How is the CSA allowed to ruin someone’s life like this?

June 18, 2016

I’m writing on behalf of a long standing company employee.

He has worked for the company since late 2003 and the 1st piece of paperwork we have on record from the CSA dates back to early 2004.

He says he has paid monies out of his wages even prior to employment with our company but whether or not he can find these is besides the main issue.

The real issue starts here, in 2014 his liability was cancelled. Presumably because the child reached the age/circumstances where he no longer needed to pay this money.

In mid 2015 he began receiving phone calls stating that he owed money. He tried to deal with this situation but he got no where with it. He then received a statement from the CSA stating his ‘arrears’.

During his phone calls with various different people using what seems to be their normal bullying tactics, it came out that the CSA had ‘no computer record’s payments made to the csa for a certain period of time.

Between 2004 when the arrangement was lodge with the company and 2008, all the due payments were deducted from his wages and paid to the csa by cheque. Between 2008 and now, the payments were all made by bacs.

We provided for him, copies of all the remittance letters which were sent with the cheques, for him to send to the csa. Sent by recorded post.

Not only were these payments not shown on the csa statement of arrears, all of a sudden the amounts owing had been shown as weekly amounts where all previous paperwork from the CSA gives a monthly amount for deduction. This is effect also increases the amount they say he owed, but obviously not what had been said at the time.

They then enforced a DEO via us which is still running and being paid.

I then began getting involved with it and writing letters with him on his behalf and in January of this year we managed to get it into the ‘complaints’ procedure. 5 months on, despite regular letters from us we have achieved no resolution of the ‘issues’ they acknowledged in their 1st reply letter to the complaint and all that has happened during this period is that 2 new arrears statements have been produced each with increasing amounts owing!! Still neither showing the full amount of money that has been paid to the csa and still with these new amounts do not tally with old paperwork.

Everything we have has been sent to them explaining all this and still no joy.

Recently I have asked for this to be put the complaints review team in accordance with their own complaints procedure guidance, but this has not happened.

Also, I have asked that they state that they cannot resolve this and that we are able to take this to the ICE. Again, no joy.

Finally today, I have approached the ICE by email stating the circumstances and explaining that despite asking we are not being told that we can bring the case to the ICE.

He has also submitted recently a SAR.

Just wondering if you are able to offer any guidance/ advice on how we can win this case. To me it is astonishing and unbelievable that they rare permitted the power to effectively ruin someone’s life by enforcing this debt on them, a debt which actually is incorrect due to their own maladministration.

If they are able to behave in that manner, what is to stop them from continuing to do this for the remainder of his living days!!

We would really appreciate all the help we can get with this one.

Look forward to your response

Regards

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