The fact that you have been off with stress before and are now being treated for the same problem should make the inadequacy of his report obvious to anyone. Thankfully your back problems are not new to you and you have the benefit of past experience, but as you say someone else without that experience might just take what he says as 'law'. Don't forget about DDA, as you may be covered and as such have the right to ask for reasonable adjustments. It sounds like your employer has tried to help by getting someone to carry the notes you need but as you said, it is not working and needs looking at again. I'm glad you find Diazepam helpful, I couldn't take it as it made me feel very sick!

Apparently a symptom of stress can be back problems so hopefully your GP's treatment of the stress will help with your symptoms. Interestingly, I was prescribed Diazepam once for back problems, so I just looked it up on the web and it is used for anxiety and to treat muscle spasm! The physicians comments about your size were unhelpful and as I was trying to point out earlier, he would not be able to use the same excuse with everyone who has the same back problems. He would have to look deeper for a 'cause' and should have done the same with you. Put it another way, if you had been sent to him for being off too many times with colds he could decide you don't eat enough oranges (therefore blaming your lifestyle), instead of recognising that you are also suffering stress and advising you to seek treatment. I hope you are able to dismiss this man from you mind as his advice on working through the pain is seen as wrong by the people who have been treating you, so his assumptions about the cause of your problems should also be treated as rubbish. Your GP and Physio both sound great.

Can you get a letter from your Consultant confirming the previous diagnosis/treatment? If so you should send it to the head of OH or your manager (keep a copy), not the physician who examined you. You also need to find out if you are covered under DDA for your condition, so a long term prognosis from the Consultant may help establish that. I am shocked that he has used your size as an excuse for your recent problems. I have the same low back problems and have always been a 'correct' weight and exercise regularly, this has not prevented extreme spasmodic and sciatic episodes over the last 10 years often without warning. Those of us that live with this problem know what relieves it, listen to your body and advice off your (obviously trusted) Physiotherapist. Please don't let this physician undermine your confidence and make you feel you have to resign. Best wishes.

Have pm'd you tomterm8. They were sent another offer last week and havn't responded.........

Hahaha, I would love to know what your job is! I am currently trying my best to stop a County Court Judgement against me because: My 'creditor' is insisting on going to court despite my offer of more than I can afford. My solicitor and debt advisor tell me that this is becoming more common because the creditors have realised that if they get a CCJ and (life happens) you default they can get a charging order. I have been warned that this is becoming so common it is soon to be the 'norm'. Therefore, if it is the norm to attach unsecured debt to a property, it will become the norm to force a sale to reclaim the money. It is NOT a good idea to go down the route of charging orders. I asked my solicitor.....If I decide to live in my property for the next 50years, what happens to the debt? He (in short) said that they would probably apply for a forced sale long before that, and with the current progression it won't be long. fuzz33, I'm sorry that your thread has been hijacked by a discussion on charging orders, you have a child and there is little chance that a Judge would force you to sell and essentially put a child on the pavement. You are in a good position to stop them going for your assets, discuss it with CCCS AND National Debtline. Good luck to you.

Just a quick update....... Phoned the court this morning and had an er... interesting discussion with the clerk who seemed to think I had sent my paperwork to the wrong place. Several very confusing minutes later I established that the uni still hasn't sent their paperwork to the court..........It is now 3 weeks since they said they were proceeding. Havn't heard from my solicitor either, so I have now got images of the uni debt collection department trying to find the contract and going through the student attendance records of all the tutors on my course, it will take them forever, there are 12 tutors not including 'guest' tutors. I also asked the clerk if there was a timescale in which the claimant needs to file their claim after receiving an admitance, and he said no! I will ask my solicitor about this when I speak to him, I'm sure they can't get away with holding the paperwork for the next year (for example) and then filing. Will update when I know more.

OMG, if the dog has attacked a person that is known to them it is dangerous. Don't go down the route of 'allowing' it into your home to see if there is a microchip unless you are very confident around unpredictable dogs. If the Dog Warden is on your side (I'm sure they are) then I would ask them if they would contact the owner of the property on your behalf. The Landlord may not even be aware that there are dogs in their property and may have rules about pets, to be honest if I was in your position I would be doing everything possible to get the dogs removed from any area that my cat/child is at risk. The owner has forced you into a position where you need to contact the Landlord, so I wouldn't feel guilty about it. If I am reading correctly, the dogs owner isn't the tenant, so it still may not get you their name, but at least you may get a situation where your cat/child is able to use the garden without fear of being attacked. There is always the route of a Private Detective but I don't know anything about how expensive that would be.

Oh sorry, I thought that I read that they were living in council property. There is another way, I read somewhere that you can get the name of the owner of the property from the land registry for a small fee of (I think) £1/£2. Someone else may be able to point you in the right direction on that. Then you could write to the landlord about it. The problem is that the attack on a person is (at the moment) hearsay, so you would need to find out more and speak to the people involved before you can go to the police with your complaint. When you say the dog attacked the guys partner do you mean the owners partner? Good luck.

Go tiglet, go!

They didn't sack for no reason, but they did have a very strict method of issuing warnings that led to dismissal, they used to target employees that were not (in the employers opinion) up to scratch and try to gather as much info as they could to fire them before the 12 month period. It was also my job to collect the information and issue the warnings and I wasn't impressed about that to say the least as I felt it was very harsh and unfair. The union never challenged the trial period and I got sick of being hated by the employees and voted with my feet!

Thanks tomterm8, I really hope so 'cause I would sell my Nana for this job lol! Ok not quite, but I REALLY want this job. I could still stuff the interview up so I'm not going to get too confident about it being in the bag. I also need to get rid of the recently acquired nervous tick! Pugsley if your reading this I will be sneaking into the newly opened student bar occasionally if I can get passed security!

No, I had my finger poised over the dial button yesterday, but thought better of becoming 'that annoying woman who keeps phoning and bothering the clerks'! The uni have been sent a nominally increased offer along with our request for the contract....tick tock :-| I also need to prepare for my interview on Tuesday so am on a 'stress reduction' course of action.

Surely if it is a communal garden then it is a public place and the Dog Warden could remove the dog if is is off-lead and unsupervised. I would be very tempted to let the dog into the house next time it comes calling, lock it in the kitchen away from the cat/family and call the Dog Warden. When they come to pick it up they can scan the dog and if you are lucky there will be a microchip which gives the owners details. The address may be out of date as many people forget to update when they move, but at least you will have their name. Sometimes a dog is sold with a microchip that is registered to the breeder, if this is the case (which I doubt in this case) then the breeder can give the Dog Warden the owners details. However, legal ownership of the dog becomes a grey area as the 'owner' is considered to be the person to whom the microchip is registered, and it is then down to the 'owner' to prove that the dog was sold on. I know all this because I worked in this area, and issues with microchips are a bit frustrating to say the least. Doing this may aggrevate the neighbour considerably so I'm not sure it's a good move. Many councils are now banning certain breeds of dog from living in council accomodation, for obvious reasons. I would phone the council and make a complaint about the dog as they have to investigate a potential danger to the public if it is on their property. You have witnesses to an attack on a child who can back you up. Most councils are very strict with their tennants and their animals anti social behaviour. I think the first thing you need to do is find out about the child who was attacked and speak to her parents. Even if they didn't pursue the owner I'm sure they will support your claim that the dog is dangerous, which will put more weight behind your complaint to the council. The Dangerous Dog Act doesn't cover attacks on other animals, but if the dog has behaved in an aggressive way towards a person the police have to get involved. The dog will be assessed and at the very least the owner will be made to keep the dog on lead and muzzled in all areas where it could pose a danger, which would include a communal garden. They are obviously not responsible owners as they are still allowing the dogs to roam unsupervised after they have attacked your cat and possibly a child. I really hope you are able to find out about the child that was attacked, as it is not fair that your child is scared of dogs that are loose in an area where he should be able to play safely.

I used to work for another employer who set the trial period as 12 months, most employers set it at 3 months. This made it incredibly easy for them to sack individuals they considered to have been sick or late too often. It was my job to give new employees their contract and I felt really guilty asking them to sign as there were other T&C's in the contract that I considered were also unfair. I used to quietly suggest thay they joined the Union while they were signing. It is perfectly reasonable to ask potential employers for a copy of their contractual terms and conditions when at interview stage. I would like to see it made an obligation, then these underhand employers will have to change their terms as people will refuse to work for them.

I feel guilty for laughing because that statement in painfully true but so funny. The majority of students go to university straight from school so have no experience of managing finances and the cost of living. The credit providers literally throw money at sudents. I was out on a field trip with uni and heard a man in the factory we were visiting describe my fellow students as 'fresh meat'. I think that is how the credit providers regard students. I don't think either of you should feel discouraged from studying law just because of your financial history. You wouldn't believe how difficult it is to find a debt specialist solicitor who will work for legal aid. I was told by one solictor she could help me but it would cost £280 per hour, I politely told her that if I had £280 I would put it towards my mortgage! I live in hope that there are people like you who understand the debt nightmare and go and qualify to help people who are trapped in the debt loop, of which sadly, there are millions. Anyway I shouldn't be going off topic here, maybe we should set up a 'Student Bar' on this board to discuss all things student/debt related.

I think you might like to adjust this statement. Employers are not responsible for paying SSP for the first 3 days, and many employers choose not to. Which is why I referred to it as 'waiting' time (as referred to by all employers)# I advised the best I could (e.g.find a better employer) There are plenty out there, go for it!

I really don't know what to say about this except the SLC are idiots. Perhaps you should ask the DSS to give you a letter stating the reasons you are not entitled to Income Support and send a copy to the SLC. If the government recognise your maintenance etc as your income then the SLC can't have a leg to stand on. Have you spoken to the SU about this?

Gooders, from reading through peoples threads on this site, your contract needs to be legible, if yours can't be read they are not providing you with the correct information, have a look at the threads on the debt collection agents board when you get chance.

Yes, tomterm8 is very impressive and has spent a lot of time helping me with this. The problem with my (possible) future employer is that the job involves a high level of trust. I am assuming that the company won't just do credit checks once, on offer of employment, but occasionally during too. In any case due to the level of trust involved I will have to be completely honest about it. I have an interview early next week and can get away with not mentioning it then as there is still no court date and negotiations are still being attempted. But, if they insist on going to court I'm stuffed. Good luck with your resits pugsley!

The 3 days 'waiting' is used by many, but not all employers. Each individual employer has different terms and conditions and, as andy07 pointed out it is agreed by the employee when signing the employment contract. I would suggest you go through your contract and employee handbook with a fine-tooth-comb. It would be very difficult to argue COSHH for a cold as I suspect the employer would want proof that your symptoms were a hazzard, by which time your symptoms would have disappeared. I worked at a company where an employee was claiming that her health condition was a hazzard, and that she had obtained the condition in the working environment. It was eventually proved that she was right (about her condition being a hazzard), but it took months. In the mean time she was forced to come into work and put everyone else at risk! Personally, I would be secretly looking around for more understanding employers.

Hi pugsley, interesting point about removing you from the register, unfortunatly all universities have different rules and proceedures (I have been doing extensive research) and don't seem to be regulated. I have been searching my particular uni website and found a very small statement which says 'it is not our responsibility to contact you if your fees are not paid'. This statement is made on their on-line payment facility which did not exist in the year they are claiming I owe them. I didn't take a student loan as in 1992 I had started a BSc that I just didn't enjoy so left in the first year. As I still had a loan from that time which I had the usual problems of deferment that everyone else has had, I wasn't entitled to a loan in 2001-2003. My student loan was fully paid off in 2005.

Believe me, without going into personal reasons there is more chance of them linking me to Mrs Tiggywinkle than my Dad through 'enquiries'. The fact that they have passed on his personal details to a third party is a breach of Data Protection, as the only purpose they were given his details is to tell him if I had been taken ill whilst on university premises. He was not taking any financial responsibility for me, I was a mature student who was paying my own fees. The only reason I put him as next-of-kin is because they asked for 2 next-of-kin details and I had already put my partner's details. I have also now remembered a telephone conversation where they admitted that to me. I asked the debt collection 'lady' how their 'agent' was able to contact my Dads home, she said his details were in my file, I asked why his details were in my file, she said for next-of-kin. In any case they have admitted it in writing to me and then charged me for the privilege of them breaking the law to locate me. As I had pointed out to the 'lady' in our (very long) conversation, I had not been hiding under a rock, I had no reason for hiding from a debt that I wasn't aware that I had and their 'agent' could have quite easily found me on the electoral roll/phone book in the last year. I have spoken to my solicitor this morning about the Data Protection and charges and he perked up considerably! tomterm8, I am (until my solicitor receives the contract and attendance information) hanging my whole argument for changing my plea on the fact that they have claimed for unlawful (in more ways than one) charges. I don't think I can defend the whole claim on that basis, but any opinions would be gratefully received. Thanks for the replies and taking an interest.

I have had a thought preventing me from sleeping so thought I would just have a little look at the Data Protection Act. This is from the Information Commissioners Office website: I was contacted at my Dad's home on his telephone which was the first contact I had about this debt by an Enquiry Agent appointed by the university. The only reason that the university had my Dad's details is for the purpose of next-of-kin detail requirements, NO other reason. There is no way that this Enquiry Agent could have obtained information about my Dad and his phone number without the university giving it to them. Furthermore, the university have confirmed that they have appointed a third-party in a letter to me:

I have discovered that it is possible to change the plea, and as I was pressured into admitting the debt from c*** legal advice and timescales, it will not go against me in front of the Judge if I get a good defence together. Since this 'lady' seems determined to proceed to court and wreck my employment prospects I will turn over every stone to defend this, nothing ventured nothing gained! The uni have been sent a request for the terms and conditions and the contract. I will also be requesting a copy of all information held by them on me, but its not an S.A.R. at this stage. If you are reading this thread because your uni is claiming a debt against you for fees for a course you didn't attend/ended in early stages, then the advice given by previous posters is the route to take. At my stage it is now unfortunatly a bit more complex. The Student Union is looking into it. I am also drafting an email to send to all and sundry media/political parties/watchdogs. Will post more when I have more info.

How nice of them to repay the debt they had to you! Perhaps they realised their error in underpaying you and decided to make payment through a telecom service!