Csa not listening!

msgigglewick

Two phonecalls now and they haven't listened to a word we have said.. my partner is NOT refusing to pay maintenance like he hasn't done for the last 5 years but two months ago we asked for his ex's bank details instead of this money going into her sons account (why it was going into there in the first place i don't know but he know has mental illnesses so we wouldn't want to risk her not getting the money if that makes sense) Anyway she has told the csa we don't have children here (we have 4!! yes she knows about them shes met them) She has also been claiming benefits for her nearly 18yr old son who left education nearly a year and a half ago.

The newest letter states the money will be taken from his wages directly just over £500 thats including about £100 is in arrears ... we only get £1500 a month so thats a huge amount to lose specially when theres a court order in place for less and csa told us on the phone they shouldn't be getting involved when there is a court order in place.. so why are they! they haven't listened we have other children, they aren't listening we only need to pay for the two boys not three.. where do we go next?

stir_crazy

Unfortunately we were in a similar situation wrt the CSA not listening, OH's ex wife contacted CSA around 3 years after they split up, OH had been making payments directly to her bank account but these were classed as gifts rather than payments for child maintenance. So as far as the CSA were concerned, OH had back dated payments to make so they seized the money diectly from his bank account and left him with £217 a week for around a year until it was paid off. Thankfully I was living with him at the time but I was earning even less than that so we barely managed to cover the bills. We weren't eligible for any sort of benefit, (we dont have kids so it was just the two of us) and we couldn't get anywhere cheaper to rent. When OH told CSA about how tight things were, he was advised to sell off anything worth any value in order to pay off the back payments faster. They don't listen to anything he says when he calls. Unfortunately, it seems to be the way that they operate. We went on holiday recently and they took 4 weeks payments off his account when we got back (we were only away for two weeks). When his company's accountant phoned up to enquire why, they basically told her it was none of her business.

Sorry, that kind of turned into a moan about my experiences with them! The only thing I can suggest is to either keep trying to persevere with them or try to get a solicitor involved? Although I'm not sure they'll listen to a solicitor either.

msgigglewick

So we're going to lose our house then by the looks of it. all cause they won't listen they have had the forms sent to them that a court order is in place, they have had to details sent to them they have asked for (they just wanted to give us her details so she could give us her bank details she claimed she didn't have our address, phone numbers etc) they are listening to someone who has been commiting benefit fraud for years over us no wonder the land is in a sorry state really isn't it.

I get child maintenance via the csa for 3 of my girls its only £100 a month so my ex seems to be earning a very low wage indeed 'we're only on about 22k a year' dunno why we bother i really don't... we've always paid for his boys, we even had them living here for 6 months so its not like we're avoiding paying etc. They've always had xmas/bday/clothes as extras etc cause we're parents in the end.. this just feels like we're being judged and classed as someone who doesn't want to know (infact its the boys who have been brainwashed into not wanting to know the last month but thats a whole other story lol)

so very sad with the whole way its run atm. And to be spoken down too when its 4 other children who will suffer is just not on.. why aren't my girls any more important than her boys? sorry ranting too now.

DS4215

If you have a court order in place to pay a set amount of money and the CSA are ignoring it then you might need help from someone with a bit more clout. I would suggest trying your local MP who might be able to look into it for you.

It might also be worth checking with the court that issued the order - the court clerks might be able to give you advice on what to do when it is being broken...

msgigglewick

ty.. think dh is going to attempt one more phone call to the csa and the ex.. then if they still won't listen that we have children (who are already on their records on another claim) and that we're still willing to pay the court order amount then we'll have took further. Its no wonder people try and run from the csa it really is.

Cally_Smart

You have my sympathy ,we are in the same boat ! CSA taking so called 'arrears' that they say we owe.They seem to believe everything the pwc tells them.We had a tribunal (partial sucesss,we were allowed to claim for the children that lived with us,despite the CSA saying NO! the judge allowed it as we could prove I was getting CB for them for the qualifying time )-but long way to go yet ! ) How could we have claimed for them when we didnt know we were dealing with them!!!.The pwc was happily taking the money paid into her bank account every month !We have involved our MP which has sped things up a bit, till now !We have not been left enough to live on ..why is our child less important than the 2 older children (both over 16 but in full time education ?)they live with a pwc with a wage from a job doing 16 hours a week ,getting FTC, WTC, CB,possibly reduced council tax,free prescriptions ? I guess,dental care,optician.That, looking at the benefits calculator and including the CSA money ,works out more than we have coming in every month ! So for us by paying everything by dd for the bills etc (to prevent any unnecessary 'late' payments incurred making the situation worse ! )what's left is for food......and Christmas is just around the corner : (

msgigglewick

Oh its not fair is it.. why people stay within the law i don't know.. i just hope they listen to both sides wanting the case to be closed.. thats if the ex wife is actually telling them that in the first place and its just not some speal the person on the phone is trying to get us to hang up Why we have to try and make do with living off of £50 a week when like you said shes sat there with her rent/council tax being paid for, she goes on nights out, her sons get free school dinners and trips etc etc her youngest is now 14.. there is no reason at all why she couldn't go out to work, as for having her partner living there with them (i've seen him and the boys have said he stays over 6 out of the 7 nights a week) and claims he doesn't so she does get more benefits etc. My girls are missing out, when we work hard and struggle to keep the roof over our heads cause we're too law abiding blah big fat blah!

RAS

Please go over to theb Chid Support sub-forum (benefits) were you can get much more relevant advice.

1. You have been making payments to someone other than the PWC - so there have been no payments as far as CSA are concerned
2. If the court order is over 1 year old, it is irrelevent
3. You need to stop speaking to CSA and WRITE - recorded delivery. Send copies of the birth certificates for all four children at your address for a start.
4. report the PWC for benefit fraud and you may just get them to stop child benefit for the child who left school (not if he are signed up for Connexions, she still gets it). That would help reduce the payments.

Notsosharp

The CSA really are useless; I'm coming from the other side of things because I had to fight for five long years to get anything out of my ex!

I would second writing to your local MP; as soon as I got mine involved things started getting sorted out for me. The other option would be to go and see a solicitor BUT there's cost to consider and a lot of solicitors won't get involved with the CSA because it is so complicated.

msgigglewick

sorry didn't realise there was a board specially for it..

i've had it from the other side too, the girls father didn't pay for over 3 years and took me hunting down his NI in our old paperwork before they could even chase him,

Shall def kick dh into getting in contact with the mp if we can't get this sorted. And theres me thinking they were trying to stop people use the system to deal with maintenance rolls eyes lol

Cally_Smart

Yes,I find you really have to stop yourself comparing what is going on at the pwc's it all feels so unfair.I will really do your head in,if you let it !.Of course I want the best for my son who lives with us so I will fight for JUSTICE.We consider we have always ,wanted & indeed given the best to the children from his previous family often having to think before we spent anything on ourselves.We havent even got passports ,now they ran out , and all we can afford to do is go camping. Guess who had the children so she could go abroad with her boyfriends! Guess who took all the children on holiday (4 of them,children I mean + my own child)many times!Then she spent extra quality time with latest boyfriend .....see I'm getting worked up just writing it down.Nobody expects NOT to pay for previous children just want what we've paid so far to be recognised not dependent of what a pwc says. It does get to you like that. believe me .Think -it does come to an end eventually and you will be so used to budgeting ,cooking from scratch,having an appreciation from the simpler things in life & going on useful sites like these,you wont know what to spend all the money you are left with every month now the csa doesn't have it ! When you meet a man with children from a previous relationship I think you realise they come first and rightly so !I saw what kind of a man my husband (to be )was and it make me think what a good stepdad he would be to my child from a previous relationship!Now the pwc has alienated the children from him and our son has 'siblings' he is no longer able to have any contact with and is at a loss to know why !