CSA 18 year old debt.

kog18 · 23 August 2018 at 10:26PM

Hi All

Ok, today I received a letter from the CSA for arrears dating back 18 years from 1999-2000 for a sum of £472. My daughter is now 28 years old and earns more money than me. I can't remember details from 18 years ago. If I was working at that time they would have been taking money from my wages and the same if I was on JSA. So I have no clue where the arrears have come from.

How in hell can it be after 18 years they come chasing after debt that there is no way I can verify, don't think I own anything 18 years old let alone be able to prove I don't own a 18 year old debt. I've not had any letters from them in 18 or more years.

I could really do with some advice on this, I certainly don't want to be coughing up £472 for a debt I know nothing about. Any info on what I should do would be most welcome.

BAFE · 25 August 2018 at 3:10PM

Can you ask them for a breakdown of where the costs come from.

What your daughter earns is totally irrelevant.

kog18 · 27 August 2018 at 2:58PM

Hi Bafe, I'm in that process now. Phoned them on Friday and the woman said the arrears accrued because I did't disclose information and they had to apply a DEO. But that doesn't ring true to me, since I remember filling in the form.

I agree father should pay toward their children, but the measure the government have gone to obtain payments from non paying father is above and beyond acceptable. It is madness, They can take money from your wages, bank account, property, your home, they can revoke your driving licence or passport, there are no time limits on chasing arrears and can chase you to the grave AND beyond, and now they can make you a criminal and send you to prison. The real scary part is, it can all be done outside a court of law. No Judge to scrutinise the law or its implementation, only a rubber stamp required. If that's not enough, a process of appeal is almost non existent, so a person is not needed, all they need to do is pass the document through a machine to stamp it. They don't even need that, just a person to say DEO for this father.

Criminals, of all descriptions don't even come close to be treated like this, they have rights under the law, they are able to get legal aid in certain circumstances and fight their case in a courts. A father can literally be hounded, persecuted for the crime of being an absent father, to his death and beyond and it can all happen without a single Judge or Lawyer being involved.

How long now, before absent fathers are made, by law, to wear a band on their arm so as to be easily identified by the public, there wealth can already be confiscated, how long before fathers are barred from working and owning property or a business. How long before they are rounded up and put on trains and sent to work camps with huge chimney stacks.

And all that is needed in the vast majority of cases is that a father is given equal access to his child and if it is refused then action be taken against the mother, until she understands, the child is not a weapon for her own personal grievances.

System · 27 August 2018 at 3:55PM

The amounts that the CSA awards are for are quite pitiful compared to the cost of bringing up a child.

Given the various things absent parents do to try to avoid to pay for their kids, even packing in a job to sign on the dole so they don't have to contribute, I have no problem with anything the CSA do to extract money out of non-paying parents.

You had 18 years to make payments, you chose not to. Now is time to pay the piper.

Paying for the bringing up of your child has NOTHING to do with access. Is it fair that your child ends up being brought up in a poorer household missing out on things and possibly even the basics like decent clothing and food because you have a beef with your ex over access because that is what is happening. By not paying on the basis you don't get access you are using the child as a weapon for your own personal grievances against the mother just as much as she is with access against you.

pmduk · 27 August 2018 at 3:59PM

You're confusing access to the child with your legal responsibility to provide support for a child. They are entirely separate things.

I'm sure most people would agree, however, that the child deserves access to both parents. If your ex has refused this, you were free to instruct your solicitor to commence legal action.

BrassicWoman · 27 August 2018 at 4:47PM

kog18 wrote: »

I agree father should pay toward their children, but the measure the government have gone to obtain payments from non paying father is above and beyond acceptable. It is madness, They can take money from your wages, bank account, property, your home, they can revoke your driving licence or passport, there are no time limits on chasing arrears and can chase you to the grave AND beyond, and now they can make you a criminal and send you to prison. The real scary part is, it can all be done outside a court of law.

I'm not seeing an issue with that for NRPs of either gender.

You made them, you support them. End of.

kog18 · 28 August 2018 at 8:08PM

No, WE created them and WE should have equal access to them. Then there would be no need to hound fathers for the crime of trying to be a father. The UK has one of the highest family break downs in the western world and it will only get worse. 28 percent of children live wither their mothers only 2.4 percent live with their father. That is a shocking inequality that needs addressing. The government think they can solve it by throwing fathers money at women, but its not helped the situation yet, and is unlikley to do so. So by no means is it the End.

pmduk · 28 August 2018 at 9:56PM

Again you're confusing access with support. Nobody on this board is privy to what happened in the court hearings that decided access, nor do we know whether such hearings even took place.

Both this board and this thread exist to discuss child support matters. Your child has reached the age of 28. The Government has decided it's time you pay your share of the cost.

The current (and previous) Governments have decided these debts will not disappear with age.

BrassicWoman · 29 August 2018 at 5:30PM

kog18 wrote: »

No, WE created them and WE should have equal access to them.

it's about the child - if they choose - having access to the parent. Think you forgot who matters here! and you need to pay for them regardless.

kog18 · 11 November 2018 at 1:33AM

Just had all my case files through the post yesterday. Very interesting read. I always had my child staying over at my house every weekend minimum of 2 nights but many times she would stay over 3 some times 5 days per week. Turns out the CSA never took this into account in their initial assessment. So for 3 months while the fools faffed about the arrears accrued.I sent them a letter detailing my circumstances and after 2 months they amended my assessment accordingly but only from the date of the letter I sent them so the new assessment did not cover the arrears. Cunning effers!!!

After a while I was laid off work and my employer sent a letter to the CSA telling them the date this happened. But the CSA did not do a reassessment of the account and carried on increasing the debt what was left of it. They did this for just over a year before they finally suspended the debt.

The question now is, did the debt they are now chasing accrue during the initial assessment or is this debt as a result of the assessment they never carried out after I was laid off work, or it may be the debt they are chasing is a bit of both? So I believe I need a complete breakdown of arrears from the CSA to determine how much I paid off the first accrued arrears while I was in work and how much the second when I was not.

I find this very interesting anyone know what the "Action Sheet – Initial accounts" document is used for, it shows the amount I was supposed to pay each week and the arrears, however the date the document was signed off, October time, is before the end date of the arrears which was November time. The arrears were from Aug to Nov. So they had calculated my arrears even before they had singed and dated the "Action Sheet – Initial accounts" document. The arrears were all prearranged it seems.

There is a letter for October but 5 days after the "Action Sheet – Initial accounts" document saying I recently agreed to make regular payments find enclosed paying in slips. Keep in mind payments were to start in August. Then I have a deduction of earning in November but dated after the end date of the pre arranged arrears.

pmduk · 11 November 2018 at 1:26PM

Then ask for a full account breakdown. Remember, if your ex was on benefits at the early stages, some/all of the arrears will be owed to the Secretary of State to pay for those benefits.

Sounds weird, but them's the rules

CSA 18 year old debt.

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