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hello all, 1st of all let me say hi, as this is my 1st post however i feel i need to seek some sort of guidance from anyone who may have been in my situation
i have been paying CSA via an AOE for the last 10 years, with this stopped recently and now paying direct access.
4 years ago i started to receive a non-income related benefit this being "industrial injuries disablement benefit", at the time i contacted the CSA who advised me that this would not make a difference to my claim and i left it at that.
after moving from CSA to child maintenance service i noticed on both the CSA website and the CMS website that my benefit is actually an approved benefit for flat rate maintenance, link to calculator as below
https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance
i have challenged the CSA and CMS, as me benefit is paid also by the DWP however im getting very little help on this, and a different answer every time i speak to someone, all i want is closure on this and if a refund is due, over 15K in my calculations how do i then approach for this
any advice or guidance will be appreciated
If you're not getting anywhere with them yourself, contact your local MP and they will be able to take the case up for you.
thank you Yoda for your advice
hi, ive just sen this to my local MP
Good morning lain, i hope you are well.
As a Hartlepool resident and after a spate of unsuccessful attempts to get any formal response from the DWP, i hope your potential intervention can assist with my case.
As a working professional, i've always took my responsibility to the care of my children seriously, however it now appears that the CSA vis the DWP have actually over charged me for the last 4 years. on attempting to escalate this with the DWP, and CSA i get the impression of a mis-managed and to be frank a seriously disorganized organisation, this with a massive void in knowledge depending on who you speak to on the phone. as you may gather i am rather disgruntled.
i have payed CSA payments now for over 10 years, with my case recently closed and now in the stage of being moved to the CMS, (Child Maintenance service). 4 years ago i started to recieve a non-income based benefit "industrial injuries disablement benefit", after an accident at work that has left me with deafness in 1 ear, this benefit was originally reviewed annually, however has now a life award as my deafness is deteriorating
Both the CSA and the CMS indicate via their website and supporting downloadable .pdf documents that my benefit albeit NOT income based, is an approved benefit that means i am eligible to pay flat rate maintenance, link to their online calculator and downloadable supporting paperwork as below
Calculator - https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-child-maintenance
Paperwork - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325219/how-we-work-out-child-maintenance.pdf
page 24 in the document explains that i do qualify for flat rate based on my non-income related benefit.
As of this it appears i have over-payed since receiving the benefit, even though i did advise 4 years ago as i though this would increase my payments to be told the benefit does not qualify either way. i then took this as granted due to them being the subject experts
On speaking to the CSA, CMS, and DWP all i am getting is mis-direction, conflicting advice, and actually 1 person within the CMS who denied all knowledge of speaking to me when we actually spoke only a few hours earlier, (when i told him his name, as i had jotted it down earlier he admitted that he denied as he had not updated my case notes) a massive failure in a complex case as this.
Iain all i ask is can you help in this matter with your position as a MP as i fell that the professional bodies that i should be trusting (CSA, CMS, DWP) do not really care on my position.
thoughts?????
Hi there
Sound good to me, I would also advise asking to see your MP, most of them hold weekly surgeries , that way you can discuss this with him face to face. Some MPs are more proactive than others, so lets hope you have a good one.
If the MP gets nowhere he can refer your case to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, although they do like people to have completed the complaints procedure directly with the body concerned first, so it might be a good idea to start that, if you haven't done so already. It would also be advisable to communicate with them in writing, write and ask for a complete breakdown of payments in writing and their response to the fact that you believe you have overpaid and why, so that you have some record of it.
Best of luck
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