New claim. Already in arrears before even 1st payment

Miragev2

So got a new claim from csa in February.
And went with direct pay which is saying 1st payment is on April 1st.

Just looked at the website and is saying im already in arrears of £100+. 

I dont really understand all this since i thought for fees and collection was through collect and pay. Cant exactly afford to pay this extra amount as im on pennies right now

Any thoughts?

crazymoose2000

Miragev2 said:

So got a new claim from csa in February.
And went with direct pay which is saying 1st payment is on April 1st.

Just looked at the website and is saying im already in arrears of £100+. 

I dont really understand all this since i thought for fees and collection was through collect and pay. Cant exactly afford to pay this extra amount as im on pennies right now

Any thoughts?

My friend had the same when they started paying, payments should have started in August but it showed £100 in arrears in the June which he paid. He then received a letter saying he shouldn't have paid it and to stick to the agreed payment schedule as he wouldn't get the overpayment back nor would it reduce further payments. Apparently there will always be some arrears showing due to the way its worked out but as long as you stick to the payment schedule with the date and amount you'll be fine.

esthetixdc

Miragev2 said:

So got a new claim from csa in February.
And went with direct pay which is saying 1st payment is on April 1st.

Just looked at the website and is saying im already in arrears of £100+. 

I dont really understand all this since i thought for fees and collection was through collect and pay. Cant exactly afford to pay this extra amount as im on pennies right now

Any thoughts?

Yeah, that can be really confusing — you’re not alone.

When you start a new claim with CSA (or CMS), they sometimes backdate the payments to when the claim was opened or when the other parent applied — not when you started paying. So even though your first payment was set for April 1st, they may have calculated from February, which could explain the arrears showing up.

Direct Pay means no fees, but if you fall behind or they decide you're not paying as agreed, they can switch you to Collect & Pay (which does have fees). It might be worth calling them to ask exactly how the arrears were calculated — they should give you a breakdown.

If money’s super tight, let them know. They sometimes allow payment plans for arrears instead of demanding it all at once.

Hope that helps a bit — it's stressful, but you’re doing the right thing by looking into it.