Bloody CSA!

yan79

Hi!

We've paid maintainence for my step daughter for the past 15 year. We used to have a private agreement with her mother but she's since decided to use the CSA. We paid by deductions from earnings.
My SD has decided to leave home and move to a different city with her boyfriend and his family. She's been there now for about 20 weeks.

We stopped paying the CSA (by then we' changed from deduction from earnings to Direct Debit) as she wasn't living with her mother and informed the CSA that she was no longer with her mum. They told us that we had to report her to the child benefit office for claiming child benefit while she wasn't entitled to claim it and this in turn would show up on the CSA's system and would automatically stop the CSA payments to her. Anyway to cut a very long story short the CSA took £450 out of my husbands wages without informing us. They said because we hadn't paid for two months (which we hadn't) we were in arrears and they we're entitled to take the money without telling us. They said because she's still claiming child benefit we still have to pay. I don't know how to prove that our step daughter is no longer at home or in education as they're saying they will only take my partners ex wife's word for it but there's no chance she'll admit to not having a daughter at home. They're due to take out another £450 next payday and I don't know what to do. I've called the child benefit office three times and reported her for claiming child benefit but they log it and can't tell me anything else! Any advice would be very much appreciated x

shoe*diva79

You just have to wait until the child benefit office update their records. A refund should then be due.

yan79

I've reported her 3 maybe even 4 times in the past 18 weeks. How long does this does it take to stop some bodies benefits? Also the CSA have told us we won't get any kind of refund and she's in receipt of our money already x

TBagpuss

would your step-daughter confirm she is living independently?

shoe*diva79

The CB office will receive hundreds of calls a week regarding benefit fraud. It takes time to check but your husband should get a refund if she has been claiming fraudulently.

Blackpool_Saver

Who would pay the refund?

yan79

Yes she would confirm she doesn't live at home any more. The CSA told us we wouldn't get a refund. I've reported her yet again tonight as advised by by the child benefit office x