Mother fails in bid to sue the CSA
20 Jun 07
Court of Appeal rules that no common law duty of care owed by Child Support Agency
The Court of Appeal has ruled against a divorced mother's attempts to sue the Child Support Agency for negligent handling of her claim for maintenance.
Denise Rowley, a mother of three children the eldest of whom had cerebral palsy, had sued the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions having originally applied for maintenance in December 1997. She alleged negligence in that the CSA (i) delayed in carrying out the maintenance assessment; (ii) obtained inadequate information on which to base the assessment; (iii) made interim and final assessments that were wrong; (iv) delayed in enforcing the assessments; and (v) delayed in dealing with her appeal against the assessment.
Ms Rowley alleged that she had had to live with her sister because she could not afford to stay in the matrimonial home without adequate maintenance, and was eventually forced to sell the home at an undervalue because it had been left vacant for nearly two years.
Lord Justice Dyson, delivering the leading judgment, said he could not accept the argument that the role of the CSA was sufficiently close to that of a solicitor acting before the Child Support Act 1991 to justify imposing a duty of care. It was clear, he said, that a common law duty of care would be inconsistent with the statutory scheme created by the 1991 Act.
"In my view, the existence of the right of appeal given by section 20 and the right to receive interest on arrears in prescribed circumstances given by section 41, when taken in conjunction with the right to seek judicial review of failures to collect or enforce arrears of maintenance, means that the 1991 Act provides the person with care with substantial protection against incompetence on the part of the CSA."
He added that the fact that there might be cases where incompetence on the part of the CSA caused loss which could not be recovered under the statutory scheme was not a sufficient reason to impose a duty of care.
Ms Rowley's case was backed by the family law association of solicitors, Resolution. A spokesperson for the association said the judgment was major blow for other families wronged by the CSA.
Her solicitors are considering seeking leave to appeal to the House of Lords.
The judgment citation is [2007] EWCA Civ 598 .