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When I left my ex and three children in 2001, my ex was greedy and wanted the majority of my wages, it got too much so I took on an extra part time job on top of my full time job. I did this for about a year and this meant I could afford her maintenance plus get by on a day to day basis. When I had to give my part time job up due to exhaustion, I asked if she would accept a lower amount and she said no. I moved house a few times and settled in Newcastle for a while, I stopped working for a couple of years 2002-2004 and lived off money I had managed to save and hand outs from my friends, I didn't claim any benefits. I went back to work and I became ill and had to give my job up and this time I went on benefits. After a while I decided I needed a fresh start, so I moved down to London to live with my brother. I got a job and everything was good, then I broke my foot and was sidelined for a few months, I had just got back to work, when I received a letter from the CSA 3 years after the initial claim was made, saying I was in arrears and they wanted me to pay £110 per week, at the time I was only earning £80 due to not doing many hours. I phoned them up and told them of my other financial commitments such as rent, travel to work, food etc and they said that it wasn't their problem. I rang the ex and offered to pay her £80 if she would drop the case, but she wouldn't, so I gave up work and went on benefits. About a year or so later I met someone and I moved in and we had a child together(Yes I know silly me). I went to college followed by university and the next thing the bailiffs got in touch about the arrears. I made an arrangement to pay them £50 a month, it was a struggle. I eventually split with my girlfriend in November 2011 and I have full time care of our daughter and I am on benefits. I paid the £50 to the bailiffs for just over a year, and it was a major struggle so I stopped the payments and got in touch with Inland Revenue to get a list of my employment history, as I am sure they have calculated my arrears wrong. I was sent a copy of my history dating back to 2006 and I rang my employer prior to this and was sent my employment statement from them. The CSA got in touch a couple of days ago saying I owe £8600 from 2003-2010 so I told them I was disputing it and they asked me to send all my proof in. The thing is they are asking me to provide proof of the time I wasn't working or claiming benefits 2002-2004, how can I provide proof of a period I wasn't working or claiming benefits?? I asked them to prove that their calculations are correct and they said they don't need to prove it, the onus is on me to prove otherwise, which I think is ridiculous, I just want to know where they got their figures from because I did a rough calculation based on the information that I have and it came to £3500 for the last 7 years, so I can't see me owing 5100 for 2 years.
Hi and welcomne
I'm afraid we can't ask the CMO to comment on individual cases, and as yours is quite complex, the only people who can help you with the calculation are the CSA themselves. I would be persistent in asking them for a breakdown of how the arrears have been calculated - bear in mind that if you didn't inform them of any changes in circumstances, then they continue to calculate on the basis of the information they have -any change in calculation is only made from the date they are informed of those changes.
So what you're saying is that they won't recalculate even if I prove that their calculations from years ago are wrong?
If they were basing the calculations on the only information they had at the time because you hadn't informed them of any change, then I believe that may be the case - you'd need to check with them. However, it doesn't mean you can't try to get the calculation re-done - they may be prepared to come to some arrangement.
I didn't inform them because I didn't know they were after me until they sent me a letter 3 years after the claim was made
That's definitely a point worth making. I would also put everything down on paper and go and speak to your MP about this - they can raise the priority of complaints and make headway when everything else seems stalled - do it now rather than wait as the MP's often take a while to write to the CSA.
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