Has anyone ever been successful in a complaint??
BLACKNWHITE999
I've been lurking around in here for the last couple of months and a lot of the
posts have been very useful so thanks to all for the help.
Well, out of the blue the CSA have closed my case......it revolved around
voluntary payments that I had been making to my ex for my son...she point blank
refused to acknowledge the fact that I had been paying!! Even though I had the
foresight to get her to sign for the payments before I left some dated cheques
before going back to work abroad the CSA refused to believe me even though I
provided them with written proof. A letter from my solicitor etc to prove that
I had been in the family household while we attempted to reconcile was also
ignored along with bills, delivery invoices, credit card bills with the home
address on etc etc.....the list was endless.
I can only assume that they must have realised she was lying after all the
evidence I was sending them started to add up.I was given a cursory phone call
to inform me of this...not one word of apology....so she gets away scot free
from any prosecution due to the fact that they "have closed the case"!!
The complaints I made led to a three page letter from their so called "Service
Manager" which contradicted itself, the information I asked for under the Data
Protection Act was tampered with, not one of them will give me a straight
answer...the phone bill went through the roof with being kept on hold all the
time....spent a small fortune on mail and solicitors letters and it has all
been "swept under the carpet" It took them over 9 months to get to this stage,
the basic simple clerical errors were endless, wrong dates etc, missing pension
payments in the original assessment, recorded delivery mail being logged in two
weeks after posting, surly unhelpful staff.....what a shambles. So, getting
back to the original question.........where do you go from here to try to gain
some satisfaction, they must have to be held accountable for all this grief,
worry and heartache that they've caused , is there anyone out there that will
listen to you, is it worth getting in touch with your MP??? Any advice would be
appreciated...thanks in advance.
jle...@uk.now.com
MP's are always a good start. If everyone plauges them it makes a
differance. However I do beleive that there is a complaints proceedure
that you can go through, they should inform you of this.
I also have just experienced the 'We did not receive it in time'
argument. Even though I posted a reply well within there 14 day dead
line. They claim that every letter is stamped when it arrives but
personally I think they lye through their teeth more often than not.
Its all to easy for them to blame the Post office for late delivery's
etc.
Good luck. and go for it, Robinhood
jle...@uk.now.com
PS I found this on FNF
You disagree with the Child Support Agency's assessment of your
maintenance payment, or think they have handled your case badly. Tony
Wright MP tells you what to do
Thursday July 19, 2001
Who do I complain to?
Maintenance payment
Stage one
Write to your local Child Support Agency (CSA) giving reasons why you
feel the assessment is incorrect. The decision-maker can look at your
case again and either correct any mistakes that may have occurred or
explain to you why certain decisions have been made.
You have a statutory right to request a review by a different child
support officer.
There are 7 main CSA offices. The name and telephone number of your
local office should also be on the letter informing you of the CSA's
decision:
Eastern Eastern Business Unit, Great Northern Tower, 17-21 Great
Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7AD (Helpline: 0845 7 132 000; Textphone:
0845 7 132 243)
Midlands Midlands Business Unit, Dudley CSAC, Pedmore House, The
Waterfront, Level Street, Brierley Hill, Dudley, West Midlands DY5 1XA
(Helpline: 08457 131 000; Minicom/Textphone: 08457 131 707)
Wales and North West Child Support Agency (Birkenhead), Post Handling
Section, 2 Weston Road, Crewe CW98 1BB (Helpline: 0845 7 138 000;
Welsh language enquiry line: 0845 7 138 091 Textphone: 0845 7 138 099)
Scotland and North-East England Falkirk CSAC, Parklands, Callendar
Business Park, Callendar Road, Falkirk FK1 1XT (Helpline: 0845 7 136
000; Textphone: 0845 7 136 804)
South East Hastings CSAC, Ashdown House, Sedlescombe Road North,
Hastings, East Sussex TN37 7NL (Helpline: 08457 134 000;
Minicom/textphone: 08457 134 700)
South West South West Business Unit, Plymouth CSAC, Clearbrook House,
Towerfield Drive, Bickleigh Down Business Park, Plymouth PL6 7TN
(Helpline: 08457 137 000; Minicom/textphone: 08457 137 217)
Northern Ireland Great Northern Tower, 17 Great Victoria Street,
Belfast BT2 7AD
General national enquiry line: 08457 133 133
You can ask for an internal review (section 18 review) if you are
unhappy with a CSA decision. The decision whether or not to undertake
the review is, in the first instance, at the CSA's discretion.
Stage two
If the CSA refuses to review your case or your case is rejected in the
review, you can appeal to the CSA central appeals unit: Child Support
Agency, Central Appeals Unit, R Block, Government Buildings, Lytham
St. Anne's FY1 1GJ
The unit decides whether to accept your appeal and may forward it to
the appeals service for consideration (replaced the child support
appeals tribunal). If your application is accepted the appeals service
will set up an independent tribunal to hear your case.
You must appeal within one month of receiving the CSA's decision
letter (although this may be extended in exceptional circumstances).
Fill out an appeal form (available from the CSA), stating:
• your child support reference number or departure application number
(this will be at the top of the letter telling you about the decision)
• the decision you are appealing against
• the date on the letter telling you about the decision
• the exact reason why you think the decision is wrong, and explain
your reasons
The tribunal will consider any representations you make but it cannot
change the law on which the assessment is based.
Stage three
If the CSA appeals unit refuses your leave to appeal you can take your
case to the child support commissioner: Harp House, 83 Farringdon
Street, London EC4A 4DH (Tel: 020 7353 5145 or 020 7454 4200; Fax: 020
7947 2171)
The commissioner can grant or refuse leave to appeal on the basis of
documents relating to your case. He/she may also require further
written submissions or conduct an oral hearing before doing so. If the
commissioner decides to grant leave to appeal he/she may also give
directions for the future management of the case.
For further information see the CSA leaflet How to appeal
Maladministration
Stage one
If you are unhappy about the CSA's service you should first write to
the customer service manager at the office you are dealing with. Their
address will be on any letters they have sent you.
Stage two
If you are unhappy with their response write to the chief executive at
the following address: Chief Executive, Child Support Agency, DSS
Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne NE98 1YX.
For people dealing with the Northern Ireland child support agency:
Chief Executive, NI Child Support Agency, Great Northern Tower, 17
Great Victoria Street, Belfast BT2 7AD
Stage three
If you are still dissatisfied with the response from the chief
executive or someone responding on their behalf, you can complain to
the independent case examiner: PO Box 155, Chester, CH99 9SA or PO Box
1245, Belfast, BT2 7DF (Tel: 0151 801 8800; Fax: 0151 801 8825;
Minicom: 0151 801 8888; Local Call Rate 0845 606 0777) Email:
i...@ukgov.demon.co.uk
The examiner deals with complaints about the way that the CSA has
handled your case, including issues such as long delays, mistakes or
impolite staff. She cannot deal with complaints or disputes on matters
of law relating to child support.
Write within 6 months of receiving a response from the chief executive
of the CSA. Your letter should contain the following details:
• your name and address
• your date of birth
• your CSA reference number (if you know it) and the name of the
office or centre that you have been dealing with
• details of the responses you have already received from the CSA
about your complaint - if possible copies of letters from the customer
service manager and chief executive
• an explanation of exactly what you are not happy about
• details of what you think the CSA should do to settle your complaint
• your daytime telephone number
The examiner has the right not to investigate complaints if she
considers the application unsuitable.
More information about the CSA complaints procedure is included in the
leaflet How to complain about the CSA
What grounds do I have to complain?
You can appeal against decisions on how your child maintenance has
been calculated. You cannot appeal against how the maintenance is to
be paid - for instance, the CSA may decide to collect child
maintenance by deducting it from your earnings.
The CSA deals with parents of children under the age of 19, who do not
live with them.
As a basic rule, maintenance is calculated according to the following
criteria:
• They allow essential living expenses for you and any of your own
children who live with you, plus rent or mortgage costs for the house
you live in if you or your partner are the householder.
• There may also be a weekly allowance for travel costs for journeys
to work which are more than 150 miles a week in a straight line
distance. If you transferred property or capital to your former
partner before April 1993, the CSA may include an allowance for this
transfer that could reduce your maintenance assessment.
• These figures are deducted from your net income (net income means
the amount you are left with after paying tax, national insurance
contributions and half of any pension contribution).
• The amount left is called assessable income. Generally, the CSA
assesses maintenance at half of this amount up to a minimum weekly
maintenance requirement. So for example, if your assessable income
after allowing for essential expenditure is £130, the amount available
for maintenance would be £65 per week.
• You will not have to pay more than 30 per cent of your net income
(as assessed under child support rules) towards regular maintenance,
or up to 40% if you owe child maintenance from the past.
Further information and advice can be obtained from the national
general helpline (08457 133 133).
More information about your assessment can be found in leaflet CSA
2024 'Your child maintenance assessment and help in meeting
exceptional circumstances' (this should be sent with your decision
letter) and CSA 2006 'A guide to child support decisions'. These are
available from the national general helpline.
Will I get a fair hearing?
The CSA appeals unit and the appeals service are not part of the CSA.
Appeal tribunals are independent of the CSA and are made up of a
legally qualified member sitting alone, or a legally qualified member
sitting with a member who has financial expertise (if the appeals
service feels this is necessary).
The child support commissioner is appointed by the Queen and is of a
standing equivalent to circuit judges.
The independent case examiner is independent of the CSA.
What will happen if I'm successful?
If the tribunal finds that you have paid too much child maintenance,
your subsequent regular payments will be adjusted accordingly to take
this into consideration. This ensures that the child does not go for a
period with no maintenance payments at all. You will not be refunded
the full amount as a lump sum.
You can claim travel expenses from the appeals service for the money
you have to spend on your travel to and from an oral hearing in the
UK. You can also claim expenses if you need an interpreter.
If the independent case examiner fully or partly upholds your
complaint, she may ask the CSA to apologise. She may also ask them to
review their procedures. The examiner may recommend that the CSA
consider paying you compensation if you have suffered financial loss
because they delayed things, made a mistake, or given you the wrong
information.
Anything else I can do?
If you think the appeal tribunal's decision is wrong on a point of law
you can appeal to the social security commissioner. Information about
how to appeal will be on the letter informing you of the tribunal's
decision. You can dowload the appeal application form here. The
commissioner is able to override the tribunal's decision or refer the
case to a different tribunal and tell them how to deal with it.
Appeals against the commissioner's decisions can be taken to the court
of appeal (or court of session in Scotland).
In cases of maladministration you can ask your MP to put your
complaint to the parliamentary ombudsman. You can do so whether or not
you have first complained to the independent case examiner. However,
the independent case examiner will not look at complaints which the
ombudsman has investigated or is investigating. Further information is
available from: Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for
Administration, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QP (Helpline:
0845 015 4033; Fax: 020 7217 4160) Email:
OPCA.En...@ombudsman.gsi.go.uk
For further information and advice also contact the citizens' advice
bureau or the law society.
Useful Links
Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act
Your legal guide to child support
How to complain about the CSA
Gingerbread Organisation
National Council for One Parent Families
One Parent Families Scotland
Single Parent Action Network
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