Arrears of CSA child assessed maintenance

Hi,

I have two children of 18 and 16.

My ex went to the CSA in 2008 to have CM assessed after advice from his solicitor. He had originally offered £450 per month, CSA assessed at £376.45 per month.

I have asked for re-assessmenr each year and eventually he was re-assessed last July.

It took unitl November for the CSA to complete the re-assessmenr as he had ignored their letters and eventually they went to his employers. He still said the assessement was wrong as it was based on just one months payslip which was higher than normal.

Anyway he did not produce evidence that they had assessed him incorrectly.

But he refused to pay the increased amount so i asked the CSA to collect the money for me.

However becuase it took from July to November to sort out there are arrears of several hundred pounds which he has not paid?

He says it is not due becuase it was a voluntary agreement, but the CSA had made the assessment and the letter from the CSA says he must pay?

Can I purseu him through the County Court for the arrears?

Does he have to pay the CSA assessed amount even though they did not collect the money on my behalf, but he paid me directly?

Any thoughts/guidence would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.

If it was a CSA assessment then you need to pursue the arrears through the CSA.

If he is not paying the assessed amount directly then you ought to ask them to collect it on your behalf preferably by DEO.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.

The CSA say they will only collect arrears when there was an arrangement in place for them to collect the money on my behalf. The arrears before I asked them to collect the money on my behalf I will have to pursue myself and take my ex for through the county court if he will not pay.

So not really sure who is correct?

Saabgirl.

When i had problems with my ex paying through the CSA he asked me if we could have a ''family arrangement'' where he paid me direct. After talking to someone at the CSA i was told that if i agreed to this arrangement and the ex missed payments the CSA couldnt retrieve these payments off him and they would have to start the process from the beginning again. As the ex was already in arrears i didnt agree and now he pays me through the CSA. It may take longer on occasions but at least i know its coming!

I''m not sure when this process changed, as prior to me using the CSA the ex paid his first ex-wife direct but when she lied to the CSA about him not making payments when he paid in cash they took it out of his wages. Maybe the new system is to avoid parents paying twice like that?

I would imagine what the CSA have told you is correct and you would need to take your ex through county court.