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Hey, So bit of a tricky one. . basically i have paid CSA to my eldest daughter for years now with no questions asked. However since june she moved away from home and into a new flat with her boyfriend, she has also left college is 18 years old and has got herself a job Yet im still paying CSA ive contacted them several times about the fact that my daughter gets none of this money as my ex keeps it all and is fraudulently claiming. The CSA say i have to still pay till september this year as my ex is still claiming child benefit. Surely there is something i can do to stop this happening? I have contacted the benefit fraud team twice but dont seem to getting anywhere. Anyone got any ideas that could help? Im thinking that i need to go down the solitor route or something? Any advice would be great. Thanks
I'm afraid that the CSA or CMS are guided by whether chikd benefit is being paid or not, so as long as this is the case, you are going to be liable. A solicitor is going to cost you more than you are paying in maintenance, potentially, and is probably not going to be able to do any more than you, though you could have a short consultation to see what they say.
This hasn't been tried, to the best of my knowledge, but you could consider suing your ex through the small claims court for your losses - the idea that it might go to court (even a small claims court) with you providing evidence that she's claiming fraudulently might be enough to persuade her to stop claiming now, and if not, then the cost of the small claims is quite small, so you don't stand to los emuch if you don't succeed.
If you think that the mother is claiming fraudulently and the agency aren't acting on it you can go and see your MP and ask for their help with this. The Child Benefit agency is a government department and as such the MP has the power to intervene where there is failure of service.
All the best
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