[Solved] IMPORTANT TO NRP's - cases closed & not suspended

Hi There,
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So glad you have managed to get this sorted, it must have been awful to go through with everything else you are going through.
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Thank you for this message I will pin it at the top of the child maintenance board so it stays where it can be sen.
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Best wishes to you and your husband
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GTTS x

That's such a relief for you both and thanks for your advice and clarification on this matter....I recall we have had members with similar situations, at least with regard to problems with old cases being reopened by the CMS.

All the best

Hi I am going through exactly this. This case was closed over 15 years ago. I am now being told I owe over £10k.

This has apparently been passed over to the collections team in Northern Ireland.

They have always known my address and from time to time sent letters chasing but I always called them and they agreed the case was closed and to ignore them.

I dont have this money to pay and really not sure what to do.

cheers
Mark.

Hi Mark,
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To start with I would contact them and ask for a breakdown of where these arrears have come from, it's a starting point but will give you the chance to see whether you do actually owe anything and hopefully you can prove that you don't.
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Good luck.
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GTTS

Thanks

I will start this process as soon as they let me know the correct postal address to send the letter asking this.

I just annoys me that they can tell me for over 15 years there is nothing to pay then hit me with a bill of thousands.

I should have taken them to court over the amount taken from my wages.

sorry to hear that you have had issues but yet another shambles by the incompetent clowns on CMS.
They deliberatly ignored my applications for variations due to a wage change, overnight stay and contact costs and i was repeatedly told every time i rang "its with a case worker" " the case worker will call you back" "im the new case worker and have a backlog of cases, yours will be dealt with shortley".

This went on for 9 months resulting in me overpaying by £1400 as each variation would have reduced my payments i even sent in proof like wage slips and court orders,

In the end, I tried to raise a telephone complaint and was told by the operator (another clown) that they dont have a complaints system but would raise a "dissatisfaction" complaint over the phone which would get dealt with in 48hrs working day time. Again this didnt happen. In the end i spoke to the CAB who actually emailed me the pdf leaflet of the complaints procedure that actually does exist. I wrote a written letter of complaint stating dates/times and names of everyone i had spoken to . i also stated i would be taking it to the next level if necessary.
In the end after 9 months, they finally processed my variations and rather than giving me a refund for £1400 it has been taken of my current years maintenance bill. However this has caused great heartache for the ex as she cant afford to buy a new outfit or handbag every month with my money now which is £5.00 a week!! and now out of spite is causing problems with contact.

These incompetent clowns (which is meant to be a government agency) need to be retrained/replaced rather than taught how to answer a call and read off a list of excuses.

Not sure if you can do it on here, but if you can attach that leaflet PDF in a post, I think a lot of people would find that useful. At the least, does it have a form number?

Same situation with ourselves. Any joy?

Hi, we are going through similar situation and it is terrifying. In 2007 we were told the case was closed after reaching an agreement with the CSA and ex wife, no arrears to be collected and no further payments required. Then in October last year, 9 years later, out of the blue, a letter demanding over £7000. Hubby rang CSA who said, sorry, can see on screen the case was settled in 2007, no further action would be taken. Then this week a phone call demanding employment details, a letter asking for living costs, an attachment of earnings had been made already! He's rang and spoken to several people who can each see on the screen that the case was closed in 2007, but the finance department says it is due to a law change in 2012 they can pursue him! We've tried to speak to the legal department but there is always no one there, and have names times dates of people telling us the case is closed, but they are already taking money directly from his wages! Where do we turn? Please help! We cannot afford the payments. They are treating it as if we ignored the letter back in October, but they have a record of his call! We have done nothing wrong!

I woudl ask the CSA for a copy of all correspondence - there's a form to do this (can't remember offhand what it is). I would also contact your MP as soon as possible and get them to raise a complaint - your MP can raise one at a higher priority than you can. Take along the facts of your case to give to your MP so that they don't forget anything, and keep it reasonably brief.

sorry to hear this, it must of been a terrible time for you, i have been in a similar situation too, i got the usual letters saying my case was closed and arrears of £200 or so, then got told my arrears had be wiped off my account, last january i had phone calls to say cms had now taken over the case, i told them all about my income and was totally upfront with them, after three months of telephone calls and letters, they sent me an order for the wrong child by a totally different name and date of birth, can you believe that..? i have the letter to prove it...... i finally got a letter to say i got a nil assessment saying my case was unsuccessful, no explanations.... i can only guess that my nasty ex didn't reply, as cms told me that they had called her, wrote letters to her but still with non reply..... it seems that CMS are making a lot of mistakes, they don't really know what they are doing..... anyway.....i hope you are ok and sorry for your situation.