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Dad's arrears claim fight
A SOUTH Yorkshire dad has been left bewildered by demands of £10,000 from the Child Support Agency - despite paying maintenance at a level agreed by a court.
Adrian Batty, aged 43, who is fighting the arrears with the help of a specialist solicitor, said he and new wife Claire are in constant fear of bailiffs turning up at their home in Fenn Road, Tankersley.
The agency claims Adrian has arrears - despite the builder complying with a court order made in 2003 to pay 25 a week, split between his daughter and a son.
And despite his having proof of the payments being made, the CSA insists Adrian owes more.
It claims Adrian's ex wife should have received 39 a week for daughter Rebecca, now 19, rather than the 12.50 set by the court.
His nine-year-old son from a different relationship also receives maintenance which is not in dispute.
Adrian said: "I paid what was agreed for Rebecca and, for three years, the CSA never said anything was wrong. Then they contacted me in 2006 and said I owed 9,000."
Over the last three years, Adrian has been locked in a dispute about how much is owed - and has received differing figures, the highest of which was 9,777 in April this year.
The agency demanded payments for Rebecca even after she had left school and college, when maintenance was supposed to stop.
Adrian sought help from specialist solicitors and Barnsley West and Penistone MP Mick Clapham wrote to the CSA on his behalf.
In response, Adrian heard a month ago that his arrears had been reduced to 1,798.
Just a week later, however, his solicitor Gill Bladen of Birmingham-based Child Support Solutions was told officials had decided Adrian should in fact pay 8,241.
Adrian, who lives in a council house, has no savings and earns 300 a week, said: "I cannot understand how they can make these demands.
"Even if I should have been paying Rebecca's maintenance to the level they claim, that only adds up to less than 4,500 for four years it was due."
Adrian believes he is "lucky" to have the support of wife Claire, with whom he has three-year-old son Ethan.
He said: "I am constantly worried bailiffs will turn up. I'm also concerned about how many other men in the same situation may not have the support I have - some of whom have been driven to suicide by CSA demands."
Adrian's solicitor Gill Bladen said she was "totally appalled by the CSA's actions".
A Child Support Agency spokesman said: "The agency will always take individual circumstances into account when calculating maintenance and pursuing money owed in arrears.
"We have been in contact with Mr Batty to address his concerns."
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Weather for Sheffield
Thursday 23 February 2012
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