hi im really having problems with csa and tribunal service. there have been so many counts of incompetence that im thinking of taking this further and seeking legel advice but i need advice from others who may have been treated this way. this is whats happened, the csa contacted me at the back end of last year telling me i was entitled to over £8,000 in arrears for my 2 children who are now 27yrs and19yrs so the arrears go back to late 90,s. i told them i wasnt entitled to any money because id been a single parent on benefit and then since 2001 id been disabled of work so i was still in reciept of benefit so any monies owed had to go back to the state, they then told me that due to a change in the law it was my money and they were in the process of securing a payment from my ex. i had been getting £11 per mth for the past couple of years as my daughter was in further education and i was get tax credits so i assumed that it was all to do with that and that was the end of it with the csa until they got in touch about the arrears. in january 2012 i started to recieve payments and they continued until the beginning of march 2012 then stopped without any warning and in total id recieved £2,030 from the csa, when i contacted them to find out whats going on they told me the following, the original weekly calculation had not been done the correct way and that the person dealing with my case came up with the figure off the top of there head and this was what was quoted to me over the phone from the csa officer i was dealing with, she told me that my ex had appealed this and it was her job to put it right. she told me because it was the csa fault they had to by law squash all arrears and that i was to pay back all money id recieved. i straight away appealed this because as far as im concerned im not paying it back and i totally disagree with there decision, they made me feel that both i and my children was worthless and my abusive ex would get off scott free. over several phone conversations with this woman she told me that many mistakes had been made such as- didnt check the work details my ex provided to see he was telling the truth no periodic yearly checks were done, i only ever heard from csa once in a blue moon over the years. tribunal service lost our paper work for over 2yrs which prevented checks etc. now on 31st aug i had to attend a hearing at oxford and me and my ex met with a judge to addresss the situation, the judge did say at the hearing that it was wrong to squash the arrears and that my children was entitled to some money and she sent my ex of to basically fill in the gaps of the time line to do with where he,d workd,lived and how much rent he used to pay etc so they can revise the weekly amount and work out just how much he owes in arreas and as to whether i,ll be getting any money, she adjured our case and im waiting for a new date. since then ive been informed that the judge wasnt even dealing with my case she was working from my ex,s appeal which as you know had been dealt with and id appealed there desicion, the csa said they were going to bring it to the judges attension and i just got to si tback and wait to see what happens next so i think you can see nobody at the csa or the tribunal service seems to know what the hell there doing, the csa did deposit £100 into my bank account as an admission of ther failings towards me and the csa person i spoke to told me that she wasnt happy to do what she did but the laws the law. di really appreciate any advice because i am feeling abit lost and have no one to talk to about what to do next etc thankyou for taking the time to read this.