CSA advice forum

CSA advice forum » Child Support Agency

1. theshoelady
   Member
   
   

   Back in May 2009 I rang csa following a missed payment. Was informed that he now had a nil assessment so left it at that knowing he will have fiddled his self-employment pay to look like he earns peanuts. After 2 years I googled him and discovered he was a director on 3 companies, went on hols to Australia for weeks at a time and lived in a huge house set in its own woodland! Rang the csa in February 2011 only to then be informed that he'd NEVER had a nil assessment and I had been wrongly informed and he should have been paying his £17.50 a week all along but no-one had bothered to chase him. In June I was given a 12 week timescale so rang back after that to be told "sorry miss brett but nothing seems to have been done". I was given another 12 week timescale which ran out in December. Rang them this morning and guess what? Yet again nothing has been done! They should have chased him for arrears, done a new assessment and been able to give me a timetable of payments but they've not even picked up my file! I've informed them that I've had enough and that I'm going to see a solicitor, Panorama and my MP. Am I the only one suffering or can we get a group together to cause them a headache?

   Posted 4 months ago #

2. Kentboy
   Member
   
   

   Don't waste money on a solicitor, call in and say you want to speak to a manager and insist on. Then write in a formal complaint letter. It'll be sorted in no time.

   Posted 4 months ago #

3. Big Gaz
   Member
   
   

   You can use the link below to make a complaint.

   http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ChildMaintenance/IfyourealreadyusingtheChildSupportAgency/DG_199058

   Also, ask for a variation form. As a company director he may be paid dividends which aren't normally taken into account.

   Posted 4 months ago #

4. Steve
   Member
   
   

   Hi, My name is Steve.

   My partner has 2 children, and we have a situation very simalar to yours. The "Father" is a total parasite in society, and he uses the Kids to successfuly manipulate the mother.
   He is self employed and a director of a company. He has fiddled his salary to the CSA, they have it on file he earns 14.5K net !
   I have tried, on my partners behalf all sorts, solicitor, MP lettters,phone calls etc... but no-one at the CSA will listen to me. All I get is "prove it"
   The Irony is, I used to work with this idiot before he left, and I actually saw the contract of his new job inc renumeration with my own eyes! Hence Thats how I know he lying.
   You mention, setting up a group to somehow try and get this shambles of the CSA sorted out, I would be very interested in helping out with this.
   By the Way, any men/women reading this and are being shafted by the CSA and overpaying, I have every sympathy with you, and this also should be addressed in the same way

   Best Wishes

   Steve

   Posted 1 month ago #

5. woody
   Member
   
   

   Hi stevo150, I would be happy to join this group as long as we can address the the overpaying situation and also how the csa only seem to target parents who are already paying, and also that everyone who has a case with csa should have the right to be on the new assessment criteria and not banished to remaining on the older and extremely unfair assessment system.
   Regards woody

   Posted 1 month ago #

6. Steve
   Member
   
   

   Hi Woody,

   I presume you are someone who is on the other side of this Shambles called the CSA. I have every sympathy with you, and your case is just as wrong as ours.
   Im really pulling my teeth out with this, I have found out since my last post he is now driving a Range Rover Discovery (£40k + I believe!)
   There must be a way to sort this complete "Joke" of an establishment. In your case, prove that your not earning what they claim, and therfore you are paying too much, and in our case, getting £26 per week for 2 children, which wont even cover the school lunch!
   I must admit Im really struggling with this, and am short of ideas. Im more than happy to listen to how we could get the ball rolling with this....

   Cheers
   Steve

   Posted 1 month ago #

7. coldem
   Member
   
   

   Nothing surprises me with this Agency regardless of whether you are a NRP or PWC. Like someone else mentioned try for a variation due to lifestyle being inconsistent with earnings.

   Things like cars when it comes to limited companies and directors although the NRP uses the car it is not their asset but an asset of the company.

   I have been on both sides of the Agency as a pwc for 11 years who never received a single penny maintenance to being engaged to a NRP who is paying heavily for CSA mistakes by them keeping assessments in place while he was unemployed etc. We have our MP involved to help and have a meeting soon with a Senior Executive Official which hopefully will make him listen but I doubt it knowing this Agency. I would be interested to know more about joining a group.

   I do not understand how this Agency can still work!

   Posted 1 month ago #

8. woody
   Member
   
   

   Hi, thankyou steve, in my opinion this is the problem, the csa have been given more powers to chase absent parents who refuse to pay or fiddle things so that they pay next to nothing. The csa i would assume have targets to hit, to justify their existance, so here is what i think is happening, they target those who already pay and who it is easy to get money out of, they make attempts to chase up the difficult cases, but nothing like the way they do to the easy targets. They have to prove through audits to be hitting these targets of getting more money from absent parents, it doesnt matter if the parent is already paying a fair amount or not. If they can get more money they will. It doesnt really matter if the difficult cases are not paying because the csa are hitting the targets through targetting the easy targets. All they are interested in is hitting those monthly government imposed targets.
   I think if a group is set up we all need to contact our mps, tell them our horror stories, and that we suspect that the csa is target driven and because of this concentrate on the cases that will enable them to meet their monthy targets. We really need alot of people doing this until the mps realise that something has to be done to make the csa fair for all.
   I know this will piss some people off but the csa really do employ some vile and spiteful individuals, they have no consciences for the devastation they cause to both nrp and pwr. As a human being who cares about ather people, and hates to see suffering at any level, i would never ever be able to do this job, i would not be able to live with myself for contributing to so much missery.
   I really hope there is such a thing as karma.

   This is not aimed at you adviceguy.

   Woody

   Posted 1 month ago #

9. woody
   Member
   
   

   What needs to happen is the csa need to be regulated by an independent body, those employees of the csa who are proved to be liars, cruel, vicious or just plain incompetent need to be found and sacked. If we behaved the way some of them do in our jobs we would undoubtedly be sacked.
   Rant over.
   Woody

   Posted 1 month ago #

10. Adviceguy
    Member
    
    

    no offence taken woody.

    Posted 1 month ago #

11. Steve
    Member
    
    

    Good Morning people,

    Thankyou for the posts in reply. I agree with everything you say, and this must be worth persuing, as we know we are not on our own.
    Firstly, I was wondering if you guys had any experience with these people?. http://www.nacsa.co.uk/ I stumbled accross the site the other day....
    I have spoken to my MP already on this, and he has written to them for us, we where basically fobbed off.
    What I dont understand is, why dosnt the agancy operate like, say the, the child tax office? I mean simply, DO SOME CHECKS!! A lot of these cases would surly be avoided if this was the case. I think thats where the point of the agency being run by an indvidual body, really comes into its own.
    Basically, we are being shafted from both sides, because what they have been told is not correct, and therefore incorrect figures are calculated, too high or too low.
    Certainly in our case, simple cross checks on his income, ie. check his self assessment form, would correct things fairly quickly. He was asked originally to provide 3 months wage slips, not the past 3 months, 3 months advanced! Talk about time to prepare! In that time, we got nothing,then this.
    I will write to my MP again, as we all should as woody suggests, and then come back and let you know how I get on.
    My email address is : satkinson150@gmail.com.
    Keep in touch, lets try and get as many people together as possible and put some pressure on to sort this shambles.

    Best Wishes
    Steve

    Posted 1 month ago #

12. jotta2304
    Member
    
    

    I have been chasing my ex through CSA for maintenance for 15 years. They have in that time cancelled one of the kids on my claim following a "phone call" from someone who said they were me, dismissed arrears owed for my 20 yr old daughter and allowed him to job hop (as he is self-employed). Every time they track him down, he switches employer. They now have him on a possible court hearing for non payment of arrears, which have been reduced to just £9k for the past few years only. He has this week telephoned the CSA and told them that there has been a change in circumstances which I have failed to tell them about - namely that my son is no longer attending full time college but lives and works with him - all complete rubbish of course. This has halted the court action whilst they investigate - three phone calls to me which I have missed due to working full time - I have called back each time to be told that the case worker is unavailable and will call back. I finally managed to get someone to tell me what the hell was going on to find that I could face a fine of £1k for withholding information. My ex then informed me that he planned on convincing my son to live with him and continue at college - making me liable to pay him child support! My ex asked that I withdraw my claim from the CSA or he would blacken my character with my son - the usual threats of bad mouthing - I feel as though I can't win and the system is stacked in his favour.

    Posted 1 month ago #

13. Steve
    Member
    
    

    Hi Jotta2304,

    OMG, what can i say. This angers me beyond comprehension. We have had this from the parasite in our lives. The Children are still young yet, 6 & 8 and he threatens to give the usual bad mouth jot....what a loser.
    Im a dad myself, and my daughter is 14. I have see her regular and pay maintenance every month as a private arrangement. I have contact with her mum, and we sort stuff as adults in the interests of our daughter.
    The point Im making is these "Parasites" which is what they are, use thier OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, to fire bullets, and avoid paying.
    As your kids are older, one can only hope that when they know the full truth of what kind of person their "father" is, they will make a correct decision themselves without you having to get any more stressed.

    Best Wishes

    Steve

    Posted 1 month ago #

14. julie72
    Member
    
    

    It took 9 months to sort our assesment out and still its wrong!!!

    Posted 1 month ago #

15. jotta2304
    Member
    
    

    Steve - thanks for your comments. I can only say that I have just found out that my ex has been asking my son to tell CSA he lives with him as he stayed there a couple of nights last week - ON A BLANKET ON A HARDWOOD FLOOR!!!! His dog sleeps on a chair in the lounge. I am livid beyond belief. I have told my son that he shouldn't bother going again, but I didn't need to, because my son wouldn't agree to tell the CSA he lives with his dad, he dumped all my son's bags and clothes (he had left there whilst staying for a few days) on the doorstep of my son's girlfriend's house and told him not to bother calling him anymore. I cannot believe how insensitive and cruel he has been to his own son - I can only hope that my son can see him for what he is now and can understand why he is an EX - Husband!
    I also wish to add that I have a second NRP for my youngest daughter - he gives me regular weekly payments, sees his daughter every weekend and if she needs anything we discuss it and he contibutes. He talks to her every night via Skype which he set up for her on the laptop we jointly bought so she can keep in touch with him, he calls her regularly at home on the landline and I know he would do anything for her. One of my older daughters is jealous that he is not her dad!
    After becoming a parent for the first time, he could not accept that the ex was a persistent and annoying constant in my life, who refused to accept any responsibility whilst still pulling strings with my kids. It was tough on him and I will always be sorry that he does not live with his daughter because of this complication in our lives.

    Posted 1 month ago #

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