What's going on?!

My ex quit his job a little while ago, and so my payments from him stopped. I e-mailed the CSA to find out what was happening, and they said that they were processing the claim and would let me know what was going on shortly. I received a letter a few days later saying that my ex had to pay £0.00 for my daughter. I was a bit annoyed, and am in the process of appealing it.

Today however, I get another letter through the post from them, saying that
"You have asked us not to collect £(amount) of child maintenance from (my ex) that they owe for - (My daughter)
I can now confirm that we will not be collecting this amount at this time. "

I deffinatly haven't asked them not to collect this amount! It is quite an amount of money (nothing in the hundreds, but still a fair amount) and I am confused why they have said they won't collect the debt? I didn't even know there was a debt!

Hi,

Are they just standard letters being sent out? Could be an admin error?

Assume if your ex isnt working then its highly possible the maintenance could be nil, or minimum.

Ring em up and ask whats going on perhaps...ive always found them quite helpful

Hope you get it sorted out one way or another.

Regards
DA

I wouldn't have thought it was a standard letter, as it had details of the debt amount, my daughters name and date of birth, my ex's name etc. I'm not sure about admin error because of the same reasons.
I've e-mailed them, as I get quicker results than when I ring, as they always say "we'll get back to you" or "we will look into it" and then don't bother calling back for weeks. I normally get a phone response within a week if I e-mail!
My ex isn't working, but he is getting money from somewhere. He is renting a private flat and pays rent, he doesn't get housing benifit. He is constantly getting new tattoos, mobile phones, alcohol and going on spending sprees. He likes to boast about it all on facebook!

Ah, I rarely believe a word I read on Facebook.

MMM the famous international social networking site seems to be held accountable for so much these days......

Firstly,I would be inclined to print off all the posts (I did and used it in my court case twice successfully)to use as evidence. Focussing especially on the posts that brag about his activities that suggest that he isn't unemployed.

Secondly, I would nag and nag and nag the CSA especially if you believe money is owed to you, ensuring that at the end of every phone call you ask them to read back to you what they have entered into your case history and get that persons name. Make a log of it (keep a diary). They should keep telephone recordings as well, to use as last resort, I relied on this a couple of times when I needed to evidence that I had in the past notified them of an extraordinary event.

One of the things they do consider is what they call 'variations' (think its the CSA 1991, Sch 4B part 1 e)where 'lifestyle is inconsistent with declared income'. This may be of use. Because if you have evidence that he is not unemployed then you can use it. Be sure however, that you obtained it by accessing it from the public webpage and not by hacking in to his account. This would be inadmissible (and probably illegal under privacy law). Im not legally trained so cant guarantee im a 100% but it may well be an avenue worth pursuing.

His facebook is open, he doesn't seem to have anything hidden. Anyone can access his page. I have copied things he has put, especially as he puts photos up (has a photo of his new tattoo on there at the minute, photos of several bottles of alcohol in his flat, photos of his new phone). He could be getting them on the cheap, but he told the CSA that he is getting less than £5 a week income. If he truely was, he wouldn't be able to buy these things, unless he saved up for a very very very long time!!
I emailed the CSA already, and will give them until the middle of next week to reply. If I don't hear anything, I will e-mail again. I usually get faster results that way. Plus I don't have a house phone, and calling them often costs me a lot of money on my mobile!

Does he ever arrange to do jobs for anyone (say, if he was a builder/plumber/carpenter or something like that) things like that are most useful to show he isn't unemployed.