Thanks for the help, I'm not panicking at the moment, I think that at the end of the day, they will give up, they have no evidence whatsoever, whereas I have bucket loads, with text messages that have been transcribed, and witness statements, that I'll use as a trump card should it get to court, which I doubt will happen Regards Ken

Thank you Ken

[ATTACH]51594[/ATTACH] Hello CitizenB, Please find attached PDFs hope these are more readable [ATTACH]51597[/ATTACH][ATTACH]51599[/ATTACH][ATTACH]51598[/ATTACH]

here are rhe letters from solicitor and our repy thus far;[ATTACH=CONFIG]51575[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]51576[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]51577[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]51578[/ATTACH]

Fortunately we took the advice of a friend and informed the local authority ourselves, they visited him when we wern't there, and told him he could not live in it and he should take evrything out that effectively makes it a dwelling, i.e. bed, kitchen appliances etc. and that they would return to check when it had been done. He then decided to set up home in our conservatory without our consent, then after the second visit he put it all back again. and continued to use it as temporary dwelling between shows.

Hi All, and thanks for taking the time to read this. I am a trader at shows around the country, four years ago, I befriended a guy who was down on his luck, and offered to put him up for a few months, after this he moved out, however a few months later he was back again, after a few more months he suggested that he put a small cabin on our patio to use when he wasn't attending events as a place to "lay his head". after much deliberation with my wife I agreed but pointed out that it was a temporary arrangement until such times as he got himslef sorted out. well four years on the guy became somewhat of a bully and suggested we should make this and that changes to our home and land, we certainly resisted, however we became very scarred to oppose him as he has a very strong character. The financial arrangement, sugessted by him, was that he pay me £50/week in arrears for the privalage of using mu patio to site the small cabin, it turned out to be huge!!, and one third of the electricity used on a quarterly basis when the bill arrived, anyway, he started to miss these so called goodwill payments, and in 2013 was in debt to for £1000, I did suggest on a number of occasions that he settle, however the debt grew during the months to May 1st when he left owing me some £3000, he has now contacted a solicitor with a view to recovering stock and some other goods left at our property, he is also claiming Propriety Estoppel on my patio ( we've poo poo'd this as utter rubbish), his solicitor is also claiming that as the payments made were "goodwill payments" there is no debt, ..I have written to him on the 1 st may requesting that he roemove his goods and chattels by 30 june at which time or sometime thereafter the goods will be sold at auction to realise the debt, his solicitor is saying we cannot do that, as it is theft. in the second solilictor's letter he is contradicting most of the things he said in the first letter,, I have all the correspondance and can post it here when/if neccesary. We have loads of evidence to prove he not telling the truth. wonder, initially should we stand our ground or give in? kindrst regards to all who read this Ken

Hi all, I have found my pensions, Friends Life have them all, greedy lot eh? Thanks HB and to all that have contrubuted, the advice and guidence is very much appreciated Ken

I know it's been a long time, but I got the result I was looking for I got all whats was owed, plus another 2k, I did leave the company, hence the 2k "hush money".....I just became an itch they couldn't scratch

Hi HB, great to talk to you again, you were a great help a few years ago I used the tracing service and it's they who pointed me to Phoenix Life, just seems that Phoenix Life are either giving me the runaround because they "lost my pensions" or they are genuine dumb asses , I sent them scans of some correspondence, that I had, 2 pension statements to be precise, one of which is an opted out pension (I believe that's the correct term) where my NI contributions were paid to Colonial, and not the government or something along those lines. Well thanks for your help thus far, I will continue with my quest Kindest regards Ken

Hello all, It's been a while since I've needed help, I'm so confused:- I have several pensions, they are very small occupational and some private pensions that I have paid into. I searched for similar post but keep going round in circles;- OK I have five small pensions that I stopped paying into about 12 years ago,, during a move Lost all details, however the good news is that the pension have moved to different companies, three I have tracked down, the other two are causing me grief, I originally took the pensions with Colonial Mutual, who then went from a Mutual company to a Limited company, I have sort of tracked down who is supposed to be administering these two pension and I'm told that they can find no details. and suggested that I write to another branch, the company is Phoenix Life, original contact was with their Welwyn Garden City Office, the wrote back saying they have no records of my two pension funds, and told me to write to their Romford Branch, this I did, then got a letter from Romford saying they have no records, and told me to write to Britannic assurance and Scottish Mutual in Glasgow, I wrote to both companies a month ago, and still haven't heard anything,I'm concerned that these two funds have disappeared! The reason that I'm chasing is A tricky one, I was made redundant 2 years ago, and of course this has eaten away at my savings so now, I want to release some cash from my pensions to pay off debts and all finance agreements, this will leave me clear to at least have some sort of normality. One group of pensions is worth 24k and I've been told that I can leave it with a pension of £127/p.a., buy annuity, draw a tax free lump sum, and have a pension of £122/p.a, I rather draw the lot as 120quid a year is not worth a lot, and it would be more beneficial to pay off debts and avoid the 1200/p.a interest. Help would be very much appreciated Kind regards A confused Ken

Wow thanks for speedy responses. They have owed me money which has been increasing every month for over a year, there is no provision in my T&C to allow them to withhold pay under any circumstances, I believe that the company may be in financial trouble and have used the fuel receipts ploy to dismiss me without redundancy pay. The fuel receipts (four that were bought to my attention) although there are more, were not legitimate, however I can prove through bank and credit card statements that the fuel was legitimately purchased and furthermore the consumption figures justify the purchase amounts. Othyer engineers have come under the hammer too, it seems like an employee thinning program. Regards to all Ken

I was dismissed for gross misconduct, failure to provide "proper" fuel receipts, I did ask a friend to get some for me as I forgot to get them from the fuel station. so I submitted these, they were accepted and duly paid, I have bank/credit card statements to verify but this evidence was not accepted at the hearing, I have sent two letter of appeal. to which I received no reply. The said company owe me ITRO 5k in back pay, I was asked to submit details which I have. I had a call from the MD who said they weren’t gonna pay me a penny as I ripped the company off, I didn't and I can prove it. He added that If I pursue my claim he will take up criminal charges against me for the forged receipts, What can I do, roll over or fight for what is rightfully mine? Kindest regards Ken

Hello everyone, I have a friend of for one reason or another has had a bad time over the last 10 years, in and out of mental hospitals, homelessness and so on. He is just about sorted himself out, he has a nice little 1 bed flat, he is claiming DLA, he has acute asthma and of course his mental problems. He has had a visit from Rossendales, thank goodness he had the presence of mind not to let them in, they are collecting on behalf of the city council an unpaid council tax bill...from 2001, he moved out of the house as he and his are estranged and divorced for nearly 10 years. Questions are, is this debt out of time, if not why are Rossendales chasing him for a debt that clearly belongs to his wife; he tells me there was no mutual arrangement to clear any debts, and as far as he is concerned there was no debt. What should be his next step?

I have asked for a meeting to discuss the details in more detail, and to get something written in to my T&C. I will let you know how it goes in due course. Thanks for all your help

I had a phone call from the Operations manager today, full of apologies, saying that I had been charged 40% VAT in error, well I nearly fell off my chair, he of course meant 40%TAX, so I said OK so when am I getting my money? He said it will all be sorted with my next payslip. Moving on I explained that is was unlawful to deduct moneys from my pay, he said he wasn’t aware of this, so I said what are you gonna do about it, he said I don’t know but I don’t pay travelling. I said you have for the past 17 months to which he replied I got my arse well and truly kicked over that. I replied well as you have been it now forms part of my T&C of employment, he mumbled Oh! S**T I said and what about extra time for work, he said that I should call the office, I said I have no direction either written or verbal telling me this, You told me to book it on job sheet and weekly time sheet, which I have done, so under those circumstances I want that money too.. He assured me that then full amount will be in my bank next pay day…..So, shall I wait? Or put in a grievance anyway.

The first verbal agreement was made in May 2009, Since this date I have been claiming and receiving Travel time and extra time payments. After two further meetings I stiill claim and receive these payments. My thoughts rightly or wrongly, are that if a verbal agreement was made and the company has honoured this agreement for the last seventeen month, then has become part of my contract. I have payslips and wage claims for all periods.

There is nothing in writing, however proof that they have been paying it for the last 17 months by comparing claims against payments show that there is a contract in force, albeit verbal, and as I understand things, a verbal "proovable" contract is as good as a written one.

Hello SarEl, I had an agreement with the Operations manager that was formed in May 2009, that was reiterated and confirmed on a further two occasions whereby I would claim and receive £8.15 every hour for travelling from my base (home) to the first job, then from the for job to the second job etc...then from my last job to home. Also I would get paid day rate to travel from the storage facility near my home to two sites in the midlands, a round trip of 200+ miles to drop off old stock and collect new, This is an all day job, as I have to empty the van of tools etc.. Load up with spent stock, drive to a site 80 miles, empty van of spent stock, and load with new. Then on to the second site, 70n Miles, where I collected additional stock, drive back to store empty and new stock into store, reload the van with tools and equipment. In addition I would claim and receive £4.00 every half hour over the half hour allocated for the job. For example if one job took 35Minutes I'd get paid for the joc plus £4.00, if the job took 55 Minutes I'd get paid for the job plus £4.00, if the job went ove sixty minutes I get paid for the job and £8.00 and so on. After checking my pay at the end of October I noted that there is a shortfall of just over £1k Gross, I informed the Operations Manager and got no reply, I contacted him again the next day impressing that I needed this to sorted out as a matter of urgency, he replied that he was sorting it out as a matter of urgency.. I let two days pass, then emailed him requesting an update, he answered that he was working on it. Come Friday I still hadn't heard anything so I emailed and text him, to which I got no reply, neither did I get a reply when I called him on his mobile and landline. I attempted to contact him every day in the following week, with no success, I knew he was in his office and contactable. So I sent an email stating that I want the balance of my pay in my account by 09:00 Friday 13th, To which he replied in an email, I don’t pay travelling, I don’t pay extra time on jobs, nor do I pay for engineers to collect stock.. He said that I was holding him to ransom and agreed to pay some £400 of my travelling time but no extra time on jobs and that as from that day he no longer will pay travelling time or extra time. Nor will he pay me to collect stock, meaning that I would work a whole day for nothing. He said the money would be in my account by 09:00 Friday Under protest I agreed to accept the £400 on this occasion but I require the extra time money £385. To which I received no reply. I checked my bank account Friday morning and £270 had been paid in, short of what he offered and short of what I agreed to. So I tried to contact him, and again to no avail, so I emailed him saying that I withdraw my agreement of the £400. And now require the full balance of my claim to paid in close of business 22 November 2010. No money, no contact, In summary:- 1) These stoppages where made with notification. a) They stopped a legitimate claim for travelling time that was agreed b) They stopped Extra time payment. c) Stopped day rate payment for collecting stock d) They have withdrawn without notice Future payments for travelling time without notice or consultation or my agreement e) They have withdrawn future payment for extra time without notice or consultation or my agreement f) They have withdrawn day rate payment for stock collection without notice or consultation or my agreement Does this clarify my position?

What about the recent change, without warning regarding travelling time and extra time on jobs, that have been stopped from my October pay, and I was informed of this in the 12 November?

Opps, sorry SarEl, wasn't aware, perhaps we should have pink and blue for names, opps, sexist, gosh how does one determine?????????

Hi HB, thanks for the heads up regarding SarEl, it just seemed to me as though he didn't understand the message I was attempting to across, and to be honest I was getting really frustrated. So if I have offended you SarEl, please accept my sincerest apology. OK back to Biz, All I'm seeking is the money I am owed, and a continuance of travel expenses and extra time taken on jobs. But hearing from other employees and former employees, who by the way have left because of the way they were treated, that then MD is attempting to raise the the companies profile with a view to selling it on, of course we all know that if the profitability of a company is good, then it's more attractive to potential purchasers, I've been told that this is how he makes his fortune, Well good on him as long he he doesn't do it by treating employees badly, especially me!!!! And if it transpires that I might have a case for wrongful dismissal or constructive dismissal in the future, a nice little bit of his profits wouldn't go amiss. Regards Ken

Actually I'm not an idiot, I have a Bsc with Honours and a BA. I also taught IT, Business studies and Maths and accounting at a further education establishment. I ran at director level three very successful companies. I treated my employees with respect and paid them accordingly with bonus if I felt they deserved it. I retired early some 4 years ago, but got bored, so I was offered this job to keep me occupied locally. I was asked if I would work all of East Anglia/East Midlands until they had found someone suitable in each of the major cities in that area. After recruiting some, lets say, "Intellectually challenged", personnel and sacked them, they still have not engaged suitable personnel: Maybe as they package is worth tiddly squat. I had an agreement with the Operations Manager to pay travelling time and extra time on jobs should they go over 30 mins, for work outside my agreed area of work. As far as I am aware I am an Employee I'm monthly paid, pay tax and insurance through the PAYE system, I have 28 days paid leave and if I'm sick I get SSP. Up to May 2009 I was on a fixed wage with bonus, when I got a letter from the MD saying that as from immediate effect I would not be paid a basic wage, but instead I would be paid per job. I protested vigorously saying that under the new scheme I would lose over £400 per week, yes week! At the time I'd only been with the company 2 months so jumping up and down and getting excited would have left me jobless. Not that I need the job for financial reasons, more sanity reasons. Anyway there is a principal here: Since May 2009, I have been claiming and receiving travelling pay and extra time on jobs, with only arguments on two occasions where I needed to go to the office and reiterate the agreement I had with the Operations Manager. Then my pay at the the End of October was over £1k short, so I got in touch with the office, and still they are not answering my telephone calls, emails, text messages etc... Does this clarify where I'm at? By the way I really don't take kindly to rude comments, it is totally unnecessary and counter productive, perhaps it may have better if you had asked the correct questions to attract the right answers. Anyway I'm not an employment guru and was using this site to get some valuable advice so that I can make an informed decision as to what my next steps would be if any.... So lets bury the hatchet, shake hands and start over again.

Sorry to have to ask, but what sort of educational qualifications to hold?

Complete and utter rubbish! I am sorry - I am not "against you" here - but googling does not make a case Not trying to make a case that's for legal guys, just looking for facts. You agree with me that if you are sick or decline the work, then you do not get paid NO. An employee gets sick pay (at least SSP) if they are sick! I get SSP An employee cannot decline work I can't decline work - but you suggest that you can do so and the company simply goes to someone else Didn't suggest this, I saw this quote on another forum. You have worked on these terms for well over a year Under written protest - so you have agreed to them Haven't agreed to them. Everything you are saying is making a strong case that you are a contractor I get holiday pay, SSP Pay PAYE from my gross earnings, and therefore the issue is one of an alleged debt between a contractor and their client. And if that is the case then there may be a civil case for alleged debts owed to you - but there is no case of anything in employment law because you are not an employee. It is possible that the company may have made a mistake in law which has created an employee relationship - but if that is the case you will need a lawyer to go over evrything including the two contracts and anything else you have. It is utterly impossible to do that here, and on that basis, assuming you are an employee when all the evidence suggests otherwise would be steering you in entirely the wrong direction and land you in greater trouble.

Oh dear, I did say this seems complex, and to reiterate "I guess a lot of people are in the same boat. ACAS told me that if I continued with the new T&C under protest regardless how long I continued, The law would see it as a trial period for me to see if it would work.. Continuing on with your helpful comments, I get holiday pay and I'm allowed 28 days holidays P/A which includes stats, I have never been in a position were I have no work. I wouldn't be here if the company hadn't disallowed travelling time and extra time on jobs, As far as I can see the company has changed every engineer's contract, I'm wondering if the company is using the zero hours contract as a tool for controlling the workforce with threats of dismissal without retribution. One other point I have a company vehicle that I may use only for company business, for I haven't a problem with as I have my own car.. All correspondence from the company refers to me as an employee. I guess at the end of the day the company and it's polices are bad and maybe I'd be better off parting company withn them.