I have tried to pay the CSA but I’m now at a dead end

April 4, 2014

My story starts when I was diagnosed with BiPolar. Due to my mental health issues I was unable to work full time, so I went self employed! Ye Gods, what a can of worms that opened!

I told the CSA in Nov 09 that I was now self employed, due to my health problems. I completed a N720 form and sent it back. At the end of the tax year I gave them my earnings for that year (£3000), and they decided to condense that into three months!

I was earning on average £110 a week and they demanded £26.00 of that! Of course, I created, and demanded to know how they had arrived at that figure as it was my income for the WHOLE year, not a couple of months. I was told that they were ‘entitled’ to do that!

Anyways, asked to be reassessed and no joy. They then set up a DEO at a firm I no longer worked for, and the DEO stated no arrears and £27.00 per week. I informed them yet again that I was self employed, and did not work there, and that the assessment is wrong. This dragged on with various letters stating arrears and £27.00 p/w, and even to the point that one day I got a letter stating £0.00 per week and NO arrears along with a letter stating £300 arrears and £27.00 per week!!!!

This dragged on until 2012! I complained to the CSA’s Jim Edwards (waste of time ) and heard nothing for weeks! Then I get another letter stating that as I hadn’t responded to the FOUR letters sent from client services, my complaint was finished with. I NEVER received these letters ( more on that later… ).

Once again we went back and forth and then in 2013 came the dreaded enforcement notice. Twice they dragged me to a court 30 miles away. Twice it was adjourned. I now know that I shouldn’t have contested it as I had a magistrates court 5 mins away from me, which I had requested. So on the 3rd time they tried again. I sent a LONG letter to the magistrates, that he read out in the court, and praised me for my well laid out reasons for disputing this. he aopoligised and said that all he could do would be adjourn again!

In the interim, I obtained my DPA print out, and was taken aback by the amount of errors and misleading information held by the CSA. Firstly, they admitted to receiving my N720, and then in the second line, they report that it had gone missing!! None of my complaint letters were in the DPA either, nor were my requests for an assessment! And Guess what???? NOR were the FOUR letters that client services claimed to have sent me!

Once again, I sit and waste my time writing yet another complaint. In July 2013, I get a letter from the CSA in which they APOLOGISE for the way in which my case has been handled, offer me £25.00 Comp and also apologise for the “Maladministration” of my case.

I have since been to court with this letter, and guess what… the liability was granted!!! I wrote to the courts asking for a set aside due to the admission of “maladministration”, and also the fact that the I.C.E has now gotten involved.

The I.C.E took the case on last July, and thus far, still hasn’t received all of the requested documents from the CSA. I spoke to the I.C.E this morning and they were STILL waiting. Thats 9 months!!

Since the Liability order was granted, I wrote to the CSA requesting payment details so that I could start making some sort of payment. Guess what???? No response. I wrote to the Chief Executive’s office. Guess what??? No response (does this sound familiar?? ). ALL of my letters are sent recorded, so I’m not sure why they haven’t responded!

Well, today I received the papers from the County Court allowing enforcement. I am now stuck as to what to do.I have tried to obtain details to make payments, I have complained to the right people and the arrears of £2800.00 are incorrect as the original assessment was wrong. I don’t know what to do next. Any ideas???

It’s no good sending the bailiffs around because, due to my mental health, my wife has “power of attorney” when it comes to money and stuff.

Where do I stand in relation to the Bailiffs (should they rock up) as I have my problems and my middle son has learning difficulties? I’m gonna fire some letters off anyway, but I am now at a dead end.

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