CSA Complaints

flanbo63

I have been told today that I cannot begin a complaint against the CSA until I have received 6 payments from them. The background is that I first made an application to them in early January and due to a combination of misinformation, computer failure and plain poor customer service my claim wasn't finalised until the end of April. Whilst the CSA have admitted I probably have a case for back dating to January they won't allow me to start the process untill 6 payments have been received (September 2012). Has anyone come across this before and can I resolve this earlier, particularly given that more than person at the CSA has admitted liabilty to the delay?

Any help gratefully received, cheers.

bugsy2009

flanbo63 wrote: »

I have been told today that I cannot begin a complaint against the CSA until I have received 6 payments from them. The background is that I first made an application to them in early January and due to a combination of misinformation, computer failure and plain poor customer service my claim wasn't finalised until the end of April. Whilst the CSA have admitted I probably have a case for back dating to January they won't allow me to start the process untill 6 payments have been received (September 2012). Has anyone come across this before and can I resolve this earlier, particularly given that more than person at the CSA has admitted liabilty to the delay?

Any help gratefully received, cheers.

I've never made a complaint but if i had to wait until i'd received 6 payment than i'd never be able to make one lol.
I've just rang today as i'm now 18 weeks into a change of circumstances and nobody has a clue why its taking so long.
Today i've been passed to a supervisor who is going to esculate it and i will get a call back within 48 hours, not holding my breath!
I've had many blunders over the years, biggest i think was they managed to lose 2 of my 3 children off the system!
Saying that i've been trying to get money out of my ex through the csa for 9 years so 18 weeks isn't that long to me

flanbo63

I'm afraid a change of circumstances with the CSA is like herding cats. I must have spoken to a dozen different staff and been given a dozen different answers. In my quest for back dating I've been told phone immediately, phone after 3 payments received, write immediately and today - write after 6 payments!

bugsy2009

flanbo63 wrote: »

I'm afraid a change of circumstances with the CSA is like herding cats. I must have spoken to a dozen different staff and been given a dozen different answers. In my quest for back dating I've been told phone immediately, phone after 3 payments received, write immediately and today - write after 6 payments!

my case has been open since 2003 and when they finally got their finger out and decided to go after him properly(when another pwc came out of the woodwork) in April of last year I got told mine would get backdated untill 2008 but I also got told it would be from April last year so haven't a clue.
Last years assessment took 8 months due to my ex giving the run around and the fact that they couldn't get the amount of children right. Turned out that 2 of my kids have been missing off the system for years. Of course ex went on jsa for 2 weeks giving them the runaround again and taking until Jan to start another assessment. Now 18 weeks later its still not sorted but i think after 9 years I'm not expecting to ever receive anything so if it did ever get sorted will be a bonus!

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

I used to be on old rules and when he had loads of kids with someone else my claim was no more...so i was told to shut that down, wait 18 weeks and open a new rules (csa2)...so I did that and was told the old one had not been shut down but it would be now and in 18 weeks ring back to re start it....it went on for 18 long months, my case went from plymouth to falkirk to flipping bolton and I argued for months over the fact I was told many times i could apply to have it back dated 18 mths when the final amount was calculated, only they would not do it, I got £50 compensation when I lost out about 2k in csa payments due to people not doing their jobs, they admitted it was their fault and human error.

bugsy2009

Well I got a call back today to give me an update!
my case has now escalated and passed onto "adam" as its now 181/2 weeks and its still not sorted and apparantly the case worker has been ill for weeks so its(and many more) have been sat in a filing cabinet, and yes he did tell me that lol
Apparantly they still need a few more bits of info so still looking at weeks until its sorted but he has promised to ring me next week with an update lol

Hmm71

Might be worth getting your MP involved. MP complaints take priority over others.

tree23

Hmm71 wrote: »

Might be worth getting your MP involved. MP complaints take priority over others.

The complaint itself will be looked at quickly - but no guarantee that case will be resolved quickly. I've known many cases which can take months to resolve despite MPs involvement.

HoneyNutLoop

You can register a complaint at any time. A copy of their complaints leaflet is on the direct.gov.uk website. As I'm a new user I'm not allowed to post a link, but you can find the page by typing "complaining about the service you receive from the CSA" into the search facility on the website.

The 6 payments reference sounds like you are talking about a special payment for loss of entitlement to receive maintenance. That can be considered if there was a delay between you making your application and the date the NRP is actually required to make payments from - i.e. if you applied in January, but the calculation has only been backdated to April? If that's the case, you can also view a copy of the special payments guide that they have to follow when making those decisions from the page I mention above.

If I've completed misunderstood, I apologise and perhaps you could clarify a little more?

pammii

Oh you have to laugh at the cheek of the CSA, they will tell you anything. If you want to complain, then complain, get your MP involved too, copy him into everything you do, that's what he's there for, our MP's need to know what a shambles this government body is. OMG if we weren't allowed to complain until 6 payments had been received they wouldn't get many hahahaha.

You will learn to laugh at the CSA, it's the only way you will cope with them. Every time you ring you will be told something different, this is one call centre where they don't all read from the same script!!