I've had CSA inform me they are rasing my payments by 50 quid a week. This is due to me earning 66k a year. Only problem is I don't earn 66k I earn 49k. I filed for maditory reconsideration. Gave them all the info including my job co tract and payslips.
It was denied as its not 25% lower than 66k. Umm the issue is I never earned 66k. Why is CMS so stupid. I cannot afford to pay that it will make me homeless.
I called CSA and they looked I to amd said yes we can see you dont earn 66k. They reconsider HMRC have sent the earning from the wrong year. However they can't change it not because of the reco.siderstuon decision. I now have to appeal to court. Even though CSA knows it wrong.
Then I get a letter today saying they .might put me on direct pay increasing my payments even more because I'm not paying the extra for the 66k salary that I don't even earn.
Holy [censored] this CSA is state is a mess. They know I don't earn 66k can't do anything about it and want me to pay more.
I'm about to be homeless.
Hi,
They have a bad reputation for doing incorrect assessments. I recommend you contact your MP and ask them to raise a complaint with CMS.
An alternative to consider is increasing pension payments so that you tip over the 25% threshold and then ask again for the reconsideration. Once they have done this, then you can reset your pension to whatever level it was before.
I second Bill337's advice. Don't hesitate to write to your local MP. Your exact situation happened to me. I wrote to my local MP who responded promptly. He filed a complaint with CMS and CMS got in touch with me. Once you have an active open complaint, you get put on a VIP list almost so when you call them you don't tend to wait on hold and you go straight to the complaints department, ideally to a case worker you'll have been assigned.
Alternatively, open a complaint yourself.
I also filed to the tribunal, as my case was identical to yours, they wouldn't accept my evidence and rejected my mandatory reconsideration which appeared to be an automatic rejection. Nowhere in the process was I given an explanation.
One thing I found strange, was once CMS got their tribunal summons, they quickly sent me a letter saying they adjusted my salary to what it actually was. The courts then wrote to me saying they closed my case - turns out even when you're the applicant, CMS still have the power to close your case.
I would advise paying the amount they tell you to pay, and fight it later, to avoid instances like going onto collect and pay. You don't want to be listed as non-compliant. Once they updated my salary my payments went back down, and they reduced them a further £6 per month so over the next year the over payments I made will be back with me... They didn't explain this to me, but they did to my MP, who kindly forwarded me their detailed explanation. Disappointing the treatment CMS provide.
E