HELP!! CSA Back Payments 10+Years

MikeShorty

I will try and keep this to the point without getting too irate! I have received a letter from the CSA asking for back payment for a 6 month period in 2006 totalling £800+


I have a 14 year old son from a previous relationship, being so young the 'relationship' never got off the ground and ever since I have paid my maintenance directly even in my own times of redundancy and being out of work I have always given.


10 years ago 2006 the mother the mother contacted the CSA to get an assessment done which if my memory serves me right I provided all the information the needed. According to the CSA while this was being carried out I should of been paying them however I was still paying the mother directly.....Due to the mother moving away in 2009 another assessment was done and my payments were made to the CSA directly. This was the 1st time I ever made any payments to them.


The CSA are now asking me to pay for the period in 2006 and the 'mother' wont confirm she received payments from me directly during this period. I am able to prove every single payment I made to her directly and via the CSA from 2007 onwards however as I no longer bank with the same bank I made payments from and unable to obtain statements from 10years ago the CSA have basically said I must pay or the mother must call them telling them they she doesn't want to proceed.


So my questions are


1. Why wasn't these 'Arrears' picked up on in 2009 when a new assessment was done
2. Can the CSA ask for money from 10years ago?
3. What options are open for me to dispute, could I take it further?
4. Anyone have any ideas on where I can go from here?


Thanks

eve31

Sounds crazy to me. Can't believe they are chasing a supposed 6 month back payment of arrears from 10 years ago that you paid directly when the current CMS seem to take no action when I had a case and there non compliance that was current.

I would just stick to the facts and say you refute the arrears as you paid direct and don't pay and appeal the arrears.

Good luck.

13Kent

If the PWC denies you made the payments and you have no proof of the payments being made specifically for the named child for a specified period of time then I'm afraid it doesn't look good. - Any payments made should be labelled even if you can prove you have paid them as they could be considered a gift - unless they state "maintenance payment for child A from xx feb 2016 to xx March 2016" if the PWC denies that was what the money was for even if you can prove you paid it I'm afraid you're on a hiding to nothing.

My husband had a similar letter for arrears for thousands of pounds from when the CSA first became involved in the case, up until the time the assessment was finally made - which took a long time. He continued to pay the PWC during this time but she denied any payments had been made. The CSA took her word against his and he had to pay the arrears, even though he had already paid her without fail every month from the time they separated. We contested it, even going to our MP but unfortunately it didn't make a difference. With the threat of court action and the repercussions on his relationship with his children we decided to bite the bullet and pay the money even though we felt it was fraud on the part of the PWC.

MikeShorty

This is my concern, there are plenty of guys like myself and your husband who are straight down the line and take there responsibilities and these payments seriously, however the CSA look down on the father as being a B***ard in every case and the PWC is always correct! there are plenty of women out there who rinse the CSA system and leaves us honest guys left with no where to go and out of pocket...Just Wrong


I just cant believe they are asking me to prove something from 10 years ago when every kind of body out there doesn't keep anything over 6 by law as set out by the DPA so how on earth am I expected to prove this if the PWC isn't willing to 'playball'


So frustrating!

13Kent

Sorry not to be able to be more positive!

justontime

It is worth asking your MP for help. We found that our MP was very helpful when my husband was faced with an out of the blue claim for a huge amount of arrears of child support from nearly 20 years previously. The circumstances were a bit different but it was a case of the ex being believed and my husband being disbelieved. We went through close to a year of hell with this huge fictitious debt hanging over us. We submitted every scrap of evidence we could find and we challenged every decision, eventually we found proof which couldn't be contradicted and CSA accepted that there were no arrears, in fact my husband had an overpayment!

Like you my husband had been a responsible parent and had always paid in full and on time, so it was very upsetting to have to deal with this situation and feel that everyone was treating him as if he was trying to avoid his responsibilities. I hope you manage to successfully dispute the arrears, but I think it's going to be an up hill struggle, good luck.