CSA Appeals is a waste of time
March 9, 2010
Am a nsp you lives 174 miles from my son.
I live with my partner and 2 children with just me working. On top of my monthly payments i have to pay out fuel for a 796 round trip if my son is to visit as the mother is not interested in driving jhim any or part of the way this can make my overall payment up 2 £250 when as a family we are only bringing in just under £1500. I put this to the csa, not interested, so i took it to appeal the judge voted in my favour and I won with a fuel allowence! Great I thought untill the csa used there own calculation for varence order including my fuel allowance given by the judge my payments still stay the same!! so tell me whats the fucking point in the tribunal it’s worthless!!!
FUSSTARTING to say the least!
I’m a PWC and I hate the CSA
March 7, 2010
I was a single parent for 8 years with four children and did not receive a single penny from my ex-husband who was assessed every 6 months as 0 contribution under the old system. He’s self employed and declares little of his earnings to the inland revenue. He led, and still leads a lavish lifestyle with numerous holidays abroad every year.
Our two eldest children grew up and left home, despite having no financial contributions from my ex, I was able to support our children through university. I agreed for my two sons to live with their father and was pursued by the CSA as soon as they left. I payed every month, one month I was called at work to say my ex was not happy that he had not received payment, but payment was taken by the CSA directly from my wages. On another occasion I had paid too much and they sent me a cheque to my previous address!
In August 2007 one of my sons decided he wanted to live with me and I contacted the CSA who told me that I could not have his name taken off my ex-husband’s maintenance claim until I was in receipt of Child Benefit. I called them when I got the CB sorted out and they advised me to make an application – I did this online and was given a reference number, however it was never acknowledged but I know it was received because all correspondence with the CSA was previously in my old name and I made my application in my newly married name which was reflected on the next letter I had from them regarding the payments I needed to make.
It took 9 months before they finally sorted it out so that I was Read more
CSA has ‘found’ money that I owe them
March 5, 2010
I have been paying via the CSA for my son for the last thirteen years. Last year, the amount I was paying was reviewed. This was at the request of my ex. The amount increased considerably and because of the time she put in the request until the time a decision was reached there were arrears to be paid.
The sum they came up with was over £2500 Try as I might, I couldn’t get this sum to fit with the calcuations I could make based on what was paid and what was owed. I requested and received a full review of every request made by the CSA and every payment made by me. This showed that I had actually overpaid £2700 over the years. As the CSA were very insistant that I Read more
Going to court against the CSA
March 4, 2010
My child is now 18 and over the 10 years the csa have been involved arrears had accrued at the outset the difference between what i was paying and what i was eventually told to pay some £5400.
My gripes are thus Since my daughter was born i have been paying into a savings sceme that matured in January 2010 paying out £5400 during the last 7 years when statements of arrears arrived i spoke to and wrote to the Csa informing them not to worry about the arrears as the policy will pay it in one go. the cheque arrived in the name of mr & mrs sullivan ( ex wife not changed name ) the Csa said i should send the cheque to them to settle the account but my 18yr old daughter had other ideas for the cheque and wanted me to give her the cheque so her mother could bank it and give her some of the money, i reluctantly gave her the cheque thinking that finally there would be an end to all this moneygrabbing but i was wrong.
I was then told by the csa that this money would not be able to be offset against the arrears even though i had discussed it with them loads of times over the years and was never told this would happen because if i did i would have had the choice to Read more
CSA want me to pay arrears when I wasn’t working
February 27, 2010
have always worked and paid CSA payments. Unfortunately two years ago I lost my job, I received JSA for six months and the CSA deducted the Flat rate of £5 per week from my benefit.
When my benefit ceased, I called the CSA and told them, they confirmed that I didn’t need to pay anything as I no longer received an income.
Eighteen months later, I receive an Enforcement Letter for £1500 worth of arrears. They can’t really explain what these are for and they have records of the phone call I made confirming that I didn’t need to pay. Now they are Read more
CAB trying to help me against the CSA
February 26, 2010
I’ve finally found a site that isn’t orientated to the parent with care. everywhere you look its if you dont pay well take you to court. ive been threatened with my license and passport and bailiffs.
i paid no problem for years n lost my job in 2006 i went self employed for 18 month n granted didnt pay. i then got a new job and the letters started comeing in again. first of all it was i owed £1200 this was paid at £90 p/w by deo for approx 4 months. i heard nothing after that for approx another 4 months. thinking i was in credit i let it run as no contact was made with my employer then low n behold a letter lands on my doorstep saying i owed £4500. this then rocketed to £5500 they now take 40% of my wage im in the security industry how the hell are you supposed to live when youre weekly bills come to 55% of your wage ???
ive been to the CAB and theyve asked me to get together tax reports etc for the last few years which ive done and another appointment is booked in 3 weeks. any savings ive had are gone. the CAB said theyll put together a letter does anyone know who this is to ????
the CSA have properly fucked me up………….
ian.
My father has never seen his granddaughter – CSA do not care
February 25, 2010
the csa have been taking money direct from my wages for a few years now and the arrears are paid off.
so that one less thing to worry about.. at the start of all this several years ago the csa got in touch and asked if i was my daughters father. i told them i hope so. they sent me forms to sign and i had to send loads of crap to them so they could work out what i owe and should pay…
now this is where i kick off.. i asked the csa about 2 weeks in to the agreement if they could help me or assist me in getting my name on the birth certicate and access to my daughter. they said we dont deal with that we just take money and pass it to the mother.. so i seeked a solicitor for advice and stuff.. she explained that she can sort this but will cost £150 for a letter to be Read more
CSA cost me my home
February 23, 2010
I am currently having 40% of my eranings being taken by the CSA.
I had an agreement with my exhusband when we split, and due to the fact I was in a wellpaid job and he would not have been able to pay me maintenace along with the agreement he had with his ex wife, he stayed with the childern and i worked and supported them. No money changed hands between us as was the agreement so that the social benefit he had didnt get disrupted. Obviously due to the fact he claimed benefit we were contacted, stating on the phone and in writing our agreement the case wasnt continued. April 09, after i had been employed by a government body I was send a letter claiming i had arrears of over 6000.00 I contacted them and they said the case was never closed.
I tried to agree a payment after they had spoken to my ex husband and made a deduction of half of what i owed, making it clear to them i thought this was wrong i had to pay back the secretary of state this money. It has finally ended up i don’t have a leg to stand on and i need to try and see if they are prepareds to agree me paying a lesser amount as they can claim arrears back over 2 years while i still fight my case.
I intend to take this matter to anyone who will listen to me, with the intention f getting back the money they have dedcuted, this has cost me my home and very clearly so far the only way i can see out of this is to leave my job.
So if they havent contacted you – be warned they will
CSA complaints letters have received no answer
February 20, 2010
Heres some letters ive sent to the Complaints Resolution Team yet never received answers.
2nd May 2009
Dear Janis Crook
I am writing to you because I am extremely unhappy with how my complaints and issues are being dealt with. Due to all the problems I will list myself and my family have come under large amounts of emotional stress and I would like these problems dealt with as soon as possible.
The issues I have at the moment are:
- I have several times requested an interview to be arranged so I can discuss my problems face to face with someone. And my response has always been ‘This is not possible’
- I have requested to have a DNA test done because after further investigation I feel there is a possibility I may not be the father of the child. But ive been told ‘Because I have already paid child maintenance this is not possible’.
Also the mother of the child has told me via email the child will not accept to have a DNA test done.
- The amount of maintenance I am being expected to pay is extremely excessive.
You have stated between 2/11/2003 and 1/12/2004 I was expected to pay £299.09 a month when my weekly pay after tax was only £230.09
You have stated that this is the formula under the old scheme which equates to less than 30% when under the new formula now it is only 15%. This is a massive difference and I would like to know why? - At the time I was assessed to pay £299.09 I spoke to someone at the CSA and told them honestly I had 2 options. Either pay my mortgage or pay the CSA only to be told ‘It’s not our problem’.
- On numerous occasions my assessments have been backdated and due to this I have accrued sometimes large amounts of arrears and have then been told ‘We need the money within 7 days’. Even when I have given all the information needed by the CSA within the time they ask I still get punished by everything being backdated. It’s not physically possible for me to have these funds paid to you within 7 days.
- Several times I asked for a complete breakdown of my payments and assessment only to be ignored until I had written to my Member of Parliament. It should never have got to this point and upon ready it the amount of times I was either under or overcharged is unacceptable.
- The mother of the child has been in contact with me via email stating her current partner wants to adopt the child and that I will no longer have to pay child maintenance. I would like to know if you are taking into account that he is obviously providing towards the upkeep of the child when you assess how much I should pay?
Yours sincerely
Reece Sanford
10th November 2009
Dear Janis Crook
I wrote to you on the 2nd May 2009 regarding many issues I have been having with the Child Support Agency which I am sending you another copy of.
I either spoke to you or Pauline McNeice on the 18th May 2009 and I was happy because I thought my complaints were being dealt with, however I still in the dark about nearly every issue I wrote to you about.
I received a letter from Pauline McNeice saying she tried to contact me on the 17th July 2009 to discuss the current position of my case but at the time I was unable to answer my phone.
As I requested a face to face interview in my original letter she states in the letter she sent ‘A face to face interview has been requested and my local office will contact me directly’, which they have not.
I also requested a DNA test and she sent me a list of approved laboratories. However I am not sure whether I have to contact these myself and what I say to them, also due to the mother of the child emailing me and refusing a DNA test I am unaware of where I stand with this. I will also send the emails I received from the mother.
Today 10th November 2009 my employer spoke to me saying he received a fax from Mel Crompton of the Child Support Agency ordering a Deduction from Earnings. They want to take £113.09 a week from my wages until 18th November 2011 and also say that ‘The protected earnings proportion is £190.58 a week’.
I currently take home after deductions £270 a week so I cannot see how they can come to this figure, bearing in mind when looking at the Child Maintenance Calculator it states for 1 child the figure is 15% which is nowhere near £113.09 a week.
I also today received a letter dated 9th November 2009 saying a change has been made and they have worked out that £95.28 a week should be paid from 19th January 2009, which completely goes against the fax my employer received. Now I am unaware which figure is correct.
There is a breakdown in figures on this letter but it is the most confusing thing I have seen. Even when showing it to a friend who works in accounts it does not make sense.
For instance it gives figures for carers allowance and a premium which I have no idea what they are.
It also mentions my exempt income for my personal allowance at £60.50 a week but nothing else. No housing costs or travel to work costs have been taken into account bearing in mind I have to drive 50 miles back and forth to work every day and have to pay rent to live in a house.
Plus taking into account I am also at the moment paying arrears at £200 a month.
The only time I have been contacted by the Child Support Agency was on the 16th April 2009 to say they have been told my circumstances have changed and they need to see if everything is accurate. Then again on the 26th October saying the same thing.
Yet it has taken until now before they have come to a figure which to me still doesn’t seem fair.
Also on one of the letters I read that the surname of the mother has changed so I am presuming her husband is now taking care of the child. If so has the planned adoption gone ahead and if he is working has his wage been taken into consideration?
One other issue is I am receiving letters from the Child Support Agency with several different phone numbers and addresses and I am unsure who to reply to. Some are letters that have Crewe as an address, others Newcastle Upon Tyne and others Stockport.
Again I hope my issues are dealt with promptly because this is still continuing to drag on and I am suffering more and more getting into financial and health problems.
Yours sincerely
Reece Sanford
13th November 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
Yesterday 12th November 2009 I spoke to someone at the Stockport branch of the CSA. I was repeatedly told she had no answers to my questions and the person I needed to speak to was not there. She then told me the reason I had not been contacted was because there was a digit missing from my phone number. The problem being it didn’t stop the CSA calling me in May and July 2009. The CSA also have my address and know where I work yet I still wasn’t contacted.
I received a letter dated 17th July 2009 from Pauline McNeice (Complaint Resolution Officer) to say ‘A face to face interview has been requested and your local office will contact you directly’ and ‘Your case has been allocated to a case worker James Leebetter’. However since 17th July 2009 I have had no contact whatsoever from James Leebetter or my local office to confirm a face to face interview.
I have also today 13th November 2009 spoken to somebody that tried to explain how my maintenance was worked out and that according to her there will be no change in how much I pay. Yet my housing costs and travel to work costs have not been taken into account. I also cannot understand how you can tell me you need maintenance of £109.84 a week to look after a child, yet my personal allowances a week are only £60.50.
I was also told today that ‘One to one interviews are only accepted in certain cases and you prefer to sort things out by telephone’. I feel I have so many issues regarding my case that a one to one interview is a must. I could not even understand most of the telephone conversation today when I was bombarded with figures, constantly interrupted when I was talking, and then told ‘Are you sure you understand because it can be very difficult to understand everything’, which I find very rude.
I have a long list of complaints and issues and I would like answers to my questions:
- Mrs Norman must now be married as her surname has changed recently. Is her new partners income being taken into consideration?
- Mrs Norman has informed me several times she will tell the CSA to stop taking money from me but I still need to pay the arrears.
- Mrs Norman has told me via email her partner wants to adopt the child and she has been to a solicitor to arrange this.
- I’ve emailed Mrs Norman telling her the child is not mine and I want a DNA test. She has refused a DNA test which I believe tells me the child is not mine and she cannot refuse a DNA test.
- You have told me a DNA test is not possible because I have already admitted the child is mine by paying maintenance yet your website says.
The person named as the parent of a child may deny they are the parent either
Before we work out child maintenance and After we work out child maintenance - Why is there such a huge difference between the old system and the new system?
You have refused to put me on the new system where I would be paying 15% of my income yet on the old system I am paying 30% of my income. - Why can I not be put on the new system?
- You sent me a letter dated 26th October 2009 stating you needed information about my housing costs ie mortgage/rent and council tax. You give me 1 week too reply and also do not take into consideration there was a postal strike and I didn’t receive your letter until 2 days before you were due to receive an answer. I sent the information you asked for yet on the 9th November I receive another letter which completely ignores my housing costs and doesn’t not include travel to work costs either. Bearing in mind I drive 50miles a day back and forth to work.
- Also on the telephone conversation of 12th November 2009 I asked why there was a Premium charge of £16.75 I was expected to pay every week. The answer I received was ‘I’m sorry I do not know. I also asked about the Carers Allowance of £60.50 and received the same ‘I’m sorry I do not know’ answer.
- I cannot understand how you can tell me you need maintenance of £109.84 a week to look after a child, yet my personal allowances a week are only £60.50.
- I have been sending you all the information you have asked for including my employer telling you about my income yet it still takes 10 months for you to tell me how much maintenance I have to pay. Then you backdate everything those 10 months which means I accrue even more arrears.
- My employer sent you information about my income yet after looking at this I realise she has completely given you the wrong information. Plus due to the recession my hours at work have now been cut so I am earning less money.
- It says in my assessment ‘The other parent is receiving a type of benefit or income which we cannot use in the assessment’
Why is this? Because as far as I’m aware the other parent is in employment and earning money that should be taken into consideration. - Of my telephone conversation on 12th November 2009 I was told you could not contact me because there was a digit missing from my telephone number. However I received 2 telephone calls in May and July 2009 (One from Pauline McNeice, The Complaint Resolution Officer on 18th May 2009. Plus you also know where I live and work yet still I receive contact.Why?
- Why has my case worker James Leebetter not been in contact with me via telephone or letter? I was told on the 17th July 2009 he would be in contact shortly.
- With all these issues why am I still being denied a one to one interview?
Bearing in mind I cannot understand most of the time who I am speaking to and its not possible for me to explain all these issues or get the answers via telephone.
With this letter I will also show you the email I received from Mrs Norman or Miss Ward as she was know then to show you she has told me her partner wants to adopt the child, she has also refused a DNA test and its possible for her to stop all payments for the child.
Yours sincerely
Reece Sanford
———————-
Also while speaking to the CSA on the phone they said i am actually on the New System but part of my case is still on the Old System so my case will still be calculated on the Old System. And it could take between 2012 and 2015 until all cases are moved to the New System.
Ive never received any answers to any of the questions i raised to the CSA.
Then i thought to myself “Now they know i am not the father they will just disregard all my issues”.
Well guess what i receive a letter today dated 12th February 2010 and it pretty much summed that up.
Some extracts from this letter said:
In this call of 3 December 2009 you advised you were going through a DNA test and that the results were not back yet, we agreed we would wait for the results to come back before your complaint was investigated further as this may change the whole complaint issues depending on the result.
That just goes to show that the CSA will now completely forget my complaint because now its not an issue as i am not the father.
I will post the letter in full when i manage to scan it.
Fourth Complaint Letter to the CSA – Resolution Team
February 18, 2010
Here is my most recent letter to the CSA, complaing about their lack of action:
Donna Holland
Resolution Team 2
Child Support Agency
PO Box 442
Crewe
CW98 1AD
Dear Miss Holland
Further to my 3 previous letters of complaint, dated, 20th September 2009, 27th October 2009, and 7th December 2009, I am incensed that I must again write to you again, raising further complaints. I believe the time has now come for this to be taken up with a Senior Complaints Manager and an Independent Tribunal as a matter of urgency. This is of no disrespect to yourself and I want to make it known, that I have no direct complaint with you, other than the fact that the issues have taken far too long to resolve.
You will recall that on 6th February 2010, I telephoned you to advise you that I had been dismissed at work and made unemployed. You will also recall, that I asked you for a breakdown for monies outstanding on the arrears, as owed to the Liability Orders obtained against me in mid 2009. Your advice, was that I contacted Clare Weale in Enforcement at Hastings, as she was the one dealing with arrears etc. Following this, you will also remember, that I have made it clear in previous correspondence to both you and Read more
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