CSA at fault - overpayment

star714

Hi all,

I have just had a call from the CSA telling me I owe £1000 due to parent without care having another child, which resulted in £1000 over payment. Case has been closed due to my youngest child being in a paid apprenticeship, I still support all 3 children but they say I owe the money due to me receiving it. He told them about the change but they did not process it or notify me. It was direct pay so they said they will not get involved. Been told I might get taken to court, even though I did everything right  and it is an error on their part!

Anyone with any help or support will be greatly appreciated, as I’m sure you can appreciate this is a very stressful time.

Thank you in advance. 

ZaSa1418

Has the other parent said anything to you about the overpayment? 

star714

ZaSa1418 said:

Has the other parent said anything to you about the overpayment? 

No, we have 0 contact. The only time I was informed was when I received the call yesterday. However, with the way I know that he is, I am most definitely expecting him to pursue this money - although I’m not at fault. 

tacpot12

Unfortunately, errors occur, and in law, if the correct calculation shows you have been overpaid then you owe the money. Can you afford to pay? 

star714

tacpot12 said:

Unfortunately, errors occur, and in law, if the correct calculation shows you have been overpaid then you owe the money. Can you afford to pay? 

Hi, thank you for your response. No I cannot afford to pay it. This has been flung on me so randomly and I’m so confused as to why I’m at fault due to CSA error! I understand I’ve received more than I should have, but at the end of the day the CSA never recalculated and only have now saying I owe over £1000! And it being towards his children! Steeping this low is beyond me. What do you think my best options are?

ZaSa1418

star714 said:

ZaSa1418 said:

Has the other parent said anything to you about the overpayment? 

No, we have 0 contact. The only time I was informed was when I received the call yesterday. However, with the way I know that he is, I am most definitely expecting him to pursue this money - although I’m not at fault. 

If the CSA aren't going to pursue the over payment then just wait for contact from him. 

tightauldgit

star714 said:

tacpot12 said:

Unfortunately, errors occur, and in law, if the correct calculation shows you have been overpaid then you owe the money. Can you afford to pay? 

Hi, thank you for your response. No I cannot afford to pay it. This has been flung on me so randomly and I’m so confused as to why I’m at fault due to CSA error! I understand I’ve received more than I should have, but at the end of the day the CSA never recalculated and only have now saying I owe over £1000! And it being towards his children! Steeping this low is beyond me. What do you think my best options are?

You're not at fault, but you have received money you were not entitled to and it's only right that the payer isn't out of pocket because of a CSA error. From what you've said there is no ongoing maintenance to allocate it to and so the payer should be due a refund.

Reimbursements seem to be a bit complicated - it may be that CMS will reimburse them the £1000 and then try to recover it from you or it may be that they will try to get you to repay it first. I think in the past they would have reimbursed the payer but they are being discouraged from that now. 

There are guidelines for them to follow as to when it is appropriate to recover an overpayment from you and if it would cause genuine financial hardship then they shouldn't do. I think your best option now would be to communicate with CMS to tell them that you are not in a position to repay the £1000 and explain that it would cause you financial hardship to do so and then see what happens.

Someone might correct me on this but my understanding is that the legal responsibility sits with CMS to reimburse the payer, not you. It's then up to them to decide when how and if to pursue you for the money.

star714

tightauldgit said:

star714 said:

tacpot12 said:

Unfortunately, errors occur, and in law, if the correct calculation shows you have been overpaid then you owe the money. Can you afford to pay? 

Hi, thank you for your response. No I cannot afford to pay it. This has been flung on me so randomly and I’m so confused as to why I’m at fault due to CSA error! I understand I’ve received more than I should have, but at the end of the day the CSA never recalculated and only have now saying I owe over £1000! And it being towards his children! Steeping this low is beyond me. What do you think my best options are?

You're not at fault, but you have received money you were not entitled to and it's only right that the payer isn't out of pocket because of a CSA error. From what you've said there is no ongoing maintenance to allocate it to and so the payer should be due a refund.

Reimbursements seem to be a bit complicated - it may be that CMS will reimburse them the £1000 and then try to recover it from you or it may be that they will try to get you to repay it first. I think in the past they would have reimbursed the payer but they are being discouraged from that now. 

There are guidelines for them to follow as to when it is appropriate to recover an overpayment from you and if it would cause genuine financial hardship then they shouldn't do. I think your best option now would be to communicate with CMS to tell them that you are not in a position to repay the £1000 and explain that it would cause you financial hardship to do so and then see what happens.

Someone might correct me on this but my understanding is that the legal responsibility sits with CMS to reimburse the payer, not you. It's then up to them to decide when how and if to pursue you for the money.

Thank you that is very helpful. I am going to get the full details of the overpayment which I haven’t received yet and find out whether they are going to reimburse. Thank you, I’ll keep you updated.

tightauldgit

star714 said:

tightauldgit said:

star714 said:

tacpot12 said:

Unfortunately, errors occur, and in law, if the correct calculation shows you have been overpaid then you owe the money. Can you afford to pay? 

Hi, thank you for your response. No I cannot afford to pay it. This has been flung on me so randomly and I’m so confused as to why I’m at fault due to CSA error! I understand I’ve received more than I should have, but at the end of the day the CSA never recalculated and only have now saying I owe over £1000! And it being towards his children! Steeping this low is beyond me. What do you think my best options are?

You're not at fault, but you have received money you were not entitled to and it's only right that the payer isn't out of pocket because of a CSA error. From what you've said there is no ongoing maintenance to allocate it to and so the payer should be due a refund.

Reimbursements seem to be a bit complicated - it may be that CMS will reimburse them the £1000 and then try to recover it from you or it may be that they will try to get you to repay it first. I think in the past they would have reimbursed the payer but they are being discouraged from that now. 

There are guidelines for them to follow as to when it is appropriate to recover an overpayment from you and if it would cause genuine financial hardship then they shouldn't do. I think your best option now would be to communicate with CMS to tell them that you are not in a position to repay the £1000 and explain that it would cause you financial hardship to do so and then see what happens.

Someone might correct me on this but my understanding is that the legal responsibility sits with CMS to reimburse the payer, not you. It's then up to them to decide when how and if to pursue you for the money.

Thank you that is very helpful. I am going to get the full details of the overpayment which I haven’t received yet and find out whether they are going to reimburse. Thank you, I’ll keep you updated.

i should also add that my reply was based on your OP which suggested that the CMS have admitted that they made an oversight, if instead they are saying that you should have informed them of the change of circumstance then you might be in a more difficult position - nevertheless if it would genuine cause you financial hardship to pay the money back then I think at worst you should be able to come up with a payment plan to reimburse the payer.