Enforcement Officers Csa

Jules1978

I certainly hope enforcement officers exists, otherwise the past twelve months of my working life have been an incredibly bizarre dream / nightmare! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, if anyone has a question about enforcement I will be happy to try and answer it.

kelloggs36

Jules, why does it take months and months for the solicitors to do something and when they do, they always send it back for more info? This happened on my case last year when my ex defaulted on his Court order (arrears of CSA payments - he was given a suspended prison sentence provided he pay 50 pounds per week, which he did for a year, although he didn't pay his actual RM). After he defaulted, it took 13 MONTHS to get back into Court. Part of the delay was the CSA not actually preparing the case to send to solicitors, and partly because solicitors sat on it for months and then sent it back - twice!!! Eventually back in Court - adjourned - twice - next week is yet another date, but still no money is coming despite promises from his new mortgage company that it will be paid 'within the next 6 weeks' - this time is up tomorrow and it aint here!!! So, I guess that yet again the hearing will be adjourned to allow for themoney to be paid. How many times will this be allowed to go on?

Jules1978

Ok here goes..

Well in the first place the advice I'm going to give is by neccesity general and obviously cannot explain why your particular case has been handled the way it has. Furthermore any explanation I give should not be interpreted an endorsment of how long you've had to wait. The delays on your case are not typical from my experience and would try the patience of a saint. 13 months to take your ex back to court i is particularly shocking.

That said I will try and answer one particular question.

why does it take months and months for the solicitors to do something and when they do, they always send it back for more info?

It is likely to be for one of two reasons:

Firstly it can be because of errors in the enforcement officers submission. If for example they made the application but failed to take into account all of the payments the NRP had made then the solicitor would be right to query this and ask for court documents to be ammended. If he goes to court with errors on the case or missing info then the case could be dismissed. In such an instance the agency may not be able to apply again.

or more likely..

It is because of the charging order on your ex's property and his promise to remortgage. In theory all a court has to accept in order to impose a suspended sentence is that the NRP has failed to make 1 or more of the payments they told him to, however courts and magistrates in particular are not keen on sending NRPs down if they can see other ways to get the money.

In your case the charge on your ex's property is that way and should, in theory see the liability order debt repaid in full (without the need to lhim up). Any decent CSA solicitor would see this and any decent rep or sol' for your ex would be failing in his duty to drive home this point in court.

Therefore the CSA solicitor is in a tricky position. They can of course insist that the court abide by the letter of the law and enforce their previous sentence, but in doing so they not only appear draconian but are neglecting the agencies main aim: Get the money owed. So in that instance I can understnd why a court would decide to set an adjournment to allow for a remortgage, after all if the NRP pays then the matter is closed.

None the less it seems pretty self evident that any timeframe they lay down must be abided by. In this way and not withstanding that I don't know the NRPs circumstances I would be expecting the next hearing to have a far harder edge to it if the NRP is still stalling on the remortgage. In fact I'd be expecting a third default commitals hearing to have a very frosty bench of magistrates. The NRP should have a damn good explanation for his failure to remortgage if he doesn't want to be locked up.

Furthermore as I'm sure you know locking him up would not be an end to the matter and debt would still exist. If for example he was sent down and still didn't remortgage (quite possible as reputable mortgage companies don't generally lend to convicts). Then upon the NRPs release the agency may well apply to have the NRPs home sold from under him. This is a rare thing indeed but one that has a massive amount of senior management support at the moment.

In conclusion then I am sorry you haven't had the money owed but have to say that from the sound of things there is light at the end of the tunnel.

BTW how much is outstanding since the original comms verdict? Have the agency got most of the debt secured in liability orders and charges or just part of it?

kelloggs36

I am a bit cross about this next bit! I shall try and cut it as short as possible:

2 charging orders on property to tune of just under 17k. Jan 2005 CSA take NRP to Court as he shows no signs of paying a penny. NRP turns up and is given suspended sentence for failing to pay and is ordered to pay 50 quid per week in order to pay off all the debt. In reality it just means his debt grows at a slower rate as he fails to make any regular maintenance payments. Nevertheless, he complies with order for 12 months then stops.

Feb 2006 the first failed month.

April 2006 despite much chasing up and due to staff shortages, CSA send case to SolB for Show Cause.
July 2006 Solicitors return file as incomplete requesting more info
September 2006 - case returned to Solicitors with required info

November 2006 - case returned yet again as proceedure changed and different info needed now.

Hearing date Feb 2007. NRP fails to attend. Warrant issued for his arrest.

March 2007 NRP arrested and bailed to attend Court where the remortgage idea is first mentioned. NRP ordered to make monthly payments as per previous agreement and case adjourned until mid April for NRP to arrange re-mortgage. NRP hands Court Presenting Officer a cheque for the montly payment. Full amount of debt to date is considered, not just charging orders (third one was granted in January making full charges on property worth just under 25k).

Back in previous Summer I had requested that the further debt which had accrued be secured by liability order, but this was not actioned until I chased it in March.

Cheque bounces.

NRP visited by CPO and SEO with letter stating exactly what the debt is and to collect next payment (they were unaware that the cheque presented in March had bounced so they didn't get a replacement for it).

decision taken not to take the fourth liability order to a charging order in the hope that the debt secured to date would be paid shortly.

In Court in April NRP has not presented any evidence of remortgage application and requests an adjournement for 6 weeks, which was rejected by CSA but granted for 5 weeks by Court to allow NRP to remortgage property.

Next Court hearing date 25 May and on 24 May CSA receive a fax from mortgage company confirming that NRP has made application and that 25k should be paid 'within 6 weeks' subject to survey which was taking place the following week. Case adjourned for 7 weeks to enable payment to be made and hopefully cancel case.

2 weeks ago mortgage company approach CSA to ask for redemption figure. CSA provide both figure secured on charges and state that NRP wishes to pay all debt off but are unable to say that the Courts have made this order due to Data Protection Act.

As the fourth liability order was granted on 25 May, why have the CSA decided not to proceed with the 4th charging order which would have secured all the debt owed to the date back in Feb? This way they are only 'guaranteed' the amounts secured on charging order as the mortgage company are only obliged to pay this amount direct. The remainder remains the responsibility of the NRP to pay to the CSa, which I can guarantee he won't do.

Up until 11 March, the whole debt was just less than 27k, but has risen since then and goes up by 76.73 per week until the first Monday in September when it stops as DD will be going to uni and my Child Benefit ceases.

Today I rang to see if there was any update and no, no more contact made by anyone and no signs of any money.

Preparations have been made to commence Order for Sale proceedings - they have the valuation and it has been agreed in principal to go ahead by senior management but obviously nothing can go ahead with this until the outcome of the hearing which is due for next Friday when I am almost certain that the NRP will request and be granted yet another adjournement as the money hasn't come through yet.

I am just sick and tired of this waiting around and missed opportunities for the CSA to secure all the debt owed to me - I have never claimed benefits so all the money is due to me. Surely they could have applied for this last charging order and be looking shortly to another liability order to secure the debt which continues to rise?

Court

Jules1978

I do not know why the CSA have not proceeded with a charging order for the most recent LO period. It would on the face of things seem like the logical thing to do.

If he sells or remortgages in the mean time then so be it, but if he is still stalling in a couple of months time then you have a chance of getting the remaining debt secured against his property.

Perhaps and I'm speculating here, perhaps there has been a decision made to keep things simple until the remortgage is complete and then go for a further charge and comms again or order for sale.

A possible rationale for this could be that the recent default commitals hearings have been applied for to address a particular period and amount of debt i.e LOs 1 to 3. The magistrates would be straying in law to now consider a further period of debt that was not in the original application. I appreciate this seems perverse, after all every penny of the debt should be subject to the same "willful refusal" the court originally found, so why not get the lot done at the same time?

However Civil law doesn't always work as we'd like. It could well be the case that the agency is holding off the charging order because:
a. It's likely to be too late for the charge to catch the remortgage and would require a reissuing of redemption figures and further adjournments and delays etc.
AND
b. To apply for a charge now could see the NRP being asked to remortgage for an amount of debt that is higher than the amount the agency sought to have him commited for. This could be seen as forcing the court to act outside the original apllication and they could even respond by putting the whole thing on ice until the agency has completed not only a 4th charging order but also a full comms referral for that order too.

Also it occurs to me that it may be the case that by adding LO4 to LOs 1-3 you see the NRP unable find a company to offer him a remortgage and in so doing the agency would have scuppered the best chance for repayment of LOs 1-3. Essentially this would by applying for the 4th charge to send the man to prison and not to get the money you are owed.


Lastly though, the thing you can be pushing for (if it's not already done) is a county court order for the 4th LO. Without this there can be no charging order and failure to do one now will cause further delays later. The application only takes about 20 minutes to complete and has no bearing on the commitals proceedings whatsoever as it is in the county court. The cost to the agency is minimal and could be incorperated in any subsaquent charge against the NRPs property. It would leave the agency as ready to go for a 4th charge if the present proceeding fail.

Jules1978

Actually, I'm not sure about my inability to remortgage theory having re read your last post.

It seems that your saying the last LO was for £2k (?) If this is the case then it's highly unlikely to be the difference between a remortgage and no remortgage.

Have you asked whether the bailiffs have been instructed on LO4? Something should be happening with the last LO as the agency has decided it can't go for the charge. Whats more a few bailiffs knocking on his door may have the very desirable side effect of hurrying up his remortgage!

imuststartsaving

i have never had to claim CSA b4 i would like to no a bit more in detail please what it is the enforcement officers actually do
my case has been on goin from march last year and the ex denied parentage so had to have a DNA test which came back with him been the father which i always told and knew myself.
so CSA asked for his earnings has he is self employed and works for his dad he did not provide these so csa set a default payment of £30.00 a week which he did not pay or stick to so they now have to get enforcement officers involved so he can be taken to court .
so what will be the next stage what will happen with the enforcement officers now what will they be doin
thank you

Jules1978

Failure to provide required information to the CSA is classed as a criminal offence and from what you've told me you should see now see the following happen.

A compliance inspector should be instructed. They will be charged with finding the NRP / employer and asking for the information required to complete the assessment. If they cannot get the information they can refer the case to their colleagues in the Criminal compliance team who can apply to prosecute the NRP and if appropriate the employer too.

If, or hopefully when the NRP or the employer provide the information needed a full maintenance calculation will be made. If either party continues to refuse to co-operate with the agency they can be taken to court where they can be fined up to a maximum of £1000 for each offence. This fine would then be collected by the courts own officers and the offender would have a criminal record.

In the unlikely event that he is still non compliant then the agency can continue to prosecute for failure to provide and continue to seek further fines.

In conjunction with this it is also possible that the agency would seek to use their civil powers to collect any arrears outstanding. Initially this would take the form of applying to magistrates to ask for a liability order and then instructing the bailiffs to seek to levy goods from the NRPs home.

These are the processes but the timescales are not fixed and will depend on the individual case and NRP The best way to ensure action is taken on your case is to ask a specific officer for regular updates and be prepared to complain if you feel your being fobbed off. This said be prepared to be kept in the dark by criminal compliance who do not update clients on how investigations are going for fear that information they share could compromise a case.

So in the short term aim to confirm that:
1. The compliance inspector has been instructed. &
2. Continue to ask what other actions (calls letters etc)are being taken to ensure that the £30 pw default assesment is going to be paid.
3. Above all else keep names and numbersof those you speak too, document conversations and be polite but pushy.

kelloggs36

It is unlikely that instructing bailiffs in my case will have any effect whatsoever - they have never succeeded before and to be honest, I can't see the enforcemen team actually doing this in the light of the fact that the next court hearing is next Friday. If he says that nothing has happened by next Friday then I shall be asking what they are going to do in respect of the 4th LO.

Jules1978

Just back from holiday. How did the court hearing go?