Suspected fraud with C.S.A & C.B

A question about : Suspected fraud with C.S.A & C.B

Hi all,
Hoping that members can give some advice.
My husband has discovered from his daughter who's 19 this September that she started her college course in September 14 then dropped out 3 weeks later and is now working almost full time.
There has been hardly any contact between them for the last few years,she doesn't answer his calls hardly,and doesn't seem to bother with him at all so it's just the occasional contact he has with her when she wants to talk to him..
We now know this change has not been reported by his ex wife to the Csa or child benefits as the payments for child benefit are still active.
The csa confirmed yesterday when they rang me.
He had already reported his ex wife to C.B in July because his daughter had moved in with her boyfriend last January,(didn't discover this till July.) Whether or not child benefit have followed this up we don't know.
He has been paying his C.S.A payments and had no idea to be honest,he has also contacted child benefit to report this to them.
As far as we know,they have opened an investigation as case of fraud,as his ex wife is clearly claiming child benefit and csa payments and his daughter is not now in full time education.
He managed to contact his ex wife last week to ask why she had not reported these changes,which she said she had and all her payments have stopped.
We didn't know at this point that child benefit was still active,until the Csa confirmed this yesterday,so she has clearly lied.
She said that she would be phoning Csa the next day to find out what was going on,but they confirmed they have had no contact from her.
We are now so confused by this,as the Csa have basically said there is nothing they can do.They tried to contact his ex wife yesterday,but she didn't answer.
Because child benefit is active,and they have confirmation from his ex wife that his Daughter would be in education from the 7th of September 2014 to September 2015 the payments will just continue.
Although child benefit are aware now that his daughter is not in full time education, my husband cannot contact them and receive feed back or have any updates as to the outcome of the case.
It's almost like we have hit a brick wall.
Is there anything else my husband and I can do.He is so stressed over this as he feels really let down by the system.
In his own words,why can't the Csa just contact the Daughters college,confirm her leaving date,& stop his payments.

Best answers:

• Can I ask just double check that you were given this information from a staff member of the CSA? I used to work within the CSA and someone giving such information is a blatant Data Protection issue. Bearing in mind you are not the parent this is also concerning as this would not normally discussed with yourself either. It is not policy for the CSA to divulge such information as this would clearly cause distress as in your case. I suggest you contact the CSA and speak with a Team Manager and explain the information you are being given. You can easily request a re assessment of your circumstances and that will prompt your husbands ex wife to re confirm on paper. It sounds as if there is a lot of resentment and bitterness with your comments about the daughter not contacting much. This is nothing to do with what is being paid. These are two separate issues. I hope that you get the case reassessed and then the resentment and stress can be lessened for you both.
• Hi,
  I had it in writing from child benefit that they DO NOT follow up on fraud claims between parents.
  My child came to live with me (200 miles from the other parent) but the other parent just continued to claim child benefit (and child support). I made a competing claim for the child benefit as it was my entitlement (which you can't do) and months later the award came to me, but the CSA still pursued me! They will abuse you, and they CAN abuse you, without any risk. Believe me, I have been through the ICE and the PHSO, who DO NOT concede to wrong doing on the part of the CSA. This is the reason why the CSA will treat you disgracefully, and in spite of the law - they have NOTHING and NOBODY to fear.
  Basically, nothing will happen to the mother, she can fraudulently claim CB and CS and nothing will happen to her, not even a rap on the knuckles. The CSA love easy money like yours, and they love to create resentment between parents.
  HMRC do not do a very good job, and the CSA take total advantage of that fact. There is no 'qualifying child' in your case, the CSA can establish this fact, but they won't. You must write to them, tell them that there is NO QUALIFYING CHILD, that the child benefit award is bogus and all I can do is wish you the very best of luck, because blatant injustice is really not something that anybody cares about in the UK, particularly not our authorities and those who are paid to police them.
• The CSA have confirmed CB award is in place to the PWC, and they said they had attempted to contact the PWC without success. Out of interest gerri1030, what is the blatant data protection issue in this information?
• If you look at issues I have raised in the past & asked questions about on here ,you will see the same happened to my husband (I'm a NRPP) The CSA said as long as the CB was being paid they were entitled to collect maintenance.They have no time to look into these cases so the pwc got away with claiming when she shouldn't have been. Very frustrating ,they just don't want to know!
• Result !!!!!! I can't believe it.!!!
  The Csa have rung me this afternoon.
  (Just to add gerri I omitted to say that I am named on the case & can speak on my husbands behalf. He doesn't read or write and gets very confused with these kind of things hence me helping him when the need arises.)
  Csa have managed to contact Pwc today & she has admitted to them her daughter moved out in September 2014.
  She basically didn't think she ought to tell them this,or child benefit for that matter either.
  That's strange I said considering I reported to C.B in July 2014 that she had already moved out,but we have accepted the date,& the Csa are going to close the case.
  My husband will be refunded what he has overpaid.
  At least we know the Csa payments have been give to his daughter,so that's some consolation I guess.
  I have phoned child benefit fraud department again this afternoon to follow up & given them this updated information.
  An investagation was opened last week anyway,so now she will definitely accountable for fraudulently claiming child benefit as Csa told me on Monday it was still in place.
  Happy days,there is light at the end of the tunnel.
• The difference is that the NRP now has the choice about whether to pay his daughter any money, how much is up to him and he doesn't have to pay it via the PWC who has clearly been dishonest.
  I don't think anyone has stated that he won't be supporting his daughter, just that he won't have to continue to pay the CSA money that the PWC was not entitled to receive.
• Yes ,I got the feeling that they would rather support the daughter themselves & know she was receiving the money than be told to by CSA to pay the pwc (using a set of rules that were obviously being used dishonestly)
• Seriously you have no idea of the circumstances
  Sure I'm bitter towards the pwc,who wouldn't be,my vehicle scratched,my tyres nailed,but this has nothing to do with the fact that fraud has being committed,and I have never dictated to my husband how his relationship should be with his Daughter,it's not my place to do so perhaps you could have considered this before you posted.
  What has transpired since my last post to be honest I don't really think he will be financially supporting her from now on.
  He feels upset & very betrayed naturally,when all he has wanted to do was have a trusting and close relationship with her & he now is certain that his daughter knew that the payments should have ceased.
  At nearly 19 she should be supporting herself anyway in my opinion,he has never missed any payments,but those payments will now end.
  Thank you all for taking the time to post.
• I would heartily recommend 'families need fathers' for advice on all CSA issues, they helped me no end after the CSA denied they'd received documents they had, started a DEO after I even hinted as I was paid 4 weekly they could have their payments 2 weeks late rather than 2 weeks early, let alone did it!
  The PWCs new partner lied about his earnings so they ended up on benefits which triggered the CSA assessment despite having a legally binding court order which I had to insist on doing in the 1st place!
  FWIW- not all 'absent parents' or whatever they like to call them nowadays are absent by their own choice or out to cheat their children of a fair deal, the vast majority just want to be treated fairly, something the CSA couldn't give a stuff about -they aren't about supporting children at all.
  FNF are a registered charity and are absolutely brilliant in their advice and support.
  https://www.fnf.org.uk
• Why is it when ever I read the CSA board the man is getting a bashing? If this was any other board and someone was committing proved benefit fraud they'd be the scum of the earth, yet on here they are just the poor woman with a bitter ex and/or bitter exes new partner.
  From what I can see she has blatantly committed benefit fraud on purpose and also continued to receive CSA. If a NRP doesn't pay they rightly hound him, why shouldn't she be hounded for swindling the system?
• And why should people always be morally hounded into still giving their kids money once their CSA payments stop? It breeds a dependency culture where something is received for nothing, just like benefits. If your kid is 19 and has a job, they can, and should be supporting themselves.
  I didn't get any financial support from my parents when I left home and certainly didn't expect any.