Can they take you to a tribunal if they have no proof of your earnings?

July 5, 2013

I paid maintenance from 1997 when my girlfriend of 2 years threw me out. In 2007 I changed jobs and I was assessed as nil because my salary was below the protected salary.

In 2009 my ex heard I had gone to Sweden to work so she asked that I be reassessed even though my son was 16 years old. I got a letter out of the blue from them saying I owed £14.400 maintenance arrears.I told them I could not possibly owe this or afford to pay it as I had two children and a mortgage to pay and I was the only one working for a salary of around £300.

To cut a long story short I ended up at a tribunal and the representative said, in front of the judge that they had lost all my information both paper form and on the computer and respectfully asked me to supply copies of wage slips, mortgage payments and all utility bills.

After four tribunals we are no further forward, they have reduced the arrears to £8,300 but the wage figures they are using are still wrong even though we have been through it all. From my nil assessment in 2007 they now want £65.51 even though I only had £250 salary, and was earning less than the protected salary. My large salary for 6 months that I earned in Sweden they are using the whole amount for their calculations even though £350 of it is refund of housing and living costs and they cant touch it.

The main point though is are they allowed to take you to a tribunal when they have no proof of your earnings and outgoings I would have thought they had to have evidence. Seven offices have been dealing with his case and the errors are unbelievable

Comments

  • Pete says:

    Well Paul sounds like fraud and maladministration at the highest level, if they have lost all your paperwork, I smell a rat, the CSA are nothing but pathological liars, get a complaint in ASAP or join our face book page Child support agency rip offs

  • dai says:

    first thing to do before you supply any documentation is for the CSA to prove you are a liable person and why. they have to reconstruct your file. for all you know your assessment and arrears are based on someone elses case? happens a lot apparently.

    if you were non resident in the UK then tell them and the Tribunal to buzz off.

    if you are now back in the UK the CSA can make an assessment either guesswork or the statuory £40 per week. you will have to supply wage slips for them to make an assessment – why supply mortage payments and other info you should now be a new case. you must guard yourself against a fishing trip by the mother using the csa and tribunal and then using the info for other purposes. if you have to supply redacted wage slips and P60’s – that is all they need for an assessment.

    NRP’s need to guard against this commonly abused practice and biased tribunals where often the only record is the Chairs notes.

    why are you at a tribunal when there has already been assessment and they are chasing arrears?

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