In 2006 I seperated from my wife. I immediately contacted the CSA and informed them of the fact as I already had an account with them. The CSA did nothing about re looking at my account.
The divorce process started and despite numerous letters being sent to the CSA they did not deal with the changes until i wrote to them informing them that a divorce court judge had said they were of no use at all. By now 18 months had passed. I was re assessed by the CSA and a new amount was set. but they said that i now owed them £3000 in arrears. This i appealed as it was not my fault. I went all the way to a tribunal hearing which resulted in it being thrown out as the CSA had not responded to requestes for information.
As part of my divorce settelment, my ex stated that she would not persue any maintainance from me until the former married home was sold on the provision i paid 50% of the mortgage. This was confirmed in writng by the csa. In nov 2009 the house was sold and i changed the payments to my ex to the amount quoted by the csa.
Today i received a letter from csa stating i owe £10k. for non payment of the arrears and not paying my ex. they also inform me that the letter re 50% of the mortgage may not be enforceable as i may have had a financial interest in the house ( i dont live there). i obviously dispute this.
following the letter, I contacted my MP and informed him of this, He in turn wrote to Stephen Geraty (my complaint was forwarded to Falkirk to deal). I had heard nothing from the CSA regarding my complaint, however my MP cc's me into the letter he sent to Stephen Geraty.
Having heard nothing, i decided to ring the CSA on 4th October to find out what was going on. It was there that i was informed that Falkirk now had my case. on 5th October i received a phone call from falkirk informing me that they were now dealing with my case and complaint. I asked why I had not received anything in writing as requested, He replied " we dont acknowledge letters" i replied but i have written 9 previous letters of which three were recorded and you have not repsonded at all, he replied " we dont answer letters". I said I wish to corrspond with you in writing only as i want an audit trail, because basiclly i dont trust the CSA" he replied " if you wont speak to us on the phone, we will just re-assess you and deduct it from your wages" i said "please put that in writing", I got a deadly silence. I then refered to the letter in 2007 in which my ex agreed to not persue me for maintainence if i paid 50% of the mortgage, he replied " yes, we should not have sent that letter, you ex didnt understand what had been agreed" i replied but you sent it and subsequently did nothing about it" he replied " I KNOW WHAT YOUR AFTER, AND THAT IS THE THE MONEY TO BE STRUCK OFF, WELL THAT WONT BE HAPPENING, YES ITS OUR FAULT BUT WE WONT WRITE IT OFF" I then asked, why did you take 18 months and a scathing letter with a quotefrom a judge staing " the CSA are not fit for purpose" to action my assessment in the first place, he replied "the jusdge is entitled to his opinion" I then asked "is thes complaint is going to take another 18 months to complete, he replied "no , 4 weeks." I wait with bated breath. Where in another organisation would you be penalised for anothers errors.
I wish i had some idea as to how i can win this case.