CSA appeals problem

[rees1970]

Hi everybody, I'll try and give as much detail as I can, in the hope that someone can advise me.

I have been receiving payments from my ex husband for our son since 2002. The case had not been reviewed for 5 years in 2011 when I accidentally found out (slip of the tongue by ex father in law) that my ex had changed address. I did some digging around and discovered that he had bought a house in Dec 2008, no mortgage. Like I previously said, our case had not been reviewed for 5 years, so he would still be claiming to be paying £70 per week rent.

I rang the CSA, they hadn't been informed of his change of address, so they decided to investigate. A decision was made in Nov 2011 that my weekly payments were increasing and that my ex owed me back payments to April 2011 (when I first informed them).

I recently appealed against the decision, I disagreed with the date it was back dated to. My ex apparently also appealed against the decision completely.

Today I received the papers that will be submitted to the tribunal. The decision on my ex's appeal is that my payments will remain the same. The decision on my appeal is that the dates will stay the same, as the proof I submitted (a copy of the deeds to his property) only proves when he bought the property and not when he moved in.

The onus now is on me to provide proof of when he moved into the property. I have searched the electoral registers and found him on all of them from when we separated to when he bought the property, but nothing after that, again this proves nothing.

The papers state that his post had been delivered to his previous address 'as a confident address for mail' until April 2011 (this is when I informed them of the change of address)

On the Record of decisions it states that my ex claimed that his parents owned the house with a mortgage secured on it, the proof I submitted proved otherwise.

Everything points to him lying but without proof nothing can be done. Why is the onus on me alone to provide proof? I don't know whether I should continue with the appeal without solid proof.

I'm sorry for the length of the post, and I hope it makes sense. Some advise would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Bump !

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Bump

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Hiya sorry for the length of time between you posting and an answer.

I'm not a CSA expert so what I will do is, I will send an admin a PM saying you have not recieved any advice, your not intentionally being ignored I promise, it may be that the experts on this topic havent been on line, but I apologise a great deal no one has said hello.
Hopefully I've rectified that little bit for you

I know just the person to ask, to hang on in there hun, and listen for the bugles, the cavalry are coming!!

And again, apologies for the delay!

[FTW Mamuskills]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Hi Rees;

Apologies for not getting to you sooner. I am no CSA expert but have had personal dealings with them in the past. I have always been straight up with them and to be honest they still manage to make error after error. But do not worry.

With your ex partner appealing the decision all together there is not alot he can do. It is a math based calculation based on his disposable income after deductions are made that the law states he needs to live on. So please do not panic over the amount he is to pay.

Now as for the backdating, you are in a strong position as a review should be carried out routinely and has not been done in this instance. If he is self employed a "self-calculation" is carried out annually and verified with HMRC. There are also periodic calls/ letters sent to verify circumstances. If he is employed the earning adjustments should also be done periodically and HE has a duty to inform them of changes in his circumstances.

It should not be down to you to prove when he moved and salaries adjusted or he got into debt or any other circumstances. The fact is if he lies to the CSA and this lie is discovered he will have to pay the price for his deceptions.

I am sure an expert will be along to be a bit more definitive but please check out:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/...ance/DG_199213

It may help you to understand the CSA a little more.

I wish you luck and if i am able to find anything significant I will post here again for you.

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Thanx for your reply. I'm not concerned about my payments, as from what I can understand from the appeal papers, my payments will be staying the same. My ex decided to appeal against the payments increasing because according to him, the new house was owned by his parents, and they had a mortgage on it. I had already sent the CSA a copy of the deeds which showed that his name is also on the deeds and there is NO mortgage secured on it. I had sent them a copy of the deeds as the CSA asked if I had proof that he had moved.

He deliberately hid from the CSA the fact that he had moved, and then deliberately lied about the facts. Now the onus is on ME to provide proof as to the exact date he moved into the property. This is what I don't understand. The deeds only provide proof of purchase not of occupancy. I have found him on all the electoral registers up until the year after the house purchase, it's proof enough for me obviously, but not to the CSA!

My new payments have been backdated to April 2011,(this is when I informed the CSA), but the house was bought in Dec 2008, so he could possibly owe me in excess of £2500.

Is it worth me going to the tribunal to argue my case without the proof they ask for, or should I just cancel the appeal? In my opinion, the fact that my ex deliberately withheld information and then deliberately lied to the CSA, which I proved to them, the onus should be on HIM to provide the exact date he moved!

[FTW Mamuskills]

Re: CSA appeals problem

I wouldnt cancel the appeal. You have very limited resources in obtaining the information they are after and they must consider that. They hold alot more authority in obtaining the facts. So what could happen is that a tribunal denies the backdating but orders the CSA to do a proper background check and respond according to their findings.

A tribunal is neutral and you are very good at painting a good picture, so paint the same picture for the tribunal. Explain to them the difficulties you are having to evidence to them what you already know to be true outright. Explain how you feel the CSA should have handled things over the past 5 years and finalise with explaining how your ex has failed to follow his duty of disclusure to the CSA.

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Thank you FTW Mamuskills, this is what I was hoping to do, but wasn't sure if they would be happy with me turning up without any more evidence for them.

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Just a quick update. I have received the papers from the tribunal, so am going to ask for a hearing in person. I will send them copies of the electoral registers I have with my ex's name on, not that they provide proof of anything, other than that I have been trying to find the proof that they require.

Now to prepare for the hearing, any ideas on how I do that?

[miliitant]

Re: CSA appeals problem

playing devils advocate on this one so please do not have a go at me

if your ex has a new house in his name, what bearing does that have on increasing the child support you allready receive from him.

his parents for example might have purchased the house for him after the two of you seperated.
owning the house is one thing but it still does not increase any disposable income he may have to justify an increase in child support payments

having assets is one thing, disposable assets another.

i would think you would be better off investigating with the csa his employment situation

[rees1970]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Him owning a property wasn't the issue here. The issue is the fact that he still claimed to be paying rent when he does not. His disposable income increased as there were no longer any housing costs. My weekly payments increased. His employment situation has been investigated, with no change!

[MIL48]

Re: CSA appeals problem

Going to a tribunal to appeal CSA decision to refuse a variation on lifestyle and assets. The CSA asked NRP for details of assets and savings and had no response. They don't seem to have made any effort to collect any information from other sources i.e. banks, building societies etc and taken this lack of information to mean there aren't any assets. Do I provide background information (going back years!) as to the NRPs attitude to supporting his child. He has never said he can't afford to, just that he can decide if, or when he chooses to. He says he has no income and is not on any benefits but manages to pay a mortgage, support a good lifestyle, holidays and cars, he also has several lodgers as can be seen on the electoral roll. H also e mails me when he can't take his access due to working away, sometimes out of the country. I would be grateful as to advice on what I take to tribunal. Am I supposed to be able to interpret the Child Support Regulations as used by the CSA in their evidence and find the legal mistakes or failures of duty I think they have made or can I include other factors?