The information you were told about occupational pensions is correct, the £50 disregard is only applied to contribution based JSA which you would not be eligible for if you have been in receipt of JSA during the two tax years that they would use to assess your claim for JSA. If you register for JSA then yes you will be signing the usual JSAg and need to follow the steps as agreed. If you know that you have already paid sufficient pension contributions then it is your choice if you claim JSA or not. As your job was for an 11 week period it could be treated as "Employment on Trial" and no referral would be referred to DMA (employed for a period between 4 and 12 weeks counts as this) http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/jsasanctions.pdf If in doubt about your contributions then you should request a pension forecast https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

Hello Logically, a permanent member of staff is unlikely to be in a position where they need to apply for their own jobs, so that isn't likely to be a comparative scenario! You have the right not to be treated less favourably due to your fixed term status - so the company must advertise the vacancy and offer you the opportunity to apply. If you failed the assessment, that will be the reason they didn't offer you the post - unless you can prove you should have passed, and they purposely failed you due to your fixed term status alone - which could be tricky.

I contacted my local MP via twitter and these are the responses I received:- "I have been assured you do not have to give your login and/or password but you will be asked to show evidence of your searches." "Was very senior DWP who confirmed so if you have any problem give me details and I will take it up."

Stop it. They asked for an "average" weekly cost. That means working out what it is likely to be over a period of time. You anticipated you'd be using the child carer but sometimes things changed. That is completely understandable, especially in light of your mum's operation and her needing some company to cheer her up. Do sit down though, quietly with a cup of tea, and cast your mind back and try to remember what you included/didn't include when you were doing the first estimated figures just in case you suddenly remember something. Did you, for example, include travelling costs to the childminder when you worked it out? Or anything like that? Truly, the sums involved here are a drop in the ocean to HMRC. Their only interest will be in recovering any overpayment. DDx

What's a WUM? As someone who was singled out for particular attention in *the post* I say this in response, this thread is about self respect; refusing to let yourself be brought down by the unacceptable behaviour of others. And certainly not about starting to behave like them. One of my favourite quotes is: 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.' But sometimes we all need a helping hand and thankfully others are often happy to give it, and later on you can become the helper. I started this thread (what seems like a very a long time ago now) because my very first appointment with ingeus left me feeling like a tearful nervous wreck, and seeking help online I could find nothing specific to Ingeus out there. Today the 'advisor' would get some softly spoken advice about the unacceptability of bullying. Followed by the appropriate remedial action if they persisted. It's called empowerment.

Look at this story re Arrow Global. http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/15324/online-news/debt-portfolio-purchases-boost-arrow-global-results They bought debts worth £804m for just £33m – or 4%. If I sold something worth £100 to someone for just £4, I’ve have the money laundering police at my door in five seconds flat... And in the meantime, the companies selling the debt simply write the whole lot off against tax. Look at the language of the quotes in that article. Debtors are simply regarded as ‘accounts’ and ‘assets’, never as human beings with problems (though I acknowledge many debtors are actually avoiders). I’ll vote for anyone who bans this industry and forces the original creditors to act themselves in recovery. But the likes of Barclays, HSBC, etc – the ‘caring’ High Street banks – don’t want their brands sullied by the kind of activities that DCAs and debt buyers undertake. And that’s why there’s a debt buying industry. It protects the image of the institutions that lend irresponsibly in the first place.

Your not in a criminal court and that line is a copy and paste of many DAW policies, the bit that is missing is "Isolated incidents of" how many incidents did you evidence

Ok. FOllow the advice CB posted in post #2 so people can help further.

The LL is most definitely liable as he allowed this to happen with full knowledge of the consequences that would arise, a 'letter before action'' is the logical next move.