I haven’t missed a payment in 11 years but the CSA say that I owe 6.2K

March 14, 2013

The CSA are saying that I owe 6.2K in arrears

This is despite me not missing a payment (deduction of earnings)in 11 years. In 2010 my case was reassessed at my ex’s request. The payments went down and I received a refund! 4 months later I received a payment plan stating that my payments were almost doubling from £270 to £460 and I was 4K in arrears! No explaination. I applealed which stalled the payments at the lower rate. No joy at appeal as you cant appeal arrears.

New payment schedule, now £722/month and 6.2K in arrears. Still no explaination despite several written requests for one.

Case was closed in August 2012 (lad is now 19 and out of full-time education). Last payment of £722 was made last month (Feb) – CSA kept taking payments despite the case being closed 6 months earlier. They now say that I still owe 1.2K and want £200/month until its cleared.

How do I get a copy of my payment history and detail of how the arrears occured?

Thanks, Matt

Comments

  • lisa says:

    The best thing to do is ask for your data protection file this costs £10 but shows everything they hold on file about you, and ask for a full breakdown of how they have come to the conclusion you owe this, your ex has to tell the csa that you have actually paid this money, if she says you haven’t then they will expect you to pay it again, best thing is to go through your mp and make a complaint, your not the first with this problem and wont be the last, don’t let this lay, if you do they will just carry on taking, good luck

  • Carrie says:

    Good advice from Lisa ,get your Data protection File (sometimes called a SAR-subject access request.)The address can be found on the internet under CSA advice etcAll relevant addresses,NI numbers to the pwc are blocked out with a black marker pen.They included a handy guide to the acronyms they use,is that the word,the abbreviations like pwc,nrp,doe,lo,qc?You may find its £10 well spent!It can take up to 40 days but good for a spot of bedtime reading. Drop a line to the MP for your area.I’m sure they love hearing from their constituents about the CSA problems they are having !You can only appeal on appoint of law at a tribunal but there may be one you can use.We got some success at a tribunal>The CSA said we couldn’t apply for the children in our house to be considered because we hadn’t claimed for them .We said how could we ,we were happily(?) paying the pwc without knowing she wasn’t happy with the private arrangement & you (CSA)took so long to tell us(over a year !) The judge granted it to us off the so called arrears !A quick look at the CH/Ben computer would have confirmed in in 2 secs but CSA said it wasn’t possible !CSA had to give us a £50 consolatory payment for that but it still left us open to pay over a year of payments to the pwc that DONT COUNT!!!

  • lisa says:

    make a huge complaint when you get your file, ask for evidence how they have reached this figure,
    You need to get your mp to help you, write a letter of complaint, I write this letter more in hope than in expectation but it is with some regret that I must complain about the actions, or rather inactions of the child support agency and the way they have treated me and my family, explain exactly what you belive they have done to you regardless of whether they think it matters it does to you or you wouldt be writing the email to start with, (give details here of incomings and outgoings) doesnt matter if they dont want to see them put it all down , if you have had problems paying rent if your in debt because of these people put it all down, lay it on thick, then hit them hard with this legislation, copy and paste is probably easier
    Mention that you believe that they have made an Official Error. Ask the CSA for the decision to be set aside as they are not leaving you enough to live on and is going to cause you an injustice. This is based upon Regulation 55 of the Child Support Act (Maintenance Assessment Procedure) 1992
    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/1813/made
    For those of you who are NRP’s with a new family and for NRPP’s whose children are suffering as a result of the CSA taking your tax credits and enforcing you into financial hardship /poverty because they are taking so much from your income, You may want to mention in your letter that the child support agency are supposed to be lifting children out of poverty and they are supposed to have the best interests of children – this is clearly not taking the welfare of the children into account after all The Children Act 1989 states. ..Any decisions made about a child’s welfare will be made with the child’s welfare given ‘paramount consideration’ and the Child support act 1991 Welfare of children: the general principle. Where, in any case which falls to be dealt with under this Act, the Secretary of State or any child support officer is considering the exercise of any discretionary power conferred by this Act, he shall have regard to the welfare of any child likely to be affected by his decision. . It is very clear that the CSA and the secretary of state are turning a blind eye to both acts and are not really bothered about the welfare of the children. The CSA are in breach of both acts and I would assume that they are in breach of the Child Poverty Act 2010 also. They are making the children of the NRP and their families homeless and destitute and allowing vindictive PWC’s to cause damage and use the agency to abuse the NRP. All the CSA staff are concerned about is reaching their ridiculously high targets set by the Secretary of state to ensure they get their bonus. Bonus’s and high targets should never be brought into the equation of a family break up or supporting children, it is a very sensitive matter and painful for both sides but most of all it is the children who are suffering. copy and paste the above as you need to, dont forget to go into details you can prove,
    Attach a copy of ALL your outgoings, even the things the CSA don’t allow for. after you have added the bits to the email that matter to you send it to all these people below

    [email protected]
    [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
    [email protected]
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    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected] [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    [email protected]
    BCC this email address: [email protected]
    All this info will help, make sure you use it good luck

  • wilf says:

    Matt:- You need to ask for a complete account breakdown.
    This will show all payments due and all payments made.
    Sounds me that the PWC asked for a revision after the assessment in 2010 or some error made which caused it to be revisited.
    You should be able to tell from the assessment letters you received by comparing the effective dates and the maintenance contributions due.
    Your DPU file will contain all this paperwork if you no longer have the letters.

  • Matt says:

    Thank you for the advice – appreciated – I’ll definately be requesting the breakdown (SAR) after all, whats another £10 on top of well in excess of 60K?

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