He has asked for the Tuesday as a rest day for being on call as he thought the bank holiday shouldn't be classed as his rest day.

My husband and 1 other is salaried. They have been with the company for over 25 years and when the company was taken over they honored our contracts. All others are paid a basic salary plus a percentage of the job they do. It is great of them to honor our contracts but by god does he know it. He does 1 week a month where he is on call and will do 12 days in a row beginning on the Saturday. His on call finishes on the following Friday and will get sat, sun and mon of. This week he put in a holiday request for a holiday over the August bank holiday. He will be coming of his on call weekend so he asked could he have the next week of as an holiday. What he requested is the bank holiday as a holiday and the Tuesday as a rest day? But he has been told that he can't take the Tuesday as his rest day because Monday is his rest day. Which will mean he looses his bank holiday because they class that as his rest day is this right? When all other members are on call they do not do contract work only on call jobs. But my husband and the other lad get sent to contract work. They can also end up doing work on his bosses house or hosing down car parks as they aren't allowed to sit waiting for a job like the other lads. They tend to use them as well for late jobs because they are salaried and makes no difference to them. My husband found one of his colleagues P60 he'd left in his van and was shocked as this lad was paid £2,500 a year more than him. But the lads all do the same work the only difference is he is salaried and they aren't. They have worked out that they actually do far more and are being used to keep working costs down. He has brought it up before and they said they'd look into it. When they'd looked into it they said you don't get the same as you are salaried ??? this is very unfair. My husband is 52 and being paid so much less than a 24 year old seems so unfair. Every year my husband and the other lad have never had Christmas or New Year off. They both have to do either one but the rest of the lads are of and have been since they were taken over 2 years ago. Its all taking its toll on him and I fear he will end up telling them to stuff it and walking out. He has worked with his boss for 27 years and helped him build both of his businesses. Since he merged with this new company and his company take around a million pounds per year he has treated my husband so differently the respect he had for him has gone. They go on holiday expecting my husband to run his other company whilst they are away but they don't tell him. He is told by text or when the lads turn up at our home wanting work sheets. I don't know enough about working laws so wondered how he stands. TIA

I had a P60 last year and I haven't had a P45. Things between me and them is so strained and they aren't exactly being very nice to me so I just don't know what to do. They'll think I am doing it to be a bitch, maybe someways I am but because my friend just got hers why have they left me out?

In 2010 I had a hysterectomy due to cancerous cells in my ovaries. Following the operation I was very ill and didn't cope well with the immediate Menopause. It was also discovered at the time that a heart murmur I had, had for years was more serious than I was aware of. So serious I needed to have the Aortic Valve replacing. I was also diagnosed with early stages of COPD in the right lung. I worked full time and had held my position for 6 years. Just before I was diagnosed with Early stages of Ovarian Cancer my employers wife had come back from her maternity leave. On her return she made it very clear she wanted me out of the office. I was demoted but my pay stayed the same. When my boss was around she was the perfect office buddy. When he wasn't she would make back handed comments and accused me of being an emotional wreck. I felt bullied and humiliated at a time when things were just not good for me. I developed complications during 2011-2013 and my heart operation was delayed. Then in January 2013 I had a series of small heart attacks and I was rushed into hospital for heart surgery. My employer was on my back all the time asking me when I was returning. Which I understand as a small employer he needed to know. But I was just to ill for working. I was also a little scared to go back because of the way my bosses wife had treated me. Last week a lady who I used to work with contacted me as she needed to talk to me about how my boss and his wife had treated her. She has breast cancer and has just gone through chemo and breast reconstruction. She told me that they didn't beleive she was so ill she couldn't work. In distress she had sought advice from ACAS. They had informed her that whilst she was of from work that she should have been paid holiday pay as well as her SSP. We wondered if anyone can clarify this for us? We are both still employed by the company despite the time we have been of. They do keep asking me when I shall be returning I was recently told by the consultant I wasn't fir enough medically to return to work. I have been of work since October 2011 and my colleague has been of since October 2013.Have we got a claim ? TIA

Thank you for your help. could you tell me which letter it is that I can use.

I have been helping a friend of my daughters sort her debt problems out. She has 3 payday loans. I have sorted 2 of them and got them to freeze interest and allow her to pay the loans at a minimum amount. The 3rd one is with Clear Account and they just won't play ball at all.On her debt of £350 she is paying £35 per month and they are charging her £15 in interest. Is there anything that can be done to get them to freeze the interst and not charge her anymore? TIA

Yes we have been asking for a payment plan for 2 years setting out what we can pay but they keep refusing to put a payment plan in place. First they said we couldn't afford it Now they say we are not making the mortgage arrears priority. We are getting very worried. We are paying interest and then a further additional interest which we presume is on the arrears this seems to be what is pushing the arrears up every month.

Its 12 months since I last posted about my problems with GE Money and the ongoing problems we have had. In June we got a response from the FOS in regards to the treatment by GE. They did rule in our favor to an extent by making them refund all monthly charges and gave us £200 compensation. We brought up how we were harassed on a daily basis as I was recovering following a operation for ovarian cancer. We provided the phone records and it was very clear how many calls were being made. FOS said that there weren't enough calls to show harassment. Our problem has been since 2010 that they would not put a payment plan in place. The FOS did not uphold our complaint and they greed with GE Money that we were not offering enough money and we were not making it a priority debt. We had offered a £150 extra to pay the arrears of. The arrears occurred because when I had to give up working it took 13 months for me to get DLA. Then there was a major cock up with my application. We have arrears of £6380. which seems to be made up of additional interest. We have asked for them to consider several options but they refuse to help. We asked for them to look at adding the arrears to the mortgage - refused. We asked if we could go on a interest only mortgae whilst we caught up but they refuse saying we would gain nothing from it. Our endowment will pay out in May 2016 and their is more than enough to cover the arrears. Our account has been with the litigation department who will not arrange a payment plan. Even though we have paid £150 additional towards it. Even though we are paying thisextra amount it is hardly reducing. Today we got the letter we have been dreading the Collections Department have advised us we have 7 days to pay this in full otherwise court action will be taken. I have just rang the collections and go put through to a obnoxious, arrogant man. Who said it is with the review team who will be making a decision on what action will be taken. He has all my medical details in front of him and will make a decision of whether a payment plan can be put in place or further action. I explained how much we had tried to get a payment plan. He snapped and told me he was fully aware of how much I had been inundating them with offers. He also said he would need more proof of my health problems. Which they have letters from consultants, dr's and my diabetic nurse. I am so worried we could loose our house despite asking them to help.

I have had my car with advantage for coming up to 4 years. We went through a time when we really struggled to pay. We contacted Advantage regarding our problems and they couldn't have done enough for us. They changed our payment dates, they gave us a 2 month holiday break to catch up. The only problem I would say is that they are red hot to charge the £20 late fees even when it wasn't always our fault.

I read this article on he Daily Telegraph website " The Government has referred thousands of people to debt collectors to reclaim tax credits that have been overpaid because of mistakes made by HMRC.The tactic follows a pledge by Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions secretary, to reduce the benefits bill. An investigation by the Independent and False Economy, a campaign group, found that the Government is using the professional debt collectors to pursue more than 4.7 million cases where tax credits have been overpaid in error. The debts amount to £1.6 billion. Most of the families who qualify for tax credits will be among the poorest in Britain. The credits are calculated according to estimated earnings, meaning people may not notice they have been overpaid until the end of the year. Under Labour people were allowed to earn an extra £25,000 until they had to pay anything back but from 2010 this has been gradually reduced to £5,000 - leaving families with large debts. In the same year the Government said it would use debt collectors to collect unpaid taxes. Dame Anne Begg, chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, said she was “very worried” about the use of debt collectors and that while efforts should be made to recover overpaid money, people shouldn’t be ‘plunged into poverty’ in the process. The figures come as Citizens Advice is expected to report today that the number of people asking for advice on tax credit debts have increased and the Government releases its figures on tax credit overpayments. An HMRC spokesman said: “The use of DCAs [debt collection agencies] is an established cost effective part of our normal debt collection operations. All that these agencies do is issue letters, issue SMS text messages and make phone calls to HMRC customers. The debt collection agencies we use adhere to highest customer service standards in line with the Office of Fair Trading’s code of practice and our own customer charter.” Around 215,000 people are understood to have been referred to debt collection agencies by HMRC in 2013-14. Some of those targeted by debt collectors told the newspaper they feel harassed and frightened by the demands. I wondered if anyone could give me an idea of what to write in a letter to the Debt Collector""

Thank you for your response greatly appreciated thanks. Postman has just been and another letter from Equita it says "We note from our file records that despite our previous applications for payment that this matter remains outstanding. Our clients HM Revenue & Customs (in bold black writing) have ussued strict instructions that this debt must be paid immediately. We request with a matter of urgency you contact us as a matter of urgency on ************ Should we not hear from you we will have no alternative but to recommend to our clients they review your account with a view to commencing enforcement action. We would like to remind you that any enforcement action may result in fees and legal costs incurred during successful litigation being added to your account. An enforcement option in England and wales where goods are taken into control , a minimum of £310 will be added to your debt and these costs may be deducted out of the proceeds of the sale of goods. Should you wish to avoid the above action, please send payment immediately or contact our offices to discuss your proposals for paying this debt.. Please act now .. Yours sincerely blah vlah I was just about to send a email to equita adding the things ericsbrother mentioned. It worries me that it they are working for HM Revenue and Customs. We don't owe this money it is just ridiculous. We just don't need this crap from them at the moment. Yesterday I was diagnosed with Liver Autoimmune Disease and ITP. I already have other medical problems this is just another mistake by a government department and we are being penalised for it. Any more advice would be great thanks

In 2007 I sent back all of my forms to claim tax credits as I always did. After a few weeks I got a letter saying that I still had not returned my forms. I rang them that day. The guy on the phone told me they were having difficulties with the computers and he would help me as much as we could. He asked me where there any changes in income and I said no, I said my daughter had gone back into full time education and that was all ok. For the previous years I had received around about £550 worth of tax credits and for the years that followed I received the same amount of money. The payments went in the bank in 2007 and I thought nothing more of it. Then in 2008 I got a letter saying that I had not been entitled to the payments as I had not completed the forms. I told them I had spoken to a man on the phone but they refused to believe me. Since 2008 we have been arguing with them about £550. I contacted my MP who spoke to them and they have told him I have to pay the money back. I have argued that I did nothing wrong and I was entitled to the money. Since 2012 I had heard nothing from them and thought that they must have written it of. Then last week we got a letter from Equita a debt collecting company who have said they will be calling to collect the money from us or seize goods. Do I have tpo pay this or continue fighting for money that was mine anyway and a mistake by them for continuing paying it if the paper work wasn't in place. Thanx

I have had 5 years of going to hell and back. Mainly because I became to ill to work. We have debts on our mortgage and council tax. All none priority debts are almost cleared and we are getting there slowly. I left work in October 2011 with heart problems, copd, diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. After a battle for 18 months I was finally awarded DLA. But by the time it was awarded we were deep in it. We set up payment plans with the council but it was a battle with them. One particular manager seemed to have a problem with us and was unsympathetic to us. We made a complaint about him and we thought it was sorted. We have had to argue with them to have the amount reduced they wanted £350 per month which was £200 more than we were supposed to pay. We argued them down. Then they brought in Jacobs and we refused to deal with them and it was sent back to the council. We made an arrangement to pay and extra £50 on top of the monthly amount and that was going fine. In March my son crashed his car and to get him back on the road we had to help him with his car bill. I contacted the council and advised them that we would make the £50 at a later date. They agreed and that was ok we even offered to send them a copy of the bill as proof but they declined. In April I paid the £50 but stupidly forgot to pay the £150. I had a really bad month health wise I was told I had early stages of COPD and that in time I would become reliant on oxygen. I was devastated with everything else I have to deal with the severity of how ill I am really hit me. Its no excuse I know and I only realised on Friday. On Saturday we received a letter from our council saying they had contacted my husbands employer and had served them with a attachment of earnings. My husbands boss called him into work and told him he had received the letter from the council. He said there was nothing he could do. I am gutted I have cried all day today my husbands boss knowing we are in arrears is awful. They already look down there noses at us so this is not what we needed. According to the letter we received we apparently were taken to court in July 2013. The first thing we knew that it had been to court was during an argument with the manager from the council. We owe £806 from 2012 - 13 and if I my calculations are right they will take £246 from my husbands wage every month and we will still have to pay £148 for this years. We haven't even filled in a income and expenditure form. Just a letter saying how much they are likely to take. I had made the payment to bring the council tax back on track on Thursday but thats to late now. I just don't know what to do. We have been trying so hard to get ourselves out of this mess this is all we need. .

In January 2014 my records showed that I owe £453.50 and since then I have paid a further £150 leaving a balance of £303.50. However according to Rossendales I still owe £553.50. I have paid direct to Npower and not the DCA. I have had 3 calls to my answer phone from Rossendales and a letter saying they will be visiting my property. I have had to keep a check on the amount as they disagree so much with what I have paid already.

I contacted Npower and told them of Rosssendales behavior this is the response we got ***** "Dear Mrs****** Thank you for your email addressed to Paul Massara, Chief Executive of npower. Your email has been passed to me to respond on Paul’s behalf to ensure that you receive a reply as quickly as possible. It’s clear that you remain unhappy with the follow up you’re receiving from Rossendale’s, especially as you’ve been making payments directly to npower. After completing a review of your account, I can see that I final position letter was sent to you on 10 January 2014, to advise that we were unable to withdraw the balance from the outside collections agency and that all future payments would need to be sent to them directly. I’ve enclosed a copy of this letter for your information Mrs ***** In view of the above, I can confirm that this is still the case, which means that any payment plan will need to be agreed with Rossendale’s directly. However, I’ve asked our internal Collections Team to contact them, so that their balance details can be updated. Should you remain unhappy, you do have the option of contacting the Ombudsman and their contact details are on the attached letter. I trust this explains our position Mrs ******* Kind regards Executive Complaints Team " As this has been going on since 2006 when they first cocked up they know that the ombudsman won't do anything to help us. Do I justkeep paying Npower as I just cannot bring myself to deal with Rossendales.

For the first ever in my life I picked up a phone and rang Social Services about a child I felt was in danger. I first met this lovely sweet funny girl aged 3 about 8 months ago. She could not speak properly what she could say was something you would here from a much younger child. She played with my granddaughter at nursery. I also noticed how her clothes were dirty and a little on the small side my granddaughter told me that she had been taking food from others lunch boxes as she didn't have much herself. My heart went out to her and I was so proud of my granddaughter for taking her under her wing. I had to think so hard as to wether it was right or wrong. I had to put the child first. Please believe me it was the hardest call I ever made and I don't regret it as I know it was the right thing. My daughter started a new relationship with an old boyfriend and as the months went by I found out that the little 3 year old was actually his daughter. From then everything changed he told us that he had stayed with the little girls Mum as he was to scared to leave her in case she hurt the kids. He had been the victim of domestic violence.which his mum, his boss and neighbours all backed his story. To cut this story short his little gitl came to play with my granddaughter I noticed how she smelt of wee and her clothers were dirty. Her shoes had holes in the bottom. when I took her home her Mum invited me in and I was so shocked by the state of the house it smelt of wee and was filthy she insisted on us seeing her bedroom and what I saw was mattrasses , pillows and duvets covered in wee the smell of ammonia took my breath away I thought I was going to be sick. I made excuses and left straight way. I sat in the car held my GD and cried. I spoke to my husband, my daughter, my daughters boyfriend and I thought what can I do. I then rang the little girls Nanny and spoke to her. I was still uncertain what to do but on the monday morning I picked the phone up and rang social services. Thet took details and said they would be in touch asap. That was 4weeks ago. Things changed whenthe little girls nanny rang me in a state she told me that she had the little one and she had this enormous bump to her head. When I got there it was massive and when we asked her what had happened she wouldn't tell us. Her Mum told us 3 different stories one of which blamed her older daughter. Eventually she told us Mummy did it and she even told us the name she had called her. I rang SS again and was told they were putting things in place and they would be in touch. On Saturday I got a phone called from the little ones Nan to say she had her GD with her, had told her Mum she wasn't bringing her back and was going to Social Services. She ended up coming to my house and made the phone call. Social Services said she had a marker against her name and under no uncertain terms were the children to be returned Alo she was to ring the ish police. Which she did.. About 7 oclock the police and the childs mum turned up on our doorstep. The police were obnoxious especially the female officer. She told the girls dad to hand her back to her mother. the male police officer took him outside and they rang social services. The person we had dealt with all day had left and the guy told him that in his best interest he should hand her back.His little girl didn't want to go to her mum. She looked confused and screamed. She kept shouting no daddy please daddy dont wanna go mummy.... it was awful. We all hugged her and said our goodbyes. That was it her mums smug face walked out of the house. We went to see her on Sunday and the house is empty. Everything has gone she has taken her daughter 65 miles away and won't tell us where. It was all planned for Saturday and if the little ones nanny had not snatched her they would have not seen her. She has told him he will never see her again. We have had to go and clean the house otherwise he looses his bond and it is filthy stinks and not fit for a child. Apparently a child support office has seen the house and said it was ok and to a homeless person it would be a palace. Before we judge him my daughters boyfriend works 12 hour shifts 6 days a week and has cleaned that house on numerous occasions and in the end was fighting a loosing battle. We have found paperwork from social services on reports of neglect, her requiring her daughter to be assessed for speach therapy it goes on and on. Letters from Loan companies in his name for non payment of payday loans. Social services rang us on Monday asking ehy we had given her back we told her that with the threat of being arrested what choice did we have. That is it now 4 days on and we don't know where the little one is and social services have left us out on a limb. Can anyone give us advice please.

Yes you are right he told me that he would be paying £598 per month for the 2 children?? but when the letter came it said the total per child would be £148.50. All I can assume is that he misheard the person on the phone. He was adamant that when he first spoke to them it was around £300 per child. It has been resolved now so thanks for all your help. I have a better understanding of the csa now.

Just to say the payment is to cover both children at£148.50 per month per child. He has had a letter of confirmation of the amount he has to pay for each I think he misunderstood what the lady had said to him. I have also told him that the money from the csa is for coats and shoes so should maybe not buy as much extras for them.

The total amount taking for his wages yesterday was £598 for both children. Yes it is attached to his wages am I right in thinking that it is a percentage of what he earns? He only worked the extra hours to put the money away so he could find somewhere to live. They are staying with me whilst they save and I love them to pieces but I need my home back. In my naivety I thought that they would take into consideration that they were saving for a home and that he had a reasonable ok relationship with his ex's and would pay what they had agreed between themselves. He offered them both £160 per month and to buy what else was needed. Coats, shoes etc. He had just booked a holiday and was taking both girls he does not think he can afford to do it now. Thanks so much for your advice and support your comments have helped and I am a lot more opened minded than before.

My daughters boyfriend has had to move in with us whilst saving for them to get a place of there own. He has 2 children to 2 different people. He has paid manitenance to both ladies of £160 per week plus clothes and shoes as needed. In order for him and my daughter to find a decent hiome they are looking at the very least £500 per month the rent some where. The last 3 months he has worked extra hours to put money away for the deposit and pay debts his ex has left him with. Today the Csa have been in touch and they have advised him that they will be takind a total of £150 per week for the 2 children a total of £600 per month. When he asked how was he supposed to manage to find somewhere to live etc they reeled of the law to him. Having had little dealings with the CSA is this how it is and no changes can be made ?

My daughter has recently started seeing a guy who she went out with a number of years ago.They only split up because she felt she was to young for a serious relationship. With the girl he has just left he has a daughter who is 3 years old and there is another girl to someone else who is 5. During his relationship with his ex he has endured both mental and physical abuse. He has been hit, kicked, bitten and thumped. She would tell him that he stunk and had bad breath. In the last 4 years he has come home from work to no cooked meals even the simple things like washing clothes she has not done for him. He is not the same person that he was when I first met him. I know his Mum really well wego back 30 years so I know he is being truthful as she has backed his story. Since the split she has played games with him. Arranging for him to see his daughter then when he has got there she has refused access. He bought his daughter some boots, leggings and pj's and gave them to her on friday. His Mum found them in the bin on Sunday when she had his daughter for the day. His Mum has also told him the house is filthy. There are bags of rubbish in the kitchen the bathroom is dirty and there are clothes everywhere. The girls beds are sodden as they both wet the bed all she had done was put a sheet over the wee but not done anything. The childrens schools have both spoken to him and said they have concerns for them. On Monday he brought them to our home for tea they both cried when they had to go saying they didn't want to go back. I have never experienced anything like this in my life and I do have great concerns. There clothes were dirty and when they took there boots of there socks were wet through we then put the socks to dry and their feet were filthy so much so it took a fair bit ti clean them. Tonight his mum text me to say that the ex has told her that she is going to be leaving here and moving about 45 miles away. She is moving in with a guy she met about 3 weeks ago. His Mum had a bleed on her brain and is very fragile. She said it is the first time ever she doesn't know what to do. I have a friend who is a sociual worked do I speak to her I do not feel its my place to say anything. What help can we get? As a Mum myself I want to go there tonight and bring both children here. Thank you for any advice you can give us

We took out a HP agreement with Advantage Finance 3 years ago. Recently my husbands work pattern has changed and we can't always pay on the due date. Looking at a statement from them we have charges for late Payments which are £35 and a £12 admin charges and £1 for a phone call. All of this amounts to £480 we have asked if we can make payments by BACS so that I can pay when my husband gets paid but they tell me they can't give out their bank details. They are not very flexible when it comes to paying them. It seems so unfair these days that you get charges on missed payments increasing what you have to pay out. Is there anything we can do about these charges? If so what argument can we use? and can we insist they let us pay by BACS?

Hi Because like many others have made the same mistake je mistook the site for being the genuine one. If you type in passport it is the first page you see. I got involved half way through and I thought it was the official website. He is 19 and thought it was a correct page. I am 47 and I didn't know the difference. The page has been set up to replicate the official page, this is why they have mislead people into believing what they are completing is a official site. We are a whole lot wiser now.

We have had letters and phone calls from Rossendales despite us paying Npower direct. The letter from CAG has had no impact on then as they have sent another letter. it says "It is clear from your letter that you do botg believe you are liable for the outstanding debt. Rossendales collect Ltd is acting in good faith and on instruction from our client Npower Ltd. Your current balance is £557.51 and we are looking to collect payment on this account" "I understand from your email that you have made a number of payments towards this debt. Your account was passed to us in November 2013 with a balance of £582.21. I can confirm that we have received one payment od £25 on the 20th November 2013, All calculations and billing are done by our client and therefore if you feel the amount is incorrect you will need to address the situation with them " "We will proceed with recovery action until alternative instructions are received. I am however willing to consider a payment arrangement on this account. If you want to discharge the debt in this way. I would need financial statements detailing household income and expenditure, proof of income and your offer of payment ". I have put a 21 day hold on your account whilst you gather this information. Once received I will review the information and make my decision". I don't want to send any information or deal with these people. Npower have angered me as I have made payments direct to them. Its as if they want rid of the debt after agreeing we have been overcharged. I have made a total of £165 since July 2013 and the balance should be £453.50. I have my bank statements to prove that I have made payments. Can anyone give me advice on what I say next to Rossendales? How can I get them to stop ringing me and sending letters. Since the guy turned up on the doorstep I have started locking myself in the house, I haet being at home on my own when everyone goea to work in case he turns up again.

Rdm2006 That is very useful for me also checked out the MCOB which I wasn't familiar with have quiet alot there to use cheers