Urgent CSA advice needed.

ajbrynoffa

Hi Guys,this is desperate....basically the csa reckon they sent me letters in 1994 and 1996 and i didn`t reply,my argument is that i didn`t receive these letters.Anyway they did an interim assesment and charged me 110 quid per week,this has now added upto 48 grand!!They got in touch last year and said they wanted these arrears and i said i was gonna get a solicitor and wanted a face to face interview to put my case across however they said it had gone too far for this and passed it to a debt collection agency who will be in touch within the next 7 days.We`re desperate with worry....what will they do?My wife is at her wits end thinking we`re gonna lose the house and car and everything.we still have 4 kids to look after and the worst of it is the 2 kids who the case is against,i gave them everything though naively never got receipts or anything from there mother.....any advise would be more than welcome.....thanks.
Footnote...another part of my argument is the fact that ok they couldn`t get replies to letters,but i`ve always worked,surely they could have found me through my N>I> number and done an attachment to earnings or something?

kelloggs36

You can get the interim assessment converted into a Full Maintenance Assessment if you provide them with all the relevant details which applied during the times that the assessments were applicable from. So, you need to get together all your income details (P60s, or Self Employed accounts if self employed), housing costs and then provide the CSA with them. Then they can convert the assessment. It will definately lower the amount owed and depending on your circumstances, could wipe out all of it! PM me if you want any more help (I am a Face to Face Officer with the CSA, on career break at the moment).

ajbrynoffa

P.M. sent Kelloggs.....thanks.

kelloggs36

You can still get a Face to Face interview - demand one as you have the rights to speak to somebody. The only time that they can't talk to you is if criminal proceedings are iminent as they could be breaking terms of PACE 1984, but this isn't the case.

buckaroo

Hi ajbrynoffa

I was just wondering why you didn't reply to the letters that the CSA sent you and why you are now saying that you never received them? Wouldn't it have been easier to have dealt with things as they arose? I'm not trying to pick a fight, genuinely wondering why you didn't do anything about it.

hjb123

buckaroo wrote: »

Hi ajbrynoffa

I was just wondering why you didn't reply to the letters that the CSA sent you and why you are now saying that you never received them? Wouldn't it have been easier to have dealt with things as they arose? I'm not trying to pick a fight, genuinely wondering why you didn't do anything about it.

In the original post the OP said that he had never received them so therefore was unable to do anything about them?!

buckaroo

Sorry, I've obviously misinterpreted the post. I thought that the OP had received the letters, but was just saying he hadn't. My apologies, I must not skim read!

jay_snizzel

ajbrynoffa
is there anyway you can prove that you didnt receive these letters, is it a case that you werent at that address when they were sent to yourself. because if you werent living there and you can prove it then they'd have to re-think the whole arrears situation.
As you've been advised as well you can ask for a PIMA, which is a Pre, Interim Maintenance Assessment, and as you have been told you provide the information over the last how ever many years regarding your income and wages. i used to do a lot of these assessments and it was real easy if we were told that the mortgage payments have been the same over the years and that your income hasnt fluctuated too much..
I wouldnt waste my time and money going to a solicitor as it will get you no where as solicitors dont really know whats going on when it comes to the CSA.
Also because you're trying to get this sorted back like nearly ten years if you cant provide any evidence i.e. wage slips from 5 years ago and they cant get the info from your employer then they should be willing to take the information from you over the telephone.. they call it using FAST procedures.. i cant remember what that acronym stands for. but in the word of good customer service they'll do it.

irtsam

i was involved with csa for a friend of mine who was in the same situation as you in that he didn't get letters sent to him. the only difference is that the timescale in challenging the arrears was much less than ten years ago. however, what i did was formally request copies of all information connected with my friends case under the Data Protection Act/Freedom of information act. from the information received i was able to prove that the csa did nothing with the case for two years and made no attempts to make contact via his employer. i kept up the pressure on the csa by written correspondance and via a complaint to my local mp (DO NOT rely on the phone and always send letters by recorded delivery). i also got a local interview and was assigned a csa officer who i could contact until the case was settled. the result was the monthly payment halved and arrears of £4000 being repaid. my case was about ten years ago so unfortunately i can't recall the finer detail. i would get the Data Protection Act etc inf from them and see what it comes up with. it may as it did for me, give you evidence of csa failings and ammunition to fight your corner.
Good Luck

kelloggs36

Once the assessment has been done, if you still want to fight it on the grounds as stated above, you would have to go to your MP or you could make a complaint if they failed to contact you or take any steps to trace you via employer etc. You could complain all the way up to the ICE who would investigate your case and decide what action (if any) the CSA should take. Alternatively, you could go to the Parliamentary Ombudsman - but you can't do both.

ajbrynoffa

Ok....Update on this!! went to see my local mp who took all the details and basically said leave it with me!I am writing to request the data protection stuff as well.Turns out that the first 30 or so letters went to my fathers house where i have NEVER lived,only 2 went to my own previous address and both were during a period that my then girlfriend and i had split up,though i can`t prove this as we later got back together and married.According to the printout they sent me,they did once try to get me through an employer but i had apparently left the job some months previously,my main worry is this....When the debt collection agency get in touch presumably they will want some sort of immediate payment,how can i hold them off while i`m trying to prove my case?If i start paying something surely that admits liability?