How do I complain to the CSA?

May 28, 2010

I have been waiting since last June for a breakdown on my account as to how the have come the amount of arrears on my account.

The letter i got last year said i had to pay them off within a year and would be paying until june 2010, I disputed the amount as i made payments to my ex direct which i was advised she told them this was for something like not child maintance so this would be counted as arrears. I also had a 2 spells of unemployment last year so should not have been paying anything but they have added it as 5o pound per week. I had have been on the phone asking for break down of dates they have etc and even went through it over the phone and and the women agreed that the arrears are too high and she brought it down to ₤800 that i owed.

I have now been paying and extra ₤108 per month for the past 11 months which comes to ₤1188. Now they have sent me payments for this year and have pay extra untill october? i have asked how they have worked this out and one person refused to give me break down and this has now forced me into bankruptcy.

Nobody seems to want to help when i call and most of the time very rude.

I too need money for my girls, clothes toys and be nice to take them away this year.

I have sent in bank statements details of unemployment but still no joy.

Has anyone any advice on where i can go too or complain too and actually get results?

Comments

  • chall says:

    Hi James1

    The agency will not carry out retrospective changes in circumstances.

    Firstly, have you applied for your Data Protection file? if not click on my user name and go to the download section on the web site it takes you to – the agency charge £10 for this, do not send cash OR cheque. Postal orders need to be made payable to; CSA

    Secondly, to complain, you will need to escalate your case to a clearly marked complaint to the agency and give them the opportunity to rectify the matter (you should also involve your local MP at this stage). If the agency fail to deal with your case correctly, you can then proceed to the Independent Case Examiner, after that your MP can refer to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

    ~ join us in the forum at afairercsaforall

  • Karen Bedford says:

    James the above is what I would have said too, please also join the facebook groups Child Support Agency Failings and others, you will see there are many of us on there with similar problems and trying to do something about it, its also a support group with giving one another advice on things, it might be useful to you.

    Good luck.

  • Michael Lindquist says:

    I have shared residency, half my daughters time, shared parenting plan, and shared parental responsibility and the csa are still asking me for money. how about that

  • ann-marie says:

    The law says the parent with Care is the parent the parent with Child Benefit. My Partner was in exactly the same position. He ended up being asked to pay 50% to the CSA and got a case together that his wife should pay Him for the time he had the boys.
    They had shared care and he claimed child benefit for one son his ex for the other. They ended up paying each other CSA. (At very different levels but it cut his bill in half) check out European legislation. Good luck.

  • Fay says:

    Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help me.
    My partner has recently recieved a csa claim from his x partner.
    My Partner has two daughters, he pays his eldest daughter’s mum £110 a month and the other daughter who he has not seen for 6 years because her mum wouldn’t let him he does not pay towards.
    Barring in mind that the when him and his x partner to the youngest daughter split up, he did agree to pay £100 a month to her but she just disapeard and took his daughter away from him without telling them where they was.
    Its been 6 years and all of a sudden shes put in a claim for the csa.
    They phoned up and said they would be taking £58 quid a week from him.
    I have a son of my own
    I used he CSA calvulator and put in that he has 2 children on the csa
    Number of children living in househould is 1
    Number of nights my partner has his eldest daughter 52 to 103
    and his weekly income is £400
    and it came to £58 a week.

    I thought this was crazy and thought stuff it, see how much difference it is if we have another baby.
    So i put in the same information only i put that we had two children living with us and the calculation said £55 per week.

    How are the CSA making out the calculations:
    the two children that dont live with him are getting more money they get £232 a month, divided by two is £116.
    But yet there is only a £3 deduction for having two children that live with you.

    So they reckon the children that dont live with you should get everything but the children that live with you should go into poverty.

  • rebecca raines says:

    i have one daughter who is 16, for the past 13 years the csa has had my case.there have done nothing to help me at all. when i call i get passed about from department and told a packs of lies, they dont want to help. my ex work full time nice house two more kids. i live with the parents i work full time, the csa should be closed down sick of them.

  • Andrew says:

    Please can anyone help me I feel like I’m going crazy,

    I’m really struggling to understand how csa and cms make their decisions and get away with it and tell me there is nothing I can do about it, this is my situation.

    I was happily married with 3 children but our relationship broke down due to constant debts and lies from my wife, I always worked hard and long to overcome the last 3 large debts to keep our house from repo, but the last debt of £20k was to much to cope with and sent me into depression.
    I went back to work self-employed and was in a new relationship with 2 more children, I paid myself £400 pw and paid my ex-wife maintenance of £400 pm for the last 2years, I did the online csa calculations and I was paying more than required, I had my children 2 nights pw over the weekend until she refused me access some weekends due to disagreements.
    I informed my ex-wife in September work was slowing down and it eventually stopped in October but the company kept me on a string without pay, I kept up maintenance payments until December when the money run out, which I discussed with her and needed to apply for jsa until I found a paye job.
    I started my new job in January the day I was supposed to have my jsa interview, I get £330 pw and after 2 weeks we agreed I would pay due to the csa calculations online £45 pw which I paid for 2weeks and everything was ok.

    But then I was stopped %40 of my wages from deductions from earnings order in February, I gave them 5weeks pay slips and my new address and circumstances and it took csa 8 weeks to get it sorted, or so they said.
    Csa said my new partners 6 year old didn’t exist on there system and took 2 weeks to find out her dob was 1 day out on there system but obviously was correct on every other government system.
    Apparently they calculated My earnings from the previous year tax return not what I pay myself and less than 52 overnight stays, including the %20 costs and £50 deo fee I should be stopped £200 pw and have somehow accumulated £5k arrears, but the %40 maximum deduction kicked in, but am I still accumulating debt given I can’t achieve this ridiculess figure they can’t tell me.
    It was eventually agreed with My case worker a new figure of £315pm, which includes a £4k adjusted arrears figure over 4 years because I can’t prove I was out of work because I didn’t have a company to dissolve or declare bankruptcy, he told me I could make a dd payment now of £52 to stop the deo and start paying csa through dd for 6 months, then move on to direct pay, but we can’t afford it and getting into more financial difficulty because of the %40 deo, now after what was agreed over several expensive phone conversations to start immediately with the £315 pm payments through deo and a letter would be sent to my employer instructing them to change it, they didn’t, it was sent to me stating it would not change for a further 10 weeks, which I’m afraid will be too much for us to cope with financially and personally.
    I now ring up csa and been told there is nothing I can do or they can do about my situation I explained what was agreed previous but told I was misinformed and they apologize, I asked for the complaints procedure and told there isn’t grounds for a complaint and there again is nothing I can do the deo and arrears stand for the next 4 years.

    I have always paid my ex-wife above and beyond for my children and bought them what they ed when I was there and after separation, I paid half for school trips and have them spending money, but My ex-wife takes the cash off them and sends them to me in dirty and damaged clothes and shoes, why can this be fair and how can we be treated like this, the system in place is wrong.

    Please please can anyone help me.

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