How can CSA get away treating people the way they do?

August 18, 2012

The last contact I had with the CSA was 15 years ago (Sept 1997) when I received a letter telling me that although there was an outstanding amount of almost £1500 that I needed to pay, the agency was suspending my repayments! This letter was the last in a very long line of letters that had gone between me and them over a number of years. I had been paying my ex wife almost a third of my salary to support our daughter.

The amount had been calculated by the CSA and I payed the amount directly to my ex wife. At one point I received a letter from the agency accusing me of not paying anything to support my daughter and I had to contact my bank and get photocopies of old bank statements to prove that I was paying! Anyway, almost 15 years after I last had any contact with the CSA I received a telephone call this morning from them and they imformed me that they are looking into old cases and that they now wanted me to pay the outstanding balance from 15 years ago!

Well, you can imagine my response, however, I have been told that if I do not agree to a voluntary repayment, they will make a compulsary charge against me and take 40% of my income to recover the outstanding amount! My only source of income now is my Armed Forces pension, which doesn’t amount to very much.

I am extremely angry with the CSA for the way they have gone about this, I asked why they hadn’t wrote to me to explain the situation before contacting me by telephone out of the blue! Their response was, they had written to me in Sept 1997!!

How are the CSA allowed to get away with this sort of behaviour? Is there anything I can do about it?

Comments

  • not a person says:

    How can CSA get away treating people the way they do? answer yes they can. they can do what they like at some point in time you completed some forms from them that gives them your consent to act the way they do over you. so now they have your consent and you would like to complain about it. good luck with that.

    No contract No power. No signature No power. No name no Game

  • Carol says:

    Write a formal letter of complaint about it and get your MP involved aswell. Why were the arrears previously suspended? I think I would question this and also under prescriptive period rules would they still be able to collect this debt? Normally if there is a debt outstanding the debtor would have to have you acknowledge the debt within the last 6 years of trying to claim it. Seeing as 15 years has elapsed this is outwith the prescriptive period and the CSA last correspondence is 1997. I spoke with someone at the CSA before who told me that legislation came into place in 2006 doing away with the prescriptive period rule which meant the CSA could chase debts going back to 2000 so I would say it is definitely worth arguing over this.

  • brett says:

    Yes the CSA can do what they like. Whether you signed anything or not if your PAYE the CSA will come after you and make your life hell.
    They will reassess back date it years and not tell the NRP and I understand once the figure reaches £3,000 they have power to send baliffs to your house/issue a liability order.
    They have to justify their existence and by doing this they keep their jobs.
    How else are they supposed to make up the money the deadbeat fathers don’t pay ?
    The whole system stinks.
    Follow Carol’s advice and see your MP. If you get him her/her on your side youve got a chance.
    Good luck !

  • John says:

    You may also investigate whether the CSA have the power or authority to claim arrears that are 15 years old. It may be worth a free consultation with a solicitor for advice.

    Don’t believe anything the CSA say or do, and get everything in writing.

    Ask for proof of the alleged arrears in writing and a full breakdown of your alleged arrears!

    If you prove the CSA wrong and you do not owe any alleged arrears make a whacking complaint and ask for compensation for the distress they have caused you!

  • mary prosser says:

    I am on this site because my brother has phoned me distraut about a phone call he has had today from the csa Case almost the same as yours but going back to 2003. He has a legal document stating closure and that he has no more payments £0.00 also no debts £0.00. He has had no letter and was told on the phone that he has to pay £570 per month because he disputed this and said about the closure letter he was told that he will now have 40% taken from his wage. is there no one in this country that can help to stop this absolute stupidity. I have told my brother about this site but after years of him liing in poverty through the csa and the only help is from my mother and father having to buy him food and pay for his bus pass to get to work. Just as he is starting to pick his self up this happens and his words to me were they are never going to leave me alone. I am concerned for his mental state of mind

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