CSA want money for when I was out of work
I have today received a phone call from the CSA relating to £3,500 of maintenance arrears they claim I owe to the mother of my 4 year old daughter. This claim relates to a period between March and September 2008, a six month period when I wasn’t in work. This figure has been based upon my previous contributions when I was in full time employment which were approx £600/month.
The last communication I received from the CSA was approx 18 months ago advising that based upon my income levels my monthly contribution was £0. They claim to have written to me on numerous occasions but have had mail returned to sender as they were sending correspondence to addresses I no longer lived at. I have been in possession of my mobile phone number for over 15 months and today is the first time I have heard from them.
My question is this. I am being persued for a sum of maintenance which relates to a period of time that I was out of work and not earning. Is that correct? I had no income and can prove this, so based upon the CSA calculations I assume I would pay nothing during this period? I am being threatened with prison and all sorts and just want to establish what my options are.
Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.
All the best
Nathan
7 thoughts on “CSA want money for when I was out of work”
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I dont understand this.
By the age of your daughter you should be liable for 15% of your net pay. If you were in employment when they made the assessment it could not have been £0.
Regarding change of circumstances, it is your responsibility to tell them, the previous assessment liability continues until you do.
Hi Nathan,
Did you notify the agency of changes in your circumstances at the time they happened? – if not, retrospective changes will not be taken into consideration.
Hi,
I have a copy of the letter sent to the CSA when I left my job and set up my own business. The £0 assessment was made 4 months after I had set up my business. I had asked them to re-assess my situation in my letter notifying them of my change of circumstances, hence why I assumed the £0 judgement had been made.
Surely if I notify them in writing when I left my employer and subsequently have no income I can’t be expected to continue to pay the same rate as when I was in a very well paid job??
Do I have a case for an appeal? The first time I found out about any supposed ‘arrears’ was Wednesday, some 2 years on.
Nathan
Hi
You always can appeal. I have argued about anything and everything! We are in a similar boat where they refused to go back to 2008 despite the fact that my hubby only earnt £5300 that year and they want £2800 in arrears! We are going to a tribunal (date to be confirmed) because I have pushed as hard as I could to get this sorted. They have lied and cheated both on the phone and now in writing…they maintain they wrote to us confirming the amount due in 2008 but we never got anything. When I paid for a copy of our file throught he Data Protection Unit they had a copy of the letter addressed to my address nine months before I even met my husband! Go figure…. Sorry I’m babbling… fight, go over their heads, ultimately they are just pen pushers on a low wages in a call centre. Do not be intimidated by them.
Good Luck!
Betty
I think there’s one rule for NRPs and another for PWCs. The former can only appeal within certain time limits, the latter can appeal at any time. Discrimination?
Oh, yes – and sometimes they don’t even tell you about the decision until you’re already out of time to appeal.
Hi Andrew,
The rules for appeal time limits are strict and the same for both NRP and PWC.
An appeal must be received by the relevant agency office with in 1 month of the notice of the decision being SENT to the appellant. The time limit can only be extended in certain circumstances.
Can anyone give me advice please. I am about to set up my own company which is financially difficult enough. I have an agreement set in place with the csa based on when i was in work but where does this leave me in terms of future payments? Am i in a position to appeal what I am paying? If so would anyone know how I would go about this please?
Mark