Parents pursued for old debts

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By Phil Kemp Jonathan Maitland show, BBC Radio 5 Live There is no time limit by which the CSA must recover a debt from a parent.

Parents of grown-up children are being chased by the Child Support Agency for thousands of pounds of debt they never knew existed.

Some are facing debts accrued in the 1990s after having had no contact with officials for years.

The Child Support Agency, which became part of the new Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in 2008, said nobody should assume their liability had ended unless they had been formally notified of this.

Unlike debts owed to banks and other private companies, there is no time limit on when the Agency can pursue outstanding arrears outside of the courts.

One man who suddenly learned of a £12,000 debt he had accrued more than a decade earlier was Brian Barnett, who had divorced his wife Gillian in 1992.

'State of shock'

The couple, who have two children now aged 18 and 21, have remained on good terms and, because Brian had paid weekly maintenance to support them, they have never had any disagreements about finances.

But in late 2008, Brian was told of his outstanding arrears to the Child Support Agency - a debt he knew nothing about.

"I was actually in a state of shock because after 11 or 12 years, it was the last thing I expected," Brian told 5 Live.

They're taking harsh measures against debt that is now penalizing the very child that the child support is supposed to be paid to Michelle Counley, National Association for Child Support Action The debts relate to the period between 1993 and 1998 when Gillian was out of work, bringing up her children and claiming benefits.

The Child Support Agency argues that if Brian had been paying the amount of maintenance they told him to at the time, his ex-wife would not have needed as much financial support from the state.

"I have lots of friends who are single parents, and there were so many who had husbands who didn't pay," Gillian said.

"I find it appalling that you've got someone like Brian, who never shirked his duty."

Brian says the last contact he had with the Agency was in 1997 and he is angry they have waited so long before calling in the debt.

Complaints

But unlike most private debts - which have a time limit of six years - the Child Support Agency is allowed to recover outstanding arrears whenever it likes from a debtor's earnings.

Michelle Counley, chair of the support group, the National Association for Child Support Action, said Brian is just one of a growing number of complainants.

"A lot of this enforcement action is taken against non-resident parents that have regularly supported their children, maybe as a private arrangement with the parent with care," she said.

"But as benefits have been involved, there's an issue there of not being able to acknowledge payments that have been made, hence the non-resident parent is charged for the whole period again."

Child welfare

NACSA says it knows of cases where parents are being pursued for debts even when the child is now living with them.

"They're taking harsh measures against debt that is now penalizing the very child that the child support is supposed to be paid to," Michelle Counley said.

Figures released by the Child Support Agency show that the amount of debt it is recovering is rising.

Since December 2007, it has collected £156 million in outstanding arrears, which includes a quarterly increase of £7 million since September 2008.

A spokesman for the agency said it had made: "Good progress since 2006 in increasing the amount of maintenance debt recovered annually. In doing so it has reserved the right to take a fresh look at many cases, some of which may not have received full attention in the past.

"When making any decisions on debt recovery, however, the CSA will always consider the welfare of any child involved, the needs of the non-resident parent and any second family, and any representations of hardship that enforcement action might cause."

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Hear more about this story on the Jonathan Maitland show on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday 8 March at 1900 GMT, or download the free <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/5lr/">podcast.</a>