Hints and tips from a caseworker at the CSA.

pretzelnut

365days wrote: »

I don't understand why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist.

I have worked in similar high workload offices and agree with CSAworker...if you have 10 minutes left of your day you will work on the file where the person treats you with politeness rather than the one who shouts at you. That's human nature.

No, cases should be dealt with in the order they were received, then perhaps cases wouldn't get forgotten about by constantly being pushed to the bottom of the pile. As in my case, and NO i was never impolite once.

After filing a complaint via my MP, I was informed by the CRT that all cases are dealt with by date / time received, was given an timescale for when my case would be worked on based on the amount of cases in front of me, no one jumps the queue, so CSAworkers comments completely contradict this.

I rang after receiving a weird letter, as i was informed my case would have been assessed LAST week, and was told by the assessor ''I was going to do it last week but never got round to it as - other cases came in, i had to deal with, i will inform you when I have done the calculations for you''

Now having been polite the whole time, despite my sheer frustration at the incompetence of the CSA. Details of which are posted elsewhere.

The CSA have again contradicted themselves by firstly saying everything is dealt with in strict date / time order, no one queue jumps, then secondly saying, other cases arrived, he had to deal with.

How is that fair on me and my children, when the CSA have already screwed up (which they have admitted to me and my MP) several times, for them to keep me waiting by assessing someone who by there own admission is ''more important.''

Yet I'm still sat here, patiently, politely awaiting the all important phone call.

Whats makes these other cases more pressing than mine.

Maybe I wasn't polite enough - is there a politometer or something I don't know about.

sfm82

365days wrote: »

I don't understand why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist.

Pretty much everything he/she has said isn't news really for anyone that has had long term dealings with the CSA. I think some people think their case is the only/most important case. Whilst OUR case is obviously mega important to us, to the workers at the CSA we are just another number. That's just how it is.

I have worked in similar high workload offices and agree with CSAworker...if you have 10 minutes left of your day you will work on the file where the person treats you with politeness rather than the one who shouts at you. That's human nature.

The CSA is a government machine. Does anyone know of any government machine that works efficiently ???

I agree with this. I think CSAworkerx has given us an interesting insight into the inner workings of some CSA offices.

It was an interesting read.

365days

pretzelnut wrote: »

No, cases should be dealt with in the order they were received, then perhaps cases wouldn't get forgotten about by constantly being pushed to the bottom of the pile. As in my case, and NO i was never impolite once.

After filing a complaint via my MP, I was informed by the CRT that all cases are dealt with by date / time received, was given an timescale for when my case would be worked on based on the amount of cases in front of me, no one jumps the queue, so CSAworkers comments completely contradict this.

I rang after receiving a weird letter, as i was informed my case would have been assessed LAST week, and was told by the assessor ''I was going to do it last week but never got round to it as - other cases came in, i had to deal with, i will inform you when I have done the calculations for you''

Now having been polite the whole time, despite my sheer frustration at the incompetence of the CSA. Details of which are posted elsewhere.

The CSA have again contradicted themselves by firstly saying everything is dealt with in strict date / time order, no one queue jumps, then secondly saying, other cases arrived, he had to deal with.

How is that fair on me and my children, when the CSA have already screwed up (which they have admitted to me and my MP) several times, for them to keep me waiting by assessing someone who by there own admission is ''more important.''

Yet I'm still sat here, patiently, politely awaiting the all important phone call. Ring them!!!

Whats makes these other cases more pressing than mine.

Maybe I wasn't polite enough - is there a politometer or something I don't know about.

My experience has shown that if you don't ring the CSA regularly very little gets done. I now ring once a month. That probably means that my case gets looked at/worked on more regularly than other cases where the nrp/pwc doesn't contact the agency.

pretzelnut

365days wrote: »

My experience has shown that if you don't ring the CSA regularly very little gets done. I now ring once a month. That probably means that my case gets looked at/worked on more regularly than other cases where the nrp/pwc doesn't contact the agency.

ha ha - I rang them ever week (sometimes 3 times) for 15 weeks to make sure things were progressing, i was told they were for 15 weeks, till they finally admitted that NOTHING had been done since i rang up to open the case.

(they did this to me in 2007, and I was making sure they didn't ''forget'' my case again - oooh the irony)

15 weeks of lies, I had every line in the book.

My case worker has now told me that, i just have to wait, HE will ring me when he's finished. Might be this week, might be next. Me ringing him up now won't change that at all. Besides i get even more frustrated when i ring and get told ''Yeah i'm sat here looking at the figures now, but i just aren't gonna get round to doing the calculations this week''

I find it hard to believe the ''I'll call you'' line as i have again been told this many times to then NEVER to receive a call back.

his_wife

raise a complaint pretzel, i did,,, also involve your mp,,, they will soon get the ball rolling

pretzelnut

his_wife wrote: »

raise a complaint pretzel, i did,,, also involve your mp,,, they will soon get the ball rolling

I did raise a complaint via my MP, its the complaints team that my case is now with, they have the everything they need, but still no assessment.

I just have to wait.

his_wife

oh god, and thats like the proverbial piece of string ,,, did they not give you a direct number for complaints team,,, are u normally based in the bolton office by any chance.

pretzelnut

his_wife wrote: »

oh god, and thats like the proverbial piece of string ,,, did they not give you a direct number for complaints team,,, are u normally based in the bolton office by any chance.

The proverbial piece of string that seems to miraculously get longer and longer, and all i get told is, you will get it all paid as arrears from such and such date (which doesn't include the 4 months they messed up, i have to wait 6 months to claim for that)

I just want the figure, pure curiosity on what the ex now earns after years of scraping by on peanuts whilst he was climbing the career ladder.

No direct number, apparently when i call, if my complaints case worker is available my call will go directly to him, if he is busy it goes to someone in a call centre who then says ''I don't see anything about that case'' i then have to repeat everything, they then put me through to my case worker.

No not Bolton. I have been passed around, belfast, falkirk, bolton however. But its now being delay with just not in bolton.

cakeforbrains

pretzelnut wrote: »

I did raise a complaint via my MP, its the complaints team that my case is now with, they have the everything they need, but still no assessment.

I just have to wait.

How long has it been with the complaints team?

When my case went to Complaints I did find them very good. It might be that the whole thing is more complicated than it first seems and therefore will take a bit longer. My case, for instance, needed half a dozen historical assessments.

I wonder if you have the same caseworker as I did. He was very good.

DACC

Did you manage to squeeze out that extra 4%?