Still no assessment

mrsspendalot

Hi

I applied for maintenance for my boys back in April and got an assessment and payment schedule through in June, which I thought was pretty good.

Unfortunately my ex wasn't up to playing ball so they went for a DEO, which didn't kick in prior to him leaving his job. I contacted CSA in July and informed them he had changed job (in case he didn't - which it actually turns out he did) and asked for a reassessment to take into account his new job, and increased salary (he confirmed to me it paid considerably more).

I phoned in August to see how things were progressing and they said they were waiting for the employer to confirm details, but that my ex had been in touch and they had set up a direct debit for him to pay maintenance.

In October I was told that the reassessment was delayed as they had to go to his new employer to verify salary (he wouldn't cooperate with CSA direct over this). The CSA say that they only received the information at the end of September from his employer, so no assessment had been done but it was now in progress.

I phoned back on 12th November and was told that my case had been passed to the high priority team (?) and someone would be in touch.

I've still heard nothing, and am getting really frustrated now as he has just informed me he has changed his job again - so I'm going to have to go through all of this again.

In the meantime, I've received no maintenance despite them having originally completed an assessment in June.

So, I was wondering if someone could advise on a couple of things for me:

1) should the CSA have still been collecting payment from the original assessment whilst the reassessment is being processed, and then backdate any underpayments?

2) how long do 'high priority' cases usually take to work through?

3) at what point do I take this further and complain about how long it is taking to get an assessment done? It's coming up 6 months since I asked for the reassessment - is this about right or am I just being impatient?

In fairness, I cannot fault the CSA staff I have spoken to on the phone, they have been very polite and helpful, but I'm getting frustrated now. If it takes this long to get the assessment through, I dread to think how long it will take for the payments to start, especially if they have to go back for a DEO again! My case is at Falkirk office

Thanks

londonbabe73

hi,

i'm in the same boat , i've been waiting since may 2010 and have had no payments was advised by diamond on here to make a complaint and advise that i will be contacting my mp if no progress ( my mp is thankfully vince cable business minister ) and they seemed to jump into action and i got a phone call this morning and a new assessment by this afternoon ....

my ex has totally ignored all communication from the csa phone calls/ letters etc the first payment is due on the 10th jan ( not expecting him to pay ) but when he see's the assessment of £150 per week yes that's not a typo per week i've got a bargaining tool to get him into a private arrangement again .It does take a long time and i've personally had a year with no money but they have a process which they have to follow ( i'm fortunate i only have 1 child and i struggle along financially i couldn't if i had more ) . complain and hopefully it will jump your case to the top of the queue good luck ...

Lb

mrsspendalot

Thanks Londonbabe, I think I will follow your advice and complain. I know I could ring them again today, but I know what they will say. My case is in the priority tray but they have a high workload at the moment! It's little consolation when you're the one waiting though. I don't think I will ever trust my ex for a private arrangement again!

clearingout

It's very frustrating. The CSA can only collect when they have the information they need. If the person who needs to provide that information doesn't want to, he/she can be bypassed and the employer is asked directly. The employer can then sit on that request for a whole heap of reasons including collusion with the NRP in not wanting to pay, not understanding that they have to comply, pushing it to the bottom of an in-tray, person who should deal with it going off sick suddenly for weeks etc. etc. I think if your ex works for a large organisation with an HR department, it's a fairly simple process, but for the rest of the world with a manager who does 15 people's job on the salary of one, the CSA is the least of their worries! Add in a small business who don't really know their legal position and an NRP telling them that they already pay their ex so just ignore it.....and you're waiting and waiting and waiting....

Phone regularly to ask for an update. I found this very frustrating for about 12 months when all of a sudden, things seemed to move forwards but have stalled again now. Your ex changing jobs again and again is a problem - and common way of not having to pay as by the time the CSA catches up with one employer, they're onto the next one (I was told it takes 3 months for the CSA to get PAYE tax details through from the HMRC!!!)...my ex was self employed and is currently jumping around employment agencies so he's impossible to catch! If NRPs don't want to pay, there is an awful lot of 'give' in the system to support this for years!

mrsspendalot

Thanks clearingout - but they have confirmed in my case that they received income details from his employer at the end of September, so they now have everything they need to do the calculation it just isn't happening.

I still can't understand why they are not enforcing the previous original maintenance assessment however, surely they should have been collecting this from him (he did after all set up a direct debit to make payments) whilst they waited for the details they needed from his employer to do the reassessment?

I'm going to phone them this afternoon and will post an update then!

clearingout

You'd think, wouldn't you?! but it does seem like any excuse to put things in a pile and let arrears build up frustrating both sides in these situations! let us know how you get on!

mrsspendalot

I just phoned up and was told that no activity has happened on my case since November (which is when I last phoned them) and that my case is with a team leader. They gave me the team leader's name and said they would email her and say I had been in touch wanting an update. The lady I spoke to had a look at the case and said that all the details they need are there and she couldn't understand why it hadn't been done given that it had been passed to a team leader. I find it really hard to get annoyed with them on the phone because the people I have spoken to have always been very polite. Anyway, I will give it another week and then ring them back. They didn't mention any recent change of circumstance so I am assuming he hasn't been in touch to tell them his job has changed again. I have decided I'm not doing it for him this time - I just want an assessment through, can't face more delays!

mrsspendalot

Well well well .... I got an assessment today over the phone! Hurray!

Well, not exactly - apparently he is now in receipt of benefits so the assessment is a fiver a week with the rest added to arrears which now total over £1000. I queried this as I know he is working (well he certainly was just prior to Xmas) and she checked the computer system which said his benefit claim was still active, and gave me the fraud hotline to report him. I am just waiting for confirmation from him or from someone I know is working at the same place that he is actually still working there before I call the number.

What a mess!

She took the employer details I provided but said that whilst the benefit claim was active there was nothing they could do. What happens now? If he is found to have been fraudulently claiming, whilst all the time he was working but didn't notify them, will they backdate it, or will they only take him off £5 assessment when the benefits is sorted and they have confirmation he is working?

Getting very stressed now!

mrsspendalot

Still no further on

Decided to contact my MP today to see if that helps, as the CSA have gone back to ignoring me :mad:

Kellynov1978

mrsspendalot wrote: »

Still no further on

Decided to contact my MP today to see if that helps, as the CSA have gone back to ignoring me :mad:

We are on the other side of the coin, my OH has been paying CSA directly via DEO since 2009, last July he started a new job, we informed csa before he even started the job so he could be re-assessed and made arrangements to pay via standing order until the reassessment was done, we have also been making higher payments voluntarily until the reassessment is done. We sent in 5 weeks of payslips which csa received at the beg of sept, we have been on and on at them but still the reassessment has not been done!!! We have been totally upfront and honest and provided everything they have asked for and still no reassessment!!! Its an absolute joke!! We want it sorted so we know exactly what we have to pay, even though we are paying a higher amount voluntarily i still worry its not enough and we are going to have arrears to pay!! CSA are an absolute nightmare!!!

mrsspendalot

Completely agree hun, I was gutted I was put in the position of having to use them at all .... now I just feel let down and angry.

I've been so patient with them, but I'm getting to the point now where my patience is running out and I just want to see some progress. I feel like I've been fobbed off since July and I think it is so wrong that someone who is working cannot be made to pay what they owe, when supposedly they have so many enforcement powers at their disposal.

I hope you get your assessment soon. Keep on at them - maybe even go to your MP?