CSA-do they know what they are doing?

StressedOutMummy

Idon't think so!

My partner has been paying maintenace for his daughter since she was born. In Oct 2010 they contacted him to say he owed arrears and did a recalculation of the amount he was to pay (£350 out of Novembers wages - impeccable timing). Anyway, deductions continued until November 2013.
He had a phone call from CSA the other day to say the application for CM had ceased from August 2012 and that he had overpaid about £750.00. He was told that they would call back next day, no phone call ensued. Today he received a call from them telling him that he owed arrears! How can this be when CSA had calculated arrears back in 2010 and he paid the amount requested by them? Surely, if his payments were based on THEIR calculations, then they are at fault.
My partner has had enough. These people have made his life hell . He disputes what they are saying and they will not listen.
Any advice on how to proceed with getting resolved and getting these blood-suckers off his back for good?

Thanks in advance,

SOM

bryanb

Ask for everything in writing.

Marisco

Write to them (recorded delivery) asking for every scrap of information they have since the case was opened with them. They have to comply with this and I think (not sure though) it will cost you a tenner for his file. Then go through it with a fine tooth comb looking for errors, and I'm sure it won't take you long to find some!!

RAS

Data Protection Act request requiring all information held including all internal communiccations, all calculations of CSA and a full account of monies received and transcripts of all phone calls and copies of all e-mails.

Cost £10 and they have 40 days to supply it all (probably comes in dribs and drabs),

Sensemaya

StressedOutMummy wrote: »

Idon't think so!

My partner has been paying maintenace for his daughter since she was born. In Oct 2010 they contacted him to say he owed arrears and did a recalculation of the amount he was to pay (£350 out of Novembers wages - impeccable timing).Do you still have the original paperwork re: reassessment/recalculation? Anyway, deductions continued until November 2013. You mean 2012?
He had a phone call from CSA the other day to say the application for CM had ceased from August 2012 and that he had overpaid about £750.00. He was told that they would call back next day, no phone call ensued. Today he received a call from them telling him that he owed arrears! How can this be when CSA had calculated arrears back in 2010 and he paid the amount requested by them? Surely, if his payments were based on THEIR calculations, then they are at fault.
My partner has had enough. These people have made his life hell . He disputes what they are saying and they will not listen.
Any advice on how to proceed with getting resolved and getting these blood-suckers off his back for good?

Thanks in advance,

SOM

Yes they are absolute idiots.

I presume his responsibility has ended because the child is 18/19 years. If so this is good news as they cannot continue to mess up in the future.

My ex1 ( my eldest is now at Uni) currently owes in excess of 13K to the SofS - through me receiving advance payments in the past. I was informed they are treating the 13K as 'low priority'.

Have you kept all the original paperwork? Never ever get rid of any paperwork from the CSA even if it's years old.

No surprise that they won't listen, but if you get your MP involved they will!

All your correspondence must go via MP.

As well as the data protection request you must demand a complete and full account breakdown from day 1.Then question all the discrepancies re: overpayment and now so called outstanding arrears.

I'm positive the CSA have no idea whether their account breakdowns are correct either ( they do vary wildly in my case) so let's hope any arrears will be wiped off.

StressedOutMummy

Thanks for all your helpful replies. Will get him to godown the SAR route.

Oh,and since when has the CSA had theright to interfere in a private arrangement between parents? Partner has another child who he is paying for - amount agreed by both of them privately. The CSA rang OH wanting his exes details so they could write to her, he refused to give any details.

Anyway, he has had a letter today saying how much he should be paying which is slightly more than what he is. Ex has been on the blower saying you haven't been paying me enough and demanding more money otherwise she'll go to the CSA!

This is putting serious strain on our relationship. I work, the nursery fees are extortionate, I have a mortgage and the usual bills. His ex is on IS, gets everything paid for and is still wanting to bleed us dry.

How is the situation anything to do with the CSA, why can't they keep their noses out? Surely this cannot be right?!

Sorry about long post but I am really frustrated .

SOM

Cally_Smart

I have been told that if EVER a case was opened (ie when pwc was on benefits & there was no benefit disregard(pre April 2010 I think )despite being in a private arrangement for many years it doesnt count !!!Even if you have proof of every single monthly payment ,if pwc wont say they were for CM,you will have to pay every penny of the arrears back !How can this be fair..........she is laughing at us for being so trusting of her when we made all those payments!Don't the CSA realise that is she wasn't getting those payments HOW would she have managed ,surely she would have told them before!!!(Not years down the line,she never said a word to us about not being happy with the current arrangement) Not fair on us but CSA are looking good collecting all this money ...Meanwhile those NRP's that have never paid anything(or ever have any intention of doing so) are getting off scot free!!

PreludeForTimeFeelers

StressedOutMummy wrote: »

Thanks for all your helpful replies. Will get him to godown the SAR route.

Oh,and since when has the CSA had theright to interfere in a private arrangement between parents? Partner has another child who he is paying for - amount agreed by both of them privately. The CSA rang OH wanting his exes details so they could write to her, he refused to give any details.

Anyway, he has had a letter today saying how much he should be paying which is slightly more than what he is. Ex has been on the blower saying you haven't been paying me enough and demanding more money otherwise she'll go to the CSA!

This is putting serious strain on our relationship. I work, the nursery fees are extortionate, I have a mortgage and the usual bills. His ex is on IS, gets everything paid for and is still wanting to bleed us dry.

How is the situation anything to do with the CSA, why can't they keep their noses out? Surely this cannot be right?!

Sorry about long post but I am really frustrated .

SOM

Sorry, it's a little unclear here - how many cases has your partner got, one or two? If I'm reading it right, he had one case that has recently closed, and the other case was entirely private and not through the CSA - if he has mentioned having another child that he was paying for then the CSA might have said that they could only take this into account if the other case was also calculated through them. Which is fair enough, and makes sense really - it means each parent with care gets the correct assessment.

Is the letter as assessment for the case that was previously private? Either your partner or his ex must have asked for the other child/children to be taken into account, otherwise how would the CSA even be aware of it?

StressedOutMummy

Apologies, on re-reading my post I agree that I have not made myself very clear.

He has 2 cases - one recently closed and one private arrangement that the CSA has decided to intervene on.

With regard to your point about how would CSA be aware of the private arrangement, I agree with you that someone must have asked CSA to intervene otherwise how would they know. I asked OH if ex had contacted them , he said he had asked her and she had denied it. I suspect she has conveniently had some memory loss!