direct payments no arrears calculated

lilly153

my ds dad doesn't pay for our son he never really has a few years ago he just paid money to csa when and if he felt like it, after fighting with csa for months they finally agreed to take the money straight from his wages as soon as this happened he quit his job.

he got another job but worked cash in hand then switch to benefits then back to another job then back to benefits this went on for almost a year so csa couldn't work fast enough to keep up with him

he finaly got another secure job and my case worker agreed she would take the wages straight from the employer, however this case worker disappeared and tbh ive never really had just one anyways this other woman who decided to be the new case worker after speaking to ds dad decided he was wonderful and trust worthy and she would stop collecting the payments straight from his work i was livid and assured her he would never in a million years pay me, she said ds dad had agreed to direct payment but that meant he just paid the money straight into my bank but they would still keep everything the same calculate arrears etc.
fast forward 6 months and i have not received a penny surprise surprise now i know i should have phoned csa straight away but just couldn't be bothered with the hassel and im still so angry with this stupid case worker plus it costs me a fortune constantly phoning them which i just don't have to waste, but to my surprise when i phoned them she told me they take nothing to do with the last 6 months of him not paying as we were on direct payment after explaining it was the case worker who assured me they would still be calculating the payments but she said this isn't correct and i will get nothing for the last six months

the man owes well over £1000 in arrears would have been at the £2000 mark had csa been collecting the payments for the last 6 months, can they do this seems so unfair my son gets nothing for the last six months because one of their case workers decided to stop direct payments on the say so of a man who had never been consistent in his life with them.

CSAworkerx

Ok, Firstly you need to understand we dont have case ownership, youll talk to a diffrent caseworker every time you ring depending where your case is based, So dont expect the same person you spoke to yesterday to talk to you today.

Next, If you dont want the bill for calling, ring up and ask us to call you straight back, we are required to do this on the spot, you can do this everytime.

Now, For maintenance direct ( direct pay ) both partys have to agree to it, you must have at some point said youll take MD, if you hand on heartly know you didnt do this, phone in and ask to be told why you were put on MD without your consent, They will check the notes, and if you did agree to it they should be able to tell you the date/time of this, if they cannot you can file an appeal based on the fact we changed ure case to MD without your consent.

now somthing is bothering me, you said "now i know i should have phoned csa straight away but just couldn't be bothered with the hassel" as you were MD your case sits in a hopper on the system and will never be re-looked into unless you ask us to, So we couldnt have known payments were missed unless you informed us.

what you need to do is phone back up and tell us your ex hasnt paid in 6 months, and ask the caseworker to contact your ex to ask him for evidence of payment, This may work alltho the problem will arrise when your ex says "well if i wasnt paying why wouldnt she have called in on the first missed payment" it just depends what your ex says unfortunatly, But this is what id do if i were you.

If your ex job swaps its impossible for us to impose a DEO and if he is working cash in hand, its again impossible for us to know that, benefits would be a flat rate of £5/week assessment, so you need to understand some nrps just wont pay, its not right, but thats the reality of it.

lilly153

so the case has a different case worker every time you phone? because the lady in question spoke to my ex and as I said believed every word he was saying and cancelled the payments being taken off his wages without even consulting me this was AFTER HE FINALY GOT A SECURE JOB this same woman recalculated all the arrears he owed and was still dealing with the case weeks later after she finally worked it all out, because she did phone to tell me how much he owed and said it was her that had been working on the case over the previous weeks to sort it.

I have already phoned up CSA and told them ex never paid for last 6 months and as ive already stated I was told use took nothing to do with it and any arrears from this period was up to me to collect from EX so which one is it?

and im very well aware of the reality that some nrps just don't pay trust me but when there is something put in place for direct payments to come straight of his wages and some random person who clearly didn't even look at the case to see how irregular ex had been paying for previous years decides to take it upon them selves to cancel this, she is the reason why I couldn't be bothered with the hassle because from my experience if CSA staff can just do what they want what is the point

thanks for your reply

CSAworkerx

We cant do "what we want" we are obliged by strict rules and legislation to follow procedure, prelude can also back me up on this, this isnt to say we dont make mistakes, of coruse we do.

The fact you got through to the same caseworker red flags me into thinking ure case is with one of our teams that have fewer staff, Complex, legal srping to mind. As to your question on "which is it" i simply cannot give you a 100% answer, ive personally rang nrps for evidence of payments while MD, others may not, i speak from a personal perspecitive.

and lastly, there is no such thing as a direct payment if the agency is taking that money from salary, you simply must have asked for MD or the caseworker has changed it of their own will, you need to clarify this with the agency before i can give you more advice.

PreludeForTimeFeelers

I think you need to speak to a team leader and establish why the case changed to maintenance direct 6 months ago. If possible, get the team leader to listen to the call relating to the change of service type.