Hi Guys and Gals I have nothing to add to this thread apart from I have not heard anything from Capquest (or anyone else!) regarding this debt since my previous post - although I half expected/hoped they would SECONDLY, I have to say that I can not believe that this 'company' is still issuing these SD's - has anyone actually been made bankrupt as a result of one? I remember the sheer panic (and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone!) I felt when I first received it, luckily you guys were on hand, and once I calmed down I thought what the heck let them, I had nothing to lose! It is so damn unfair of them to keep issuing these without anything being done about their dubious debt collection practices AKA Bullying! L x

Hi Cerisa This is a really complex question I will do my best to answer it, firstly I can not understand why HMRC have requested you get the P14, a P14 is NOT an amendment it is in fact the information that is sent to them at the end of the tax year, it looks very much like a P60 but contains slightly more information and your employer should have sent one in for each employee. HMRC should be contacting your employer directly for this information. The HMRC guidelines on amending a P60 that has already been issued is very simple, the employer needs to inform you of the amendment either by writing to you or they can issue another P60 but they must make it clear that it is replacement. How has the overpayment arisen? over what period? you mention that you were overpaid in 2010 - 2011 and started to repay it back in Sept 2010, so the actual overpayment at the end of the year would be £210 less than it was in September? or hasn't anything been deducted yet for the overpayment? In theory what should happen is your employer should issue an amendment to the original P60 deducting the gross overpayment outstanding at the end of the tax year and recalculating the PAYE & NI, informing both you and the tax office. By doing this you should then see the correct gross pay figure along with the correct Tax & NI that should have been paid on the P60. They should then compare the information on the old and new P60's, you if you have paid too much PAYE and NI due to the overpayment the differences between the old amounts deducted and the actual amount owed should then be taken off the gross overpayment. Any differences between the PAYE & NI will then be sorted out between the employer and tax office when the amended year end return is submitted. Your employer should then recover the overpayment as a NET payment each month. I can not answer your question regarding tax credits as I do not know the answer, but I would imagine that you need to calculate what your actual salary should be not taking into account the overpayment. You would only be entitled to a tax refund due to the incorrect tax code being used on the amount you have been paid, less the salary overpayment (i.e the information that should be on a replacement P60). It sounds like your employer needs help understanding what they need to do to correctly deal with the overpayment and your issues would be resolved once they have treated the overpayment correctly and issued you with a replacement P60. Lastly, this is not your mess it is your employers, it is them who have made the overpayment and then have not treated it correctly. I would stop worrying about this, HMRC will eventually sort this out with your employers. What you do need to do, in the absence of a replacement P60 is calculate your salary for Tax Credits, and keep or obtain any information regarding the differences between the P60 you have received and the figure you submit to tax credits. In order to do this you will need to be absolutely sure about the actual salary overpayment at the end of the year. L x

Hi Holiday pay issue aside....How was everyone else paid for their wages owed for the period before company B aquired the business? Are you saying you have not been paid anything? or did company B pay you the week they owed you? L x

Hi Diane Did your employer give you the reason for refusing your flexible working request? Generally employers need to give one of the following reasons: a burden of additional costs on the employer a detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demands an inability to re-organise work among existing staff an inability to recruit additional staff a detrimental impact on quality a detrimental impact on performance an insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work an employer can also refuse a request because they are planning significant structural changes to the business Saying that they just can't accept your request isn't acceptable, however if your employer has refused your request on one or more of these points then there isn't much you can do. What did your original request contain? reduced hours or just amended hours? What was your reasons when you submitted your appeal? Has anyone else in your company been able to do flexible hours? L x

Hi Shanks Difficult subject and not very clear but I believe that the following link may clarify the issue http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/specialist-guides/technical-guidance/ni17a-a-guide-to-maternity/statutory-maternity-pay-smp/working-in-your-maternity-pay/ The third paragraph states "If you do any work in a self-employed capacity during your MPP, then such work will not affect your SMP" Good News for your friend! Hope that helps L x

Hi Lou Your employer can not change your P45 after it has been issued - if they have made a mistake they will need to write to you and the tax office informing you of the mistake. An employer should never reissue a P45. If an employer needs to make a payment after they have issued a P45 i.e in your case potentially they may owe you Maternity Pay, then they will need to write to you and the tax office confirming the gross amount, PAYE deducted, NI deducted and that it is a payment after you have left. PAYE should be deducted using a 0T non cumulative code and NI using the weekly tables. I think that your employer will try and come back by saying that they made a mistake on the P45 and the date on there is your final payment date not your leaving date. The date on a P45 is a common mistake not helped by payroll software which throws out errors if you try and put a date in that isn't in the week or month that you are paying. HMRC 's own guidelines state that the leaving date should be entered in accordance with employment law, but I have had many a disagreement with HMRC who have written to tell me that the date I have put on someone's P45 must be incorrect as it does not match the week or month the final payment has been made i.e if you are paid weekly and you get paid on a Friday - you leave on Friday, but you have worked a week in hand so your final payment would be made the Friday after you left, so your leaving date is a week different to your final pay date. Were you paid weekly or monthly? and when was your last payment before your final payment? Have your received a letter confirming your dismissal yet? If you haven't already sent a letter to your employer officially confirming your pregnancy I would send this is now, with your MATB1, without this they may say that they can not pay SMP. If they can not pay it they will issue you with a SMP1 form, as Kitten says this is the form you will need to claim Maternity Allowance. Have you tried contacting Maternity Action? www.maternityaction.org.uk or 0845 600 8533, I have used these in the past and have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful and can probably offer you more specific advice than ACAS. L x

Hi Lou If they have confirmed your final leaving date as the 9th of August then you will qualify for SMP from your former employer. As long as you were continuously employed by the employer between 19th Feb 2011 and 7th August 2011 then you qualify for SMP from your former employer. Lottie x

Hi Lou Working out your SMP entitlement your qualifiying week would have commenced on 7th August 2011 so therefore your SMP entitlement is all dependant on your final date of employment. Have you already submitted your MATB1? if so request that they send it back to you if they confirm your final date of employment was 5th Aug. Have the company written to you confirming your the reasons for your dismissal, your final payment and importantly your final date of employment? If they state that it's a redundancy situation remember that you are not only entitled to Redundancy pay but also as a pregnant woman the employer should give you first refusal on any suitable vacancies within the company so giving your job to someone else in the company isn't on! However it doesn't sound like a true redundancy situation to me. Have you looked into claiming Maternity Allowance? If your final date of employment is 5th August 2011, I think you should be able to claim MA http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017811 - you can even claim online. I think the confusion with ACAS is because they are confusing your SMP issue and your dismissal, which is potentially an unfair dismissal situation. I agree with Honeybee, firstly and most importantly look after yourself and your babies. Lottie x

Hi Sadie I can't really offer any advice, but I would contact your MP regarding this matter. You have been more than fair and reported an overpayment, it is the government department who have failed to protect public money at absolutely no fault of your own, and there is no way you should be out of pocket for their mistake either through lost benefits or by trying to do the right thing! Good Luck Lottie x

Hi Yes you will need to MOT it when you get back. Essentially once you are the registered keeper in England, Scotland or Wales you will need to abide by the MOT rules - i.e for any car three years or over you will need an MOT. Lottie

Hi I had the exact same thing happen to me, I emailed them and they blamed me, something about there being two addresses linked to my file - when in fact they were one and the same! Some rubbish story I think to cover up the fact that something had gone wrong with their system. Anyway they cleared it up quickly - within about 3 days (over a weekend) and my credit file looked far more healthy without all the duplicate accounts. Lottieapple

Hi Lottiesnan I am sorry about your pain! Your entitlement to SSP will also rely on your earnings, from 11th April 2011 your earnings must average £102 per week - this will be calculated using your last 8 weeks earnings. There are other rules to satisfy but most people satisfy the rules. An employer is able to 'opt' out of paying SSP but only if they have an occupational sick pay scheme in place that pays at least the amount that would be received under the SSP scheme. Suziebear is quite right your employer should give you a form SSP1 or their own equivalent if you do not qualify - you should then be able to claim ESA. Lottie x Oh and BTW the current rate of SSP is £81.60

Hi Faz 9 times out of 10 when I receive answers to a references request or when I send replies to reference requests I just confirm the Job Title and dates of employment, thats it. I am not saying that is what will happen with you, but many larger companies are just sending that information out. I guess it depends on the industry you are in and whether a certain level of trust needs to be established i.e a care profession etc... As BankFodder rightly points out you have nothing to lose by speaking to HR of your existing employer to find out their policy on referencing. You must also remember that if your existing employer has accepted your resignation they do not have to let you stay if you change your mind. Lottie x

hey thanks guys, I will keep all the paperwork safe. 42man I actually sent a letter of complaint to OFT this morning, with copies of all the 'evidence' I have. Hopefully OFT will get enough complaints soon to do something about these @*ses. Lottie x x

Hey After deciding to let them 'carry on' and go through with their threat if thats what they were going to do! I thought I would update you on whats been happening. I sent Capquest a letter thanking them for their statutory demand and telling them how relieved I would be if they would take the decision out of my hands. I actually thanked them for their help. I also CCA'd them while I was at it - in for a penny in for a pound and all that. Afterall we can't make it that easy for them can we? I have received a letter today from them basically telling me that after reviewing my account they would not be pursuing the account any further and their file would be closed! How about that for a result! Love Lottie x x