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CSA ignored my phone call, now I owe them money!

July 26, 2012

My youngest daughter left college in July 2011 so I phoned the Child Support Agency and all the other benefit agencies that I was getting money from to tell them of this change. I did not hear anything more from them until May this year. They phoned me up and said that my case was still open and that I may owe them money. I then explained to them that the case was closed and that I was no longer claiming maintenance for my daughter as she had left college and I had phoned them to advise them of this.

Anyway they never contacted me again until a few weeks ago. They said that I had been ignoring their phone calls and all their letters. I have not received any letters or phone calls from them but they would not let me talk they kept talking over me saying I was in the wrong. Then they said I owed them £960.00 as this was an overpayment since September last year up until February this year. I said I am sure they are mistaking but will check my bank statements and again I explained to them that I had spoken to someone in July informing them of the change.

They said they would give me up until the following Tuesday and they would ring me back so I can make payment. I explained to them that I was not currently working as I have been on sick pay and they wanted to know how much money I was getting and how much I could pay back. I said I was not sure as I had only been on sick pay for a couple of weeks.

Anyway they phoned me back on the Tuesday and I had checked my bank statements which there was money coming in which I did not even notice as I thought that the maintenance had stopped.

They were very rude on the phone to me and said I need to set up a direct debit with them to pay back this money. I agreed to pay back £10 a month as I cannot afford any more and they were not happy with this and said that they would look into it again when my circumstances has changed. Then Friday I get a letter from them saying I owe them £1 060. A completely different amount from the last conversation I had with their company.

I’m not sure what to do now. I have had to use the CSA since 2007 when I left my husband and have had endless trouble with the CSA. They don’t always record on their computers that they have had a conversation with me. The one time they said their computers were down and that they would record it at a later time. This shows how unprofessional they are. When I phoned and gave them my changes in July 2011 the same thing must have happened. The person obviously did not record the conversation and now I am left with this huge bill which I cannot pay.

Something needs to be done about this as I am not the only one being treated so unfairly.

Written by Kim Plough · Filed Under CSA Complaints 

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Comments

  • brett says:
    July 26, 2012 at 10:38 am

    1.Contact the CSA and ask for copies of the letters they claim to have sent you, which you haven’t received.
    2. If no joy with the above request your Data Protection file. This costs £10 but will show all the correspondence received from them and sent by you along with details of telephone conversations.
    3. If you deal with the CSA on the phone, although I strongly advise you only deal by recorded delivery letter, always note the name of the CSA caseworker you speak to.
    4. Write a letter of complaint to the CSA complaints section, explaining the situation
    and how much you can afford to pay back each month.
    5. See your MP explaining the situation.

  • rach says:
    July 26, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    yes they do treat you unfairly when you owe THEM money they dont care how much you will struggle they will want 40% of your income until this debt is paid off. NRPs are treated this way on a daily basis ithought they normally treated pwcs better but obviously not

  • Carol says:
    July 27, 2012 at 10:00 am

    Agree with Brett but the CSA probably will not give you copies of the documentation and you will need to get a copy of your file. It is only £10 and you will probably find ntoes of your original call telling them you were no longer entitled. If you do lodge a formal letter of complaint and go through your MP aswell.

    Rach it is so true they treat people like dirt and are only ever interested in money, never mind people’s lives.

    There are so many pwc now getting big demands for payments also and I really think this should be highlighted a bit more that there is the potential that if you take money having the CSA involved it does not necessarily mean you are entitled to it and may have to repay.

    And to think soon enough people are to pay for this pleasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • jay says:
    July 27, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    Do you have contact with your ex?, see if he has any contact with the csa over this. If you have received payments can you not sort this out with your ex?

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