My contract is nothing other than a written and signed letter from the company stating the above requirements. i.e. that I would be available on Monday and Tuesday and any other days should the need be. I do know that he is trying to sell the company and it is on the bones of its backside but in my eyes, an agreement should be kept to.

Hi everyone, I started doing work for a company in August 2015 on a self-employed basis (this is the only company I was working for). In January 2016 I had a meeting with the M.D. and the admin lady and it was agreed I would take over her role of processing orders, picking and packing, and despatch of orders, because she was leaving to work from home. This was in addition to my role as the sole production operative. I have it agreed in writing that I would be available for at least Monday and Tuesday of each week with additional hours should there be demand for so. Last month I turned up for work and the electricity had been cut off. The M.D. had not been paying the bill and also the rent on the units. M.D. came to an agreement for payment and on we went. I was then informed (by a TNT courier driver) that there was a notice of possession on the door of the units. I asked M.D. and he said all will be sorted soon. It is now the case that M.D. has defaulted on payment plan and owner of units changed locks. M.D. had again agreed another payment plan but has not signed agreement yet because he darted off on holiday and so this week will be the third week I have been without work and with rent and bills to pay, I am worried. My question is this. Do I have any right to ask for payment for lost hours because we had an agreement? Your advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for your input folks. Why I should try to explain to Universal Credit until I am blue in the face is beyond me; it's as clear as daylight. Civil Servants who are supposed to be 'Professionals'. I shall persevere. Thanks again

My son's mother is the only claimant for my son.

Yes antone, his mother claims his child benefit.

Hi all, I have recently made a claim for UC and received an advance due to the time it would take to process my claim. I then received a call a week ago from the Jobcentre saying there was a discrepancy on my claim form. To claim UC, you musn't have any dependant children, to which I answered NO on the claim form online. There is a drop-down which explains what a dependant is; 'For Universal Credit, a dependant child is a child or a qualifying young person who normally lives with you' At the Jobcentre appointment I stated to the advisor that I wasn't available for work on weekends as I have my 4 year old Son (who lives with his mum), on Saturday and Sunday every fortnight. They have now stopped my claim because they say that my son is classed as dependant and living with me. I have tried to get an explanation of their decision but, as yet, no luck. I have even looked online and at HMRC which states that a dependant is; 'a child up to the age of 18 resident at the applicant's permanent address and maintained by the applicant' I explained that if I was to visit my family or friends and stay overnight every fortnight, would this mean I live with them? Also, I asked that if I was then to claim JSA, would I have to be available for work whenever due to me having 'a dependant child'. "i don't know", was the answer! I am still waiting for the call back but meanwhile, could anybody put me in the picture.

Illegal in that my father's wife persuaded him to withdraw the cash over a period of time so she wouldn't have to pay rent on their flat after he passed away. Before his illness, as pensioners, they were entitled to a reduction in rent but because my father had the compensation and illness related benefits, they had to pay full rent. My father's benefit now obviously stops and if the £30,000 was in an account, this would put her over the savings threshold thus making her liable for full rent. How do I find out if there is actually a will and what is in it, if anything.

Thank you for your reply steampowered. Because there is £30,000 cash sat in his flat, is this to be declared to HMRC or any other related body because as i see it, this is kind of illegal money. How would i find out what is in the will and if there is one at all?

Hi all, A sticky/tricky situation I have which requires your clever minds for advice. My father recently passed away (1/5/14), and I believe he has made a will, according to my younger sister. My sister has told me that herself and my fathers' wife are named in the will although I do not have any proof of this and also have no reason to believe otherwise. The thing is, prior to his death, my father had expressed his wishes that he would like to leave money to his five children (including myself). This money is what is left after he received compensation for contracting mesothelioma (asbestos cancer). My fathers' wife had encouraged him to withdraw money over a period of time and he kept £30,000 at home in a shoe box so his wife would not have to pay rent on their flat when he passed away. She also persuaded him to transfer money to her account from his and also to open a joint account. He has left jewellery including a £10,000 Rolex watch and also a £5,000 ring, amongst other things. My question is this; do I and my siblings have any right to his belongings. My younger sister has said that his belongings automatically pass to his wife and when she dies, what is left, passes to my younger sister and my fathers' wife's daughter? I do not think it is right for her daughter to gain financially from my father's death as this is not money or possessions they had acrrued together, it is from an unfortunate situation. Any advice would be truly appreciated. Thank you for your time Mark

I have just checked and the notice is section 21. What is the difference?

, I have tried and tried to explain this to my sister but it appears previous tenants have lost in court against said LL and she is afraid it will happen again. I cannot put it any plainer to her that nobody can force you to pay something you do not owe and if you do not owe then how can you lose. I have done some research on said LL and I am not the only "victim" of theLL. They were outed as rogue landlords in a panorama program in 2009 and others have complained of their tactics. Because I have stood my ground on this, the LL has now served a notice of possession for next month. I'm sure they just want me to roll over while they tickle my belly. I just wish I could convince my guarantor

I moved into a house in Sept 2012 and I receive housing benefit as I am on JSA. 4 months after moving in the landlord said I was in arrears. I emailed my proof of payments but landlord said I owed one week. On the tenancy agreement it states that one weeks' rent is payable on the moving in day but I queried this on the signing day because the council only pay 4 weekly in arrears. The landlord understood this and said that particular paragraph only applied to working tenants. This landlord only lets properties to DSS and so is well aware of the process. After emailing my payments and pointing out the particular paragraph, nothing more was said. Lots of repairs were needed on his house which I duly reported but then 6 months had passed and no repairs. I emailed the LL and said that if my repairs were not done I would employ a contractor with payment being met from the rent. The LL then requested direct payment fron council to stop me doing his. I objected and so council suspended my HB until repairs were completed. Meanwhile, LL again said I was in arrears and I explained the situation and also HB informed LL. There have been times when I have been late with payments in an attempt to get LL to shift the asses but I am up to date with my rent. I have emailed all my payments but LL still says I am in arrears. If I have been in a property for, let's say, 70 weeks, and I have paid 70 weeks; then how can I be in arrears? LL is now trying to get the "arrears" from my guarantor, which is my brother-in-law. My guarantor and my sister are scared in case they are taken to court and get CCJ. I have explained to my guarantor that LL is trying to [problem] us and not to pay anything. PLEASE HELP,

Hi everyone, I joined TalkTalk broadband & phone in November 2012 and TalkTalk mobile in May 2013 and all was fine, until recently! For the last 3 months there have been problems with talktalk taking payment by direct debit despite direct debit being set up on my account. Their excuse has been that there is no direct debit set up! After numerous phone calls, emails and also a charge for non-direct debit payment, I hopefully have it sorted. (time will tell). The new problem is with my talktalk mobile plan. When signing up to a talktalk plan, whether it be small, medium or large, one of the features is that a customer gets 100 minutes to call other talktalk mobiles. On looking at my online bill, it appears that, although I have called a certain talktalk mobile number on numerous occasions, the minutes have been deducted from my monthly allowance. (I am on the small plan). I have raised this issue with talktalk through emails and phone calls but to no avail. I lost my patience and emailed the CEO, Dido harding, to help get this sorted once and for all. I then received an email apologising for the "mix up", and I was offered one months' free as a goodwill gesture. I gratefully accepted and was happy again. Or at least for a short time. I then received a phone call from a manager at the CEOs office who apologised for any inconvenience and promised to sort it for me. The manager phoned me again and told me that one of her colleagues had told her that to get the 100 minutes, I had to have an extra mobile or SIM linked to my account! I questioned this and also asked where this was stated in the Ts&Cs. I said that a friend of mine, who is also on talktalk, has this feature active on their account so why don't I? I emailed the manager a screenshot of the "100 minutes to other talktalk mobiles" and a copy of their own terms and conditions and I received a new email saying, Dear Mr Bloggs, Thank you for your email. I think you maybe right on this as I have spoken to some of colleagues about this and they agree that it must be for any TalkTalk mobiles not just ones linked to the account. Could I ask you to provide me with the mobile number of your friend who also has TalkTalk mobile so I can check over his details regarding this extra. Please be assured that I will sort this out for you as soon as possible. Although I am now better informed, I am still non the wiser. Could any of you clever folk pick the bones out of this and advise me where I go from here and what to do next. I have said to the manager via email that they have breached my contract and I intend to terminate my contract. Am I within my rights to do so? Thank you for taking the time to read this life story! kind regards

After my call to LL, disputing the arrears (which do not exist); I phoned HB and explained the situation. I then gave them consent to speak with LL. I then phoned LL again to let them know that I have consented. LL then started being arsey and said it wouldn't change the "fact" I was in arrears as the computer says so! I have looked at the LL reviews and they are negative. It appears that my situation is not unique as it seems to be a snidey tactic they use. The LL claims that, all tenants, whether working or on benefit, sign the same agreement but they initially make exceptions for HB claimants because they "understand" HB pay in arrears. Some time down the line (like now), LL then drops the bomb that tenant is in arrears! My tenancy is up in March so will start looking for another place as I am sure LL will have other cards up their sleeve! My opinion is that LL doesn't ask for advance rent or deposit because many other tenants of this LL do not get their repairs done and so that is their excuse. (A kind of; think yourself lucky you didn't have to pay advance) Thanks for your input Mariner

Hi everyone I moved into a private rented property on 24th Sept 2012. I am on JSA and so I get housing benefit although I have to pay a top up of £10 a week . The landlord that I rent from offers a "No deposit" and "No rent in advance" gimmick which was ideal for me as i was homeless at the time and didn't have a pot to piste in. Many of the tenants who rent from this landlord are on benefits and so I assume were in my position at some point. My weekly rent is £96.54; of which £86.54 is housing benefit. On signing the agreement, I queried the "Rent is £96.54 per week payable in advance" and the landlord understood that Housing Benefit was paid in arrears. I received my first payment of HB on 19th October 2012 which was for 4 weeks rent. LL sent me a letter on 23rd January 2013 saying I was £579.24 in arrears. I immediately phoned them and queried this but they were adamant it was correct. I had made a payment of £386.16 on the 20th January 2013 which was for the period of 4 weeks up to and including 14th January 2013 (I didn't receive my HB until late Sunday 20th Jan although my bank statement then backtracked and it now shows HB was paid into my bank on 16th Jan.......pointless statement maybe?!) I have since phoned HB and they say they pay 4 weekly in arrears (which LL well knows) I was then advised to re-read my agreement; in particular; the rent paragraph. It states as follows: 'Rent shall be £96.54 per week payable in advance' 'The first payment of £96.54 being due on 24/09/2012 or prior to the date of taking possession' 'Thereafter, the "Rent due date" will be every 28 days during the term of this agreement. This is where they have seemingly 'moved the goalposts'! LL understood I was on benefits and HB is paid in arrears. I can only pay 4 weeks in arrears which is what HB pay me + my top up. Because HB were late in paying my latest payment, I can understand if they were saying I was a week behind. My next payment, due in February will cover from 14th Jan - 11th March 2013. This LL has a bad reputation for similar antics, along with not carrying out repairs and also for evicting tenants if they don't dance to their tune. I have tried (till I was blue in the face) to explain to LL that up until 14th Jan, I had been in the property for 16 weeks and I have paid 16 weeks but they are still adamant I owe 2 weeks?? Personally, I think they may try to evict me and go for someone who came down with the last shower as i clearly didn't!! SAVE ME!!....Please! Thanks in advance folks

The suspect is a member of the public. Until he is caught nobody will know if he is or was a staff member. The CCTV footage apparently shows this guy "doing something" behind a till on a different floor. He has then managed somehow to open the till without swiping on. Security are baffled as to how he has done this.

The image is from another camera on a different floor. Apparently this guy has been dipping in other tills (God knows how) and I am assuming that they suspect this guy??

UPDATE: Hi folks, I have now been cleared of any involvement of the till discrepancy. I was handed a letter just before xmas stating that I am no longer part of the investigation with a half-arsed apology. On returning to work this morning 3/1/13, I was shown (by a staff member) a still CCTV image of a man who is suspected of dipping in tills. I am annoyed that this wasn't followed up initially therefore preventing innocent staff being dragged through the mire!...It is unclear as yet how long security have had this information but i will find out! Thank you all for your advice and input

My only thought now is that it is a set-up. I also made a point of saying that even though the camera is behind an assistant using the till, £760 has been taken and given that this would be a "wad" of cash, it should still be able to be seen or at least it should raise the question of "why is this assistant spending unnecessary time at the till. Another thought is that the money could have been taken in small amounts and then reported. This way, no assistant would immediately notice the money was missing. (apart from the staff member who reported it).

UPDATE: I had another interview today and on questioning the CCTV footage, I have been told that the CCTV is inconclusive. Apparently, the camera is behind a sales adviser and so it only shows the back of anyone making a transaction or any activity on the till!!.....I have questioned why this is as obviously, this would make it undetectable for anyone "dipping" in the till. I was then told that it is because the store is old!....I find this unacceptable for a multi-million pound company. On questioning how it was known that money was missing, given that my last transaction was the last transaction, I was told that a sales adviser had opened the till after my last transaction to issue a temporary store mastercard. I was under the impression that a sale had to take place and be completed before the till drawer opened. (Clearly not). I then learned that the temporary store mastercards are only kept in the said till. I have put forward my intention to request all CCTV footage on that till for that day and also, all transactions/activity on that till for that day. The reply was "You can't as it breaches the privacy of others! On goes the "trial". I will update when I know more.

All activity on any till, which includes, no sales/cancelled transactions as well as actual transactions are immediately sent to the cash office. If a sum had been incorrectly entered the cash office would have details of it and certainly this would have been brought up at the meeting.

Although I left the till to make the transaction on a different till, the till drawer was never opened because the transaction had been cancelled and also, it was a card payment and so the till never opens when payment is made by card. A customer simply puts their card in the reader, enters pin and a receipt is then generated. If a signature is required, the customer signs the receipt, the sales adviser checks this with the card and a button is pressed to confirm successful details relating to, in particular, the card number (on the card) and the card number (on the receipt). A receipt is then given to the customer and the confirmation copy is put through a small opening in the till drawer.

I hear what you're saying there. I didn't think about someone possibly "stalking" the till until I made a transaction then reported the missing money. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. As for the manager being a suspect, although any member of staff off 6 floors could possibly access any till within the store, it would be unlikely. The interviewing manager was a manager off a different floor because I think a floor manager cannot investigate discrepancies off their own floor.

The interviewing manager claims that my transaction at 4.02pm was the last made on that till but like I said earlier, there would have to have been a further transaction in order for the till drawer to be opened and for someone to have noticed that money was missing. On reflection, I do think the manager was testing me. I just don't believe that in a 4 hour period, there was no transactions made after my last one. Although the truth will come out in the end, I am eager to clear my name asap to prevent other members of staff casting aspersions. I don't know if I have the right to see "All" transactions made on that particular till as well as viewing CCTV for that area? I wonder if anyone on here could clarify my position here?

The other till that I went to was out of sight of the first till.