quick poll needed, WWYD? with regards to CSA direct maintanence or leave the agency altogether?

[dangerousliaison]

Right here is my dilema...have been going through CSA for 4 years with no problems, untill they lost our assesment and claim and all info off the database, they reassesed as exp paying £0 a month he flaged this up with them as did i and they admitted that all previouse assesment records have been lost so they had him down as £0 income. has taken a month to get this sorted and was told it could take upto 12-15 weeks, that was fine we agreed maintenace direct with exp working out what he pays me based on csa calculator, standing order etc set up.

So get a call this morning from CSA saying i have been over paid by £3,000 , i was literaly shaking felt sick to the core etc etc, so told them that could not be as exp has had consistent wage for past 4 years with 6 month period staning senior and payments have adjusted acordingly. told her she needs to re look at figures. she calls me later to say she had re entered the £0 amount by mistake and had dated wrongly also so relieved I dont owe anything.

Exp wants to do away with CSA but Im reluctant as felt it was just a safeguard against any friction etc that may occur, we get on ok now, but do have times where things can be quite fraught, but not for a long time. And he is not always honest with me and his job at present is uncertain with transfere etc, I wouldnt trust him to not lie about his income if he took a transfere. However Im questioning wether or not i can trust the csa now especially after this morning. argggh have no idea what to do at the moment and I really need to decide ASAP, please help me make this decission.

I would avoid using them if you have a working arrangement. Surely what has just happened illustrates how useless they are at times?

I would stick with them tbh.

I know they are a nitemare (i use them for xh and xp) but what if you and your ex agree on an amount and he then starts mucking you about.
My xp controlled my maintenance as it was the only power he had over me, i only went to csa a year ago and its the best thing ive ever done, i just wish i'd done it 9 years ago!!!

I would let him pay direct, but make it by direct debit and ask to see his P60 or recent pay slips before you agree the amount (via the CSA calculator online). Then review it each year on sight of the P60, using going to the CSA as a threat if he won't show it to you. Yes, he could cancel the payments, but then if he was determined not to pay, he could probably dodge the CSA for years anyway. And sounds like he is OK about paying in principle.

I've done direct debit with my ex for years and, after initial grumbles from him about how much it was (the enourmous sum of £125 a month for two DC!) it has worked out fine.

The other thing to be aware of is that from next year the CSA will deduct a proportion of the money paid AND charge your ex extra. So if he currently pays you £100, he'd have to pay something like £110, and you'd only get £90. So better to avoid using them if you can.

I would stay with the CSA for all the reasons you stated you used them in the your post. When things go wrong, I would rather be pissed off with the CSA than involved in a financial tangle with a dishonest XP which I can never win because he won't be honest about his income.

By the way,as far as I know, the proposed changes to the CSA were thrown out by the House of Lords and are not yet law.

thanks for respnces, the csa lady said if there are any outstanding debts whilst with them they must retrive the money, if not it is up to us to sort out ourselfs. imjust torn for purly selfish reasons. However I think I would trust exp over csa. I suposse if he messes me around I can get back to csa quick smart. i like the idea about calculating each year based on his p60. I will talk to him in the week about this.

No, Corlan - the Lords amended them so that the upfront charge is only £20 (instead of £100 as originally proposed) but the government overode their other attempts to reform the bill, so as it stands at the moment the other charges will come in in the next year or so.

Thanks purpleroses - I'd missed that. (I was waiting for the next onslaught but I guess they got what they wanted)