Child Support Agency made handling errors but put them right; ICE handled complaint reasonably

What happened

In 2005 the Agency assessed Mr P's liability for child maintenance, which he paid through a deduction from earnings order. His employment ended later that year so he stopped paying that way. He says that he paid his ex-partner directly from that point.

At various times between then and early 2011, the Agency sent Mr P letters and tried to trace him, but there were big gaps in its actions (18 months at one point, eight months at another). In early 2012 the Agency managed to contact Mr P and sent him a collection schedule backdated to 2005. He told the Agency that he had been making payments directly to his ex-partner, but he could not provide any written evidence of this (for example, bank statements). His ex-partner told the Agency that, while he had made some direct payments during that period, he owed her a lot of money. The Agency calculated Mr P's arrears and told him that he had to pay them.

Mr P complained to the Agency and it gave him another opportunity to show evidence that he had made payments. He was unable to give enough evidence.

The Agency apologised for its poor service when it delayed tracing Mr P, and paid him £75. Mr P complained to ICE, which was satisfied that the Agency had acted reasonably.

What we found

The Agency was too slow when it tried to find Mr P. Had it not delayed, it would probably have contacted Mr P sooner and reminded him about the requirement to show evidence of his payments to his ex-partner sooner than it did.
However, it was his responsibility to be aware of that requirement from the start. The fact that a reminder was delayed does not remove that responsibility. That being the case, the apology and £75 offered were a reasonable remedy. We were therefore satisfied with the Agency's final position and with ICE's decision.

 Putting it right

When Mr P approached us, he mentioned service improvement, which had not been a focus of his complaint to the Agency or ICE. In light of that, we have recommended that the Agency consider how it can improve its service to make sure that non resident parents are chased promptly.