they are slippier then politicians or lawyers!

You probably won't get the arrears down to zero but from the sound of it the real amount should be considerably less. There is no reason (legal or moral) you should have to pay more then legally required to.

Compile your info, break the problem down into managable chunks (periods of employment and unemployment?) and come back here for further info. Kallogs is the expert on CSA1 calculations.

For a start off you should have been paying little or nothing when you were un-employed. Did you get re-assessed when you were out of work?

R.

Hi roman and csa help, I did dna tests at the very beginning, and parentage is 99% mine. However I never avoided paying them in the early years but the trouble was, by the time they had caught up with me (I had no knowledge of her pregnancy until I got the knock at the door) I was already 1 year behind on payments. Working at the pru on £40k per year the arrears before id even started paying amounted to a hefty figure, they did an attatchment of earnings or something and I was paying £350 upwards month after month, as with any sales job income fluctuates and some months I only brought home to the table £350p/m so I decided to go unemplyed, I did notify them and over the course of the next few years I had a couple of jobs, everytime I got a job the arrears seemed to go up as whilst I was out of work I didnt pay. So the amount they kept taking became more and more until I finally decided I could no longer afford to work, I notified them and they assesed me at £11.25 per week and this is what it has been for the past 4 years. Although I havnt payed a penny in the last 4 years since the assesment due to being unemployed and living off my partners income, I did let them know I was unemployed but unfortunately the csa cannot recall such conversation or have no record of it, They did ask if I had proof of the telephone conversation in 2006 :mad: Ofcourse I didnt tape the conversation or keep my BT phone bill either.

Its only this past 2 months or so they have caught up with me again and have re assesed me at £30 p/w and I beleive they have back dated it 4 years making the arrears over 10k

romanempire

If you were unemployed and signing on then get your DP file from DWP to prove when you were out of work.

But there are no easy answers. Compile the info and where the CSA have got it wrong, appeal it.

R.