CSA arrears

ALYN101

hi everyone, I don't post often so please bare with me ... I have always paid CSA via standing order and have always paid the amount that CSA declared that I should pay. I have now received a letter saying that I owe £3260 in arrears. I have phoned CSA to find out what's going on and have been told that my payments increased 10 years ago and have therefore been underpaying since. I informed the CSA member of staff that this is the first I have heard about the increase, after a couple of mins looking in to the things the staff member informed me that things looked a little strange on the system, it shows that although a letter was drafted it was never sent out and the letter even states that the amount I currently pay would be the correct amount going forward. so even if I had received a letter I would not have changed my standing order. I now find myself owing £3200 (that I can not afford to pay) through no fault of my own. is there any way of getting CSA to reconsider things ? thanks in advance for your help

Lucys_Da

Have you used the CSM calculator to identify what you should be paying currently and completed the same comparison for a few years previously. This will at least tell you whether you have been paying the correct amount.


You may need to dig out quite a few years worth of financial information to prove that you don't owe anything so you may need to start that process now.


Was the letter from CSM and not CSA as you mention on your message? The CSA no longer exists. Just be careful in case this is some sort of elaborate scam to get you to hand over details...

HoneyNutLoop

I would agree you need to clarify if this is an old CSA case that’s not yet been closed or a CMS one. If CMS, I would start by registering for their self service website and have a look on there to see what it shows for calculations, letters, payments etc.

If you’ve never been sent a letter advising you of the new amount, they need to send you one now. That will give you the right to request a mandatory reconsideration and subsequent appeal rights against the calculation. If the information used is correct though, then the amount will stand. The only thing you may get is more leeway over the timescale for paying it back in that situation.

ALYN101

Thanks for the advice, it stems from an old CSA case before we switched to an agreement as per CSM approx 2 years ago .. i have spoken with someone again and it appears that in 2008 they wrote to me telling me my payments were going up and i should increase my standing order which i did but the letter stated the wrong amount !!