Child Support Agency

[flymo1966]

i need some advice about this ridiculously run outfit , febraury 2007 (bear this in mind i recieved a letter from them saying it wasnt going to commence until march 2007) i had an attachment of earnings slapped on me for alledged arrears , i didnt owe them nothing as it was there fault in the first place , to my understanding arrears have to be collected with a 52 week period , now i worked out exactly how much i payed them from the 1st feb 2007 until the 18th feb 2008 , i have 2 ex partners with 4 children (2 a piece but i only pay for 3 as one is 18) one of my ex`s has been underpaid or not paid at all her allocation , whilst the other has been paid well over her allocation , now a week ago i got another letter from the pathetic csa slapping another attachment of earnings with even more arrears added , the one ex partner that has been underpayed i am now in arrears with and the one that has been overpayed i am in arrears with , like i said i worked out exactly how much i paid over that period , i know exactly how much arrears i have payed and now i have overpayed them , i know exactly how much each partner should of getting over that period , one was underpayed and the other was overpayed so now i want the attachment of earnings stopped as to previous to them originally starting it they were payed by standing order the correct amount for each ex partner every week , i have no problems with paying for my children at all but i do take exception to being ripped off , incidentally when they originally took the first attachment of earnings they also took the standing order out of my bank the same day in which they refused to refund but all thats been added into the total , 3 weeks i rung them up and asked if they could answer my questions , after being on hold for 20 minutes and taliking to some chap i was giving another number to ring ( yep passed from pillar to post as usual) so i rung this number and after half an hr of being told i dont have access to that information you require she said i will have the back office to ring you back ... still waiting , 2 weeks ago i sat and drafted up a letter to them requested that under the data protection act 1998 and the freedom of information act 2000 that all information regarding my cases be released to me within 21 days , being honest i am totally fed as its been 4 years non stop stupidity from these people , the day i posted that letter was the same day i recieved that new attachment of earnings , i want that stopped and basically i want the csa sorted once and for all , to me they are that disorganised their left hand doesnt know what their right hand is doing if i was that incompetant in my job i would be unemployed its as simple as that.

 

i do apologise if i have posted this in the wrong section , i couldnt see where else to post it , any advice on this would be greatly appreciated as i am willing to push this as far as i can as i know they are totally at fault.

[honey5]

can you remember when it took them 2yr to sort out the payments from HIM for the other 3 (standing joke sorry its like the brady bunch his 4 and my 3 ) i got no joy from the csa whatsoever and eventually had to involve our local M.P. Just wondered if you get no joy this time (which i in all honesty and obviously hope you do) would it be worth contacting the local M.P ??

honey xxx

[blanchie14c]

I'm pleased to say my involvment with these idiots is over however, when i was going through the same i got myself sorted by following their complaint proceedure and requesting a 'one on one'. This was quickly arranged and i went to a meeting in the local DSS offices. I took someone with me and she 'took minutes' which i got the CSA bloke to sign to say they were correct etc....

He went away and my case was quickly sorted.

Hope this helps

(i had an AOE dropped within days and taken money refunded......)

[flymo1966]

your right there they are a bunch of idiots , just spent most of this afternoon working all the maths out for the past year and was laughing at the conclusion apparantly one of my exs is owed a considerable sum of money through there incompetance , i recieved another attachment of earnings 2 weeks ago just after i sent my letter off to them , now i was alledgly in the arrears through their incompetance , now as far as i am aware arrears is paid off within a year this is now 56 weeks later and now they started another but the funniest thing is they made allocations for both ex`s they got there money via AOE and now i find they are saying i am arrears with the other ex , cant see how they work that out , if they are getting the money by AOE every week and if they paid that set allocation i cant possibly be in arrears , this has been going on for 4 yrs now and i will finish it this year as enoughs enough , i understand that not many legal people will take this on , not sure why they are a cowboy outfit just funded by the government that need closed down , sorry honey5 i cant go to an mp as i find they only want to know to get your vote instead of doing it for the right reasons after all it isnt just absent fathers they mess about its th parent left with the children as well , i am a firm believer in paying for your children as any absent parent should do , but at the same time we are all entitled to a life , i could just say why should i bother , pack in work and wont have to pay anything well a fiver a month instead of being left with the minimum to live on , thanks for your input blanchie14c i will try that one if i get no joy with the data protection act 1998 and the freedom of information act 2000 letter i sent to them 2 weeks ago.

[honey5]

sorry honey5 i cant go to an mp as i find they only want to know to get your vote instead of doing it for the right reasons after

 

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sunday names on a friday

they cant force you to vote, no one can, did you see me run along the road to vote /me thinks not

its a government run mess so therefore the mp will help as they cant be seen not too, after two yrs of them chasing jack for money (he was what??? 9 at the time) it was our local mp that sorted it ( theyd only put his CB number in instead of their fathers NI number) you may aswell get on a train and go up to falkirk yourself, be cheaper than all the phone calls youll have to make

honey x

[blanchie14c]

My Local MP was going to be my next port of call if i failed on my own so worth bearing in mind....

In the end their incompitence was their own down fall, not only were they taking the incorrect amount from my wages, but they were not passing it on to my ex-wife. In the end my ex and i came to an agreement ourselves and i have paid her like that ever since. Based on the CSA calculations i transfer the cash from my bank to hers via the internet. She wrote them a letter informing them of our arrangement and they finally left me alone! (don't forget to increase the amount when you get a pay rise) Since this took place 2 years ago, i have nothing but the upmost respect for my ex-wife for the job she has, and continues to do with my 2 boys. everything has now settled down to the point where we consider each other as best friends now! why wasn't it like that when we were married god only knows! life eh?

This arrangement only works if both parties keep to the agreement, and remember child maintainance is NOT a contact bargaining tool....

That's not aimed at anyone here, just a reminder to anyone reading, its not like a loan or credit card, you can't skip a month etc...

Good luck to the OP, keep us updated

blanchie

[blanchie14c]

just noticed a reference to my ex-wife in my sig, so after all i've just said, i'd better remove it!

[Yellow160]

My Local MP was going to be my next port of call if i failed on my own so worth bearing in mind....

In the end their incompitence was their own down fall, not only were they taking the incorrect amount from my wages, but they were not passing it on to my ex-wife. In the end my ex and i came to an agreement ourselves and i have paid her like that ever since. Based on the CSA calculations i transfer the cash from my bank to hers via the internet. She wrote them a letter informing them of our arrangement and they finally left me alone! (don't forget to increase the amount when you get a pay rise) Since this took place 2 years ago, i have nothing but the upmost respect for my ex-wife for the job she has, and continues to do with my 2 boys. everything has now settled down to the point where we consider each other as best friends now! why wasn't it like that when we were married god only knows! life eh?

This arrangement only works if both parties keep to the agreement, and remember child maintainance is NOT a contact bargaining tool....

That's not aimed at anyone here, just a reminder to anyone reading, its not like a loan or credit card, you can't skip a month etc...

Good luck to the OP, keep us updated

blanchie

 

I totally agree with the above, I had loads of hassle with the csa, Got my ex to ring them and tell them we had arranged it between ourselves, I now pay via standing order each month. Loads easier and alot less hassle

[jaydee1974]

sounds very much like my case flymo1966 apart from am on the other end i believe, infact i think it is my case and am one of the ex's, well if an arragement had been put in place for monthly payments it would not have got in the plight that its in at this moment in time. And yes am owed a large sum of money.

[ADSMAN]

my son has just got an apprenticeship being 16 years old.he starts the job in2 weeks time but will still be going to college one day a week.i e mailed the csa and yesterday rang them to chase them up for an answer as to whether i still had to pay maintenance. when i rang i was told that as a result of what i told them my ex wife no longer qualified for payments.however when i got home last night i had a letter from the csa saying that i must continue paying.has anyone else had this problem?

[CSA CASHCOW]

ADVICE REQUIRED ABOUT CLOSING DOWN CSA ACCOUNT PLEASE.

 

Can any of the readership please answer a question what (I thought) should be an easy topic made typically impossisble to get a reply on from the CSA.

 

My son is 19 years old in April 2010 (in higher education) and I make my APRIL monthly payment 5 days BEFORE he is 19 years old. I want to know please if;

 

A. When the April payment is sent, do I calculate the cost of the 5 days when he is still 18 for that month based on a 30 day calendar month and send the CSA a cheque for the balance of 5 days? OR

 

B. Do the 5 days count as a requirement to pay a FULL month's payment (In MAY) by virtue of a "month or part thereof" ruling?

 

Also general advice about closing down the account with the bank etc. from anyone who has recently undertaken this exercise would be greatly appreciated. I have tried to obtain all this info from the CSA as a General Procedure question however they want my FULL details which I have refused - doubtless they would like a final "sniff" through the accounts to see if they can screw anything else out of me by way of a farewell gesture!

Thanks in anticipation of any reply(s)

G

[csahelper]

Hi there

 

CSA Cashcow..

 

The CSA liability is worked out weekly.. Find the date when your case originally started.. or the last assessment calculated - any assessments calculated on your account will all be to the same day.

 

So take your son's 19th birthday.. then go back to the day the case originally started on.. this will be the date the case closes..

EX:

Initial start of case - Wednesday

Sons 19th birthday - Friday

Go back from yours sons 19th birthday to the Wednesday - this is the date the case will close.

 

However when they are looking at the closure of the case - it may not necessarily go from the 19th birthday - if child benefit ceased to be in payment to the other parent prior to this - the case is closed from that date. Hope that makes sense.

 

As for cancelling your standing order.. cancel with the bank. If its a direct debit - contact csa immediately and get them to cancel at their end - then cancel it with your bank - they will reject the payment should csa try to claim.

 

May be worth seeing if you have arrears on the case though.. as you will still need to make payments.

 

Hope this helps..

[lisa rice]

I have read all the above comments above with interest and would like to leave all you frustrated peeps with our experiences. Firstly, I would like to say that since my ex and I divorced in 1997, I have always paid directly via bank transfer to my ex wifes bank account up to May 2008. My son was kicked out of school at 14 and for the 2 years up to his 16th birthday. basically dossed about and got into trouble. He managed to get a criminal record and was refused entry to any other local school. Due to his record, social services got him onto a course at college to basically keep him off the street. Because he did 18 hours the CSA said it was classed as full time. Fair enough. Anyway, prior to all this, I continued paying up to May 2008 until I got a call from my ex telling me he was going to college. I asked her to provide proof of this as I doubted it given the fact he could'nt keep in school. Anyway, she refused and so did the CSA telling me that I had no rights to that information as Data protection laws now kicked in due to his age. College also refused me proof. As I couldnt understand any reason why my ex would not give me the proof I needed, I stopped paying. Anyway, in August last year, I had a call from the idiots saying that they would send the baliffs in if I didnt pay. I asked them to send me a breakdown of arrears so I could see exactly where these arrears came from. Seven months later and probably £70 in calls, I finally get my breakdown! They covered periods during the time when payments where direct, citing that because I had no formal agreement in place saying these payments (£200 a month) where for maintenance, for all they knew, the money I was sending could well have been for catalogue debts I left my ex with!!!??? Anyway, it May 2010, a liability order was denied by the local magistrates court as I had contacted the Independent Case Examiner and asked them to investigate why they had taken 7 months to provide me with my breakdown. This case is still being investigated. The case in May was adjurned till today, Aug 12th. I have gone along to court with my stack of evidence, even taking a letter with me from the CSA saying I had overpaid by £1300.00 and also the letter from ICE proofing their intervention. The judges have not looked at any of the documents and have granted the liability. Even the CSA representative said prior to the hearing that he doubts liability would be granted given my papers. I have now got to wait for the idiots to write to me to tell me whether they want the £4801 in full or whether I can pay over the 2 years they have to give me to pay. I have been threatened with the balliffs if I can't pay in full and even prison. Oh, I forgot to mention also that a departure order has been granted and back dated 4 months making another £700 on top in arrears. Even though I sent in documents showing what my ex claimed was untrue, they granted the departure. This is not about assisting the NRP, regardless of the truths and facts. Can someone please help and advise what to do at this stage, after liability as been granted. I feel the only way my new family can be left alone is if I'm no longer around.

[csahelper]

Hi there

 

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. There is a lot to take in here.. but i would say as for your son being in education - get the csa to do a child benefit check.. as if this is not in payment then the case should be closed, may be worth getting them to check if your son has ever claimed benefits too.

 

As for the liability order - is there anyway this can be appealed against?

 

The debt wont be wiped off, but they may be a bit more lenient if you explain that you requested the breakdown etc and didnt get it, you want to make payments, just want to make sure they are right etc.

 

As for the payments being made direct to the other parent - they are right on this.. as bad as it is.. if the parent with care denies that the monies you paid were for child maintenance then it goes against you.. may be something you can put in your appeal - if you can appeal against the liability order (sorry im not well up on these things).

 

Anyway, on a final note, im sure your new family will stick by you no matter what and its hard to read the last line of your message. It will never be that bad, you can come to an agreement im sure.

 

Hope you are ok and sorry if this doesnt really help much.