CSA debt and threatening court action when payment is already in place

[seanamarts]

Sorry for the long title, and apologies if in the wrong place,

Just a couple of questions that I hope some one can answer for me.

 

1. My daughters partner is paying his CSA plus back payments, not his fault CSA cocked up, which I know is not unusual, he may be made redundant and he has informed the CSA of this in the hope that they will reduce his payments, at the moment he is paying over £400 a month earning roughly £1000 a month, that is not take home. £200 of the £400 he is paying is coming off of the debt, now because he has told the CSA that he may be made redundant they have told him they are now going to take him to court to have an order placed on him so that the bailiff can get involved to clear his debt if he is made redundant. So basically if he gets laid off the bailiffs will automatically go in and seize goods to the amount outstanding. Now can CSA do this when he has never defaulted on any payments (as they come out of his wages any way). It just seems to me that they are going to try this anyway whether he is made redundant or not as they keep asking for him to pay more and this is an impossibility he wont be able to eat at this rate after paying rent, rates and utility bills, he even sold his car to pay off a chunk of the debt, not to mention not being able to afford to run one now, he dosnt smoke or drink and has to have dinner at his parents or at my daughters as he just simply cannot afford to buy food. How can the CSA be able to do this, its just wrong on so many levels, and CAN they do it??

 

2. My son has had an agreement with his ex partner to pay her X an amount each week which has been ok up until my son had been signed off of work in that latter part of last year due to a serious illness which has left him crippled and may never work again,

This has prevented him in being able to pay the amounts that he had agreed because he now has to sign on and is in receipt of benefits High rate DLA included in that. The CSA have now decided that he can no longer have a private arrangement with his ex even though he has tried to give her something each week when he can afford to do so, he is currently living with a partner and has two children with her and see's his eldest every 2 weeks for a weekend. They now take £10 a fortnight from him and his ex dosnt see a penny of this, can this be right?? she has lost out because the CSA have decided to step in even when not asked to buy either party.

hope some one can help me out on this one

Thanks

[shafted]

Hi have written to your MP about this mess? they sometimes help in cases like this,

The csa do what they like they prey on people in there net and make there life a misery, and i,m sorry to say yes they can make you bankrupt they have more powers than inland revenue, vat civil servants, its a disgrace, thats why i say you should write to your MP as its them who give them these obsurb rules.

 

Good luck.

[seanamarts]

Hi have written to your MP about this mess? they sometimes help in cases like this,

The csa do what they like they prey on people in there net and make there life a misery, and i,m sorry to say yes they can make you bankrupt they have more powers than inland revenue, vat civil servants, its a disgrace, thats why i say you should write to your MP as its them who give them these obsurb rules.

 

Good luck.

Thanks shafted that certainly was not an option I thought about,

[csahelper]

Hi Seanamarts!

 

1. First point - the employer can not deduct more than 40% of your daughters partners net income - you have 60% protected income - so if this has been breached then this is breaking the law and he should speak with his employer about the amount they are deducting.

With regards to being made redundant - the csa can only act when the change actually happens or if you can confirm a date when it will happen.. you need to tell them as soon as you know this - they can then start to recalculate.

With regards to the liabilty order/bailiff action - this is very unlikely as payments are being made, they have to follow legal procedures first - like issue warning letters for missing payments, if these payments have been made then they cant pursue.. they have to understand that there is only so much you can physically pay. However - if an agreement is in place to repay arrears - and this arrangement is not going to clear the arrears in 2years - legal action can be applied.. so it does depend on the amount of arrears. If he is soon to be made redundant - arrears will be suspended until he has another source of income - and then once this new income starts - the procedure will start again.. hope this makes sense!

 

2. Sorry to hear this about your son. With claiming DLA - an assessment cannot be made on this income - if your son has no other income this will be a nil assessment. If he claims another benefit - this will be £5 per week liability.. if he can prove he has shared care - the assessment will be reduced to nil per week.

The next part is a bit unclear.. you say they were maintenance direct - so the CSA calculated how much your son should pay? Then he just pays her directly?

If this is the case - it may be that the csa have recalculated how much needs to be paid - and not realised the case is maintenance direct -if this is the case - contact them and get them to confirm this with the other parent - once this is proven, he can get his monies refunded to him.

However, if the other parent has decided that she wants the csa to start to collect the money - they can just approach your son for this.. The CSA have to have been instructed by someone first.. I would need more specifics on that to help you there..

 

Hope the above helps..!

[seanamarts]

yes it certainly does, thanks so much for this

[csahelper]

Not a problem, should you need anything else, let me know! And hope you all get everything sorted.

[f0xy]

Hi Seanamarts!

 

1. First point - the employer can not deduct more than 40% of your daughters partners net income - you have 60% protected income - so if this has been breached then this is breaking the law and he should speak with his employer about the amount they are deducting.

With regards to being made redundant - the csa can only act when the change actually happens or if you can confirm a date when it will happen.. you need to tell them as soon as you know this - they can then start to recalculate.

With regards to the liabilty order/bailiff action - this is very unlikely as payments are being made, they have to follow legal procedures first - like issue warning letters for missing payments, if these payments have been made then they cant pursue.. they have to understand that there is only so much you can physically pay. However - if an agreement is in place to repay arrears - and this arrangement is not going to clear the arrears in 2years - legal action can be applied.. so it does depend on the amount of arrears. If he is soon to be made redundant - arrears will be suspended until he has another source of income - and then once this new income starts - the procedure will start again.. hope this makes sense!

 

2. Sorry to hear this about your son. With claiming DLA - an assessment cannot be made on this income - if your son has no other income this will be a nil assessment. If he claims another benefit - this will be £5 per week liability.. if he can prove he has shared care - the assessment will be reduced to nil per week.

The next part is a bit unclear.. you say they were maintenance direct - so the CSA calculated how much your son should pay? Then he just pays her directly?

If this is the case - it may be that the csa have recalculated how much needs to be paid - and not realised the case is maintenance direct -if this is the case - contact them and get them to confirm this with the other parent - once this is proven, he can get his monies refunded to him.

However, if the other parent has decided that she wants the csa to start to collect the money - they can just approach your son for this.. The CSA have to have been instructed by someone first.. I would need more specifics on that to help you there..

 

Hope the above helps..!

 

 

1. I agree with this, as said above CSA can only act at the time of change, so as soon as you are made redundant, inform the CSA via telephone/letter and always keep backups, as these are used as evidence, also if you think too much is being deducted out of your wages is it upto ur employee's only to deduct a maximum of 40% of net income. the payment schedule sent to your employer would be based on ur average net income at the time the child maintenance assessment was calculated, so if you think you have had a reduction in your salary, make sure you call the csa and send a letter aswell to ask for a new assessment to be made, and to speed the process up send 3/4 wage slips in with ur letter, this would enable a new assessment to be made.

 

 

2. Also i agree with the above, more info would be needed, when Parent with cares ring the agency for an assessment to be calculated, i know in my knowledge this has been misunderstood in the past, and a payment schedule has been automatically completed and sent out to the Non resident parent.

 

What I would say as a final note, if any of these blokes have a change in income details always always inform the CSA, because this would trigger in most cases a new assessment to be calculated.

 

Method of collection from a non resident parent would be as follows

 

Direct Debit/ Standing Order (This depends on the type of case, i know its only Standing order for clerical cases)

 

Voluntary Deduction from earnings order

 

Then if any of these are missed or not adhered to then a compulsory DEO would be put in place.

 

If this fails, debt/arrears can be sent to the enforcement team to gain a liability order.

[seanamarts]

Thanks for that f0xy, one thing though, they are threatening to take him to court and said the bailiffs will be sent in as he is not paying off his arrears quick enough, he has never faulted on a payment, now what I need to know is can they do this.

 

Also on the other end of the stick, my daughter cannot get help from the CSA despite the fact that she is on income support, the babies father just seem to have disappeared off the face of the world, he dosnt seem to be working or signing on, my daughter has given the CSA his NI number, countless addresses where he could be, his old work place, which she feels he is still working at, his phone number which is still in use, but the CSA still cannot contact him.. what can she do as the CSA seem to have thrown in the towel and no one seems to want to help her.

[csahelper]

Hi Seanamarts

 

F0xy well said!! What I would say with the bailiffs is that at some point arrears have built up on the case and this is usually from the beginning when the case is being set up. The arrears on the case have to clear within 2 years.. so if he can't pay the arrears off in those two years.. they will look to send it to enforcement for bailiff action.. eg..

 

£10k arrears

In 2 years he will pay £6k towards the arrears

The remaining £4k will be sent to enforcement for the bailiffs to collect or obtain a liability order.

 

If he is compliant with them though they may be willing to take the arrears over a longer period - he needs to make it clear that he is wanting to pay before it gets to this stage - but should they extend the length of time he has to clear them - as soon as a payment is missed they will not give him any more chances.. it takes a lot for the case to be sent to bailiffs in the first place - and it isnt usually a preferred method.. takes longer for them and its pretty complex stuff etc.

 

As for your daughter, aslong as the csa have been given all the information - your daughter has done her bit to be honest. There are lots of avenues for the csa then. They do advise 12-20weeks for completing work like this but if they are struggling to find him it can take longer. But no doubt when someone actually picks up her case and realises that they have everything there - im sure it will get moving. As long as the case is set up - at least the arrears are building on her case - and now she will be entitled to all of her child support money even though she is on income support - this will be good for her when the payments do start coming in.. Keep ringing them maybe and chase them to get the work done..

 

Hope this helps!

[seanamarts]

What I would say with the bailiffs is that at some point arrears have built up on the case and this is usually from the beginning when the case is being set up. The arrears on the case have to clear within 2 years.. so if he can't pay the arrears off in those two years.. they will look to send it to enforcement for bailiff action.. eg..

This is his ex's fault and a cock up with the CSA. He was paying her direct, with a sum she was happy with, she decided to disappear, where not only could he not see his daughter but was unable to pay her any child support, he contacted CSA and told them but they wouldnt do anything until she contacted them 3 years down the line, he did put some money away but not enough to pay the whole amount of the arrears off, because they wanted more than what he had agreed to pay her in the first place. Fair??

After 3 years he still owes £2000.00 or there abouts. Has sold his car, lives on very little as it is but they still want more or they are going to send in the bailiffs. We have that covered though Now he is paying the right amount which is 40% of his wages plus a bit, and because the CSA wont pull their finger out of their backsides to help my daughter he is also helping support my daughter with my grandchild, he dosnt see his daughter because the selfish ex wont allow it. Fair? no not at all. He has been more than compliant with the CSA but they just seem to think they can get blood from a stone. He has never missed any payments. They have already sent a court letter stating they are going to take him to court if he does not pay more than he already is.

As for your daughter, aslong as the csa have been given all the information - your daughter has done her bit to be honest. There are lots of avenues for the csa then. They do advise 12-20weeks for completing work like this but if they are struggling to find him it can take longer. But no doubt when someone actually picks up her case and realises that they have everything there - im sure it will get moving. As long as the case is set up - at least the arrears are building on her case - and now she will be entitled to all of her child support money even though she is on income support - this will be good for her when the payments do start coming in.. Keep ringing them maybe and chase them to get the work done..

It has been over a year, in fact almost two years since my daughter first gave CSA the details, she phones them once a fortnight to try and get something done, but like I said the CSA just seems to have thrown in the towel. It just makes me so angry that on one hand theres someone who is paying more than enough to support his daughter but the CSA just want more, then on the other hand the CSA just dont seem to want to chase the people who really are not willing to pay. Can understand why I am so cross about this because its also coming out of my pocket, when my daughter cannot afford to pay bills and food etc because she isnt getting the support from the childs father. sorry to sound out at you but its getting a tad ridiculous now with CSA