I'm in the throes of claiming compensation following an accident in December 2015, when a 'kid' drove out of a side road and hit me. He immediately got out and said 'sorry, that was all my fault'. My car, an Alfa, was classed a write-off so I bought it back and had it repaired. Since the accident, I've suffered severe back pain and spent 2 months bed-bound. I've had an interim payment of £1,000 but it seems to be taking an extremely long time to reach a settlement. I am insured for legal fees so hope all this won't affect either my premiums or no-claim bonus. It's my first accident after 52 years of driving and, having lost my husband of 50 years, I have nobody I can discuss this with. Am I wrong in thinking this is taking a very long time and is there any way I can speed things up.

Bugger. bugger, bugger:evil:

Just found it. Looks like I do... It says 'Defendant Me and 1 other' and further down 'To the Defendant: You must pay the total of £X in instalments of £15'. So I guess that means I will have to continue paying until I also 'kick the bucket'!

After my husband's diagnosis of cancer, he lost his job and we were unable to pay the rent. We were, consequently, served with an eviction notice followed by a CCJ for each of us to pay £15 per month. However, my husband died last June. What I want to know is, when I have finished paying my half, am I legally obliged to pay that still owed on my husband's half?

My husband asked them that when the first demand came but all they said was that it was the balance that was owed when we switched back to SSE. I may be being extremely thick but, I know what CEO stands for, what does COO mean?

They say £44 now but I think it's less. Unfortunately, my husband went paperless with his statements and the last one we can find is end of January. I've sent those two people an email and now am waiting to see what they say. It's the way that they treat customers that really annoys me and you're welcome to swear cos I have done!!!

Oh - and I don't do Twitter. Who do the 2 emails belong to?

I rang them on 21 June to inform them of my husband's death. This prompted yet another demand (all of them in his name only). So, I rang them again and the person to whom I spoke said 'Yes it does say he's dead'. Not very tactful to say the least. He said he'd speak to his supervisor and when he came back to me said there was nothing that they were prepared to do and that they would continue to harass me until it was paid. My husband left no 'Estate', just a mere £276 which was transferred to my bank account and went into the 'funeral fund'.

My husband was pressurised by Scottish Power about 5 years ago to switch to them, promising us a better deal. This was totally against my better judgement!!! However, in July 2013, we heard about Economy 10 and, as SSE was offering a good deal, we switched back to them. We heard nothing more from Scottish Power until December 2014 when a demand came for £56.99. My husband disputed it, having heard nothing from them for 17 months but they persisted and continued to harass him, threatening legal action. In desperation, my husband agreed to pay £12.99 and then £4 per month until it was cleared. Unfortunately, my husband died on 11th June 2015, and so I contacted Scottish Power to inform them of this and of the fact that he left no money. They said that I would have to pay the rest of the amount and that, if I didn't, they would harass me until the 'debt' was paid. Can they do this? I was under the impression that, when a person dies, any creditors cannot claim the money from the spouse. It's not the amount, which I could pay, but the principle of the issue and their attitude that it's alright to harass anybody to get their way. Please can anyone help me on this problem:|

Mmmm - thought so - interesting! I've sent an e-mail to HR so we'll see what the response is. Nothing, I guess, as we're nobodies:|

Nothing came of the 'meeting' - that is to say, nothing to our benefit. However, I now find that our pay-slips no longer give the number of hours worked or the rate of pay per hour so we can't work out if we've been paid correctly. Is this legal or even honest or should I now take Pay-roll to task?

Well, e-mails went back and forth between HR and me and today, when I went into work, there was an e-mail from our General Manager saying that we are to have a review and he will be having one-to-one meetings with us all. Do you think I've stirred up a hornet's nest? Christmas was a nightmare with our hours being pared to the minimum and every performance a sell-out. It was so stressful but we didn't even get a thankyou for our hard work. I've written a 'prompt sheet' but not sure just how far I can go. The e-mail was also sent to the head of HR, the Unison representative and the GMB Union representative. So, I think, it's a case of 'watch this space'!

Can anyone out there please explain what (if any) the differences between 'zero-hour' and 'casual' contracts actually are? I see from today's papers that employees of Sports Direct are in dispute over their contracts and feel that HR at the Council for whom I work are dodging the issue.

Last week I challenged a statement made in the local press by the Deputy Head of the Council for whom I 'work', in which he stated that there was no-one on 'zero-hour' contract at the Council. I forwarded the article and my response to the CEO of the Council and eventually got a reply from the head of HR. Apparently, we're not on 'zero-hour' contracts but 'casual'. What's the difference? Well, neither have a guarantee to provide work but, whereas zero-hour is 'legally binding and states that the employee is obliged to work when asked by the employer', the casual employee is not at the beck and call of the employee and does not have to work at short notice. I feel that this is an extremely moot point and is 'splitting hairs' as we, as casuals, are reliant on a 3rd person doing the rota and, should an employee have upset this person, then hours of work are invariably reduced. I'm not at all happy with the explanation and am about to compose a reply to that effect. We, as casuals, have no rights being unable to apply for positions within the Council to further our career (albeit, far too late for me due to age) and have only just been allowed to join the Pension Scheme (again too late for me). Although we have had a 'pay rise' of a mere 6p, we are still well below what is considered to be the 'living wage'. Is there any one out there who can point me in the right direction as to what action is I can take to forward my disgust at the way we are treated?

Yes we are paid by the Council and have payroll numbers. My colleague did contact HR. As for being non-confrontational, mmm, knowing the person, I couldn't comment as I wasn't there when she rang. She can go off the deep end!