Can I claim back my CSA overpayment.

Hawkmoon69

Hi all. I was being reassessed because my daughter was leaving the system. First PWC was overpaid by £600. I've been told in an update phonecall that I will get that money back so thats fine. Then the caller casually tells me I have overpaid second PWC by £12000 yes twelve thousand pounds. I was so shocked that when he said that future DOE's would be reduced I simply agreed and he hung up. Although I was elated that the pressure would be off, I'm now wondering about the possibility of reclaiming that money back. Also do they now owe me lost interest on that money?

Do I leave things as they are in case they make yet another mistake and take more money from me? Has anyone else been in this predicament?
Second PWC has about four years left of expected payments from me.

Thanks for all your replies.

kevin137

I don't know what the actual legislation says, but i would want it all back now...

The reason i say that it is better to have it back now is that the value of the £12,000 would be less in 4 years time, and as they do NOT pay interest it is better in your account or paid off your mortgage to reduce payments there by almost 3 times what the end result would be over 25 years...

Ask them for it, and if they won't give it to you, then involve your MP...!

Sensemaya

Like kevin says involve your MP. I would be asking for complete account breakdowns from day one of each case.

I bet the 2nd PWC has had a shock too!

But the CSA are notorious for messing up. I was faced with an overpayment ( PWC) and the figures varied from day to day. In the end I got it wiped off and the NRP ( as far as I know) was reimbursed out of the public purse.

I would be going for the whole lot to be refunded to you asap plus interest. And the only way is through your MP - otherwise you will get fobbed off.

Hawkmoon69

Thanks to both of you, yes I'm going to involve my MP again. Last time I used MP it shook them up but they didnt aknowledge my overpayment but now they've come right out and told me. I really could use the money, the past 5 years have been so difficult I could pay of some of my mortgage and take a well deserved holiday abroad. Wish me luck.

Sensemaya

Hawkmoon69 wrote: »

Thanks to both of you, yes I'm going to involve my MP again. Last time I used MP it shook them up but they didnt aknowledge my overpayment but now they've come right out and told me. I really could use the money, the past 5 years have been so difficult I could pay of some of my mortgage and take a well deserved holiday abroad. Wish me luck.

Well you need to shake rattle and roll them! 12K plus is a lot of money.

Good Luck...and I hope they pay up soon and you can pay off a chunk of your mortgage. That's what I did and it felt great.
The interest should add up to a couple of grand too but that depends on when and how long the overpayment occurred.

If you are on speaking terms with your exes get them to complain via their MP. They might be able to get it written off...can be done.

justontime

My husband had a large overpayment several years ago (because CSA took more than a year to correct an error in a previous assessment and deal with a reassessment). CSA wanted to reduce his future payments by a small amount each week for several years, he refused to accept that. He put in a complaint stating that it had caused us serious financial hardship to pay the incorrect assessment for over a year and it was unfair to the reduce the overpayment in the way that they proposed because it would cause us further hardship. He pointed out that it was their mistake and their delay and he had done nothing wrong, therefore he should have the full sum repaid immediately. To our surprise they gave up without a fight and the money was repaid in full.

I am sure there are people who will say that this was unfair to the PWC, and I would agree up to a point, but if CSA had dealt with the matter promptly most of the overpayment could have been avoided. So the unfairness was caused by CSA not the NRP and it was up to CSA to sort it out.

Hawkmoon69

justontime wrote: »

My husband had a large overpayment several years ago (because CSA took more than a year to correct an error in a previous assessment and deal with a reassessment). CSA wanted to reduce his future payments by a small amount each week for several years, he refused to accept that. He put in a complaint stating that it had caused us serious financial hardship to pay the incorrect assessment for over a year and it was unfair to the reduce the overpayment in the way that they proposed because it would cause us further hardship. He pointed out that it was their mistake and their delay and he had done nothing wrong, therefore he should have the full sum repaid immediately. To our surprise they gave up without a fight and the money was repaid in full.

Hey that really positive. Best get a wriggle on then :0)

jazzer5374

Hi, this story is very common and to be honest i thought some one was writing this post for me. I am going through the exact same and im owe £11,255. I have had many many years of torture and mental abuse and stress from the C.S.A and this is for me the nail in the coffin. My advice is go through the C.S.A complaints procedure which is on the website, i have also contacted a lawyer who told me to do this aswell first. I am currently at my local MP with it. I like yourself have asked for my payment in full with interest at the bank of Scotland base rate. I have been told i will not recieve my payment and believe it or not they have contacted my ex partner to ask that she asks to have a review done on this case as money due to me can then be offset against the money owe to me. (its complicated) Honestly i feel like hanging from the first tree i come against. Iv had enought of this incompitent bunch of people. I wish you all the best with this and i will keep people updated on mines.
I have told them i will publish my story on every social media site available and i wish to tell everybody of this very important issue i had in a conversation with a C.S.A member... Please share this so everybody paying CSA money can contact them regarding this...... After i was told about all the money i had overpaid i was told an amount of £1164 would be returned to me from the SLUSH fund with my name attached to it... As i pay £56 a week i asked why they were holding almost 5 months of my money in a so called SLUSH fund, after alot of gargle came out her mouth she passed over the subject.. Clearly this government agency is holding money from each and every single paying parent as i have never heard of any member paying CSA money have this returned.. I now advise everybody paying to contact them regarding this SLUSH fund.