CSA late notification.....tricky case

My Ex put in for CM from the CSA as soon as we split last July. Because at the time she received CB for our daughter and I received CB for the son(no reason for this just must have been something to do with how we applied originally), the CM was calculated on one child. I asked if there was any current application for our son and was told no, I got them to put this in writing.

The CB was then changed in January and my Ex contacted the CSA. I didn't know about this until I got a letter in May telling me my circumstances have changed and I now have to pay a further 5%. No problem so far, except they want to backdate it to January. I have told them that this isn't acceptable and that I should only be paying from the time they contact me (May). They have spoken to me and try to tell me I have to pay, but I have stuck to my guns and said I should only have to pay from May, yet they are clearly trying to get me to admit to something along the lines of having claimed that I am liable for my son back last summer.

It strikes me from the way of the conversation that the CSA have to get some sort of confession from me so they can enforce the backpayments. My feeling is that I should not have to pay this as I did not possibly budget ( would be a real hardship to pay ) for it as I had written statement that my son had no CSA claim pending. I should of course been contacted by the CSA immediately that my ex had contacted them, but they simply didn't bother and have admitted to me over the phone that this was an error. Why should I have to suffer from their error?

One CSA guy told me that there was a fund that dealt with errors like this, but two CSA employers since are denying the existence of such a fund. Does anyone know if CSA errors are met by some sort of reserve????

I think the person was talking about Special Payments which are compensatory payments for financial loss, gross inconvenience as a result of maladministration. In the first instance you should write to them outlining your complaint, provide copies of any evidence supporting your complaint and ask to be considered for such a payment.

I would expect that the 'fund' they have mentioned will not be much use to you the most they will give you is an apology and possibly £50 if you really really complain. I can tell you that if your ex informed them of the change in january it is unlikely that the decision will be changed to may as the assesment effective date is based on the when they are notified by EITHER party.