gkmotorsport
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PILON timing question
gkmotorsport replied to gkmotorsport's topic in Employment and minimum wage problems
Well, HR have replied and muddied the waters somewhat! I have been told that: - We resigned on the 17th of June "with 1 month notice" but it was agreed that we would work until the 24th and be paid the 17 days balance in lieu. - They had to deduct any outstanding monies, including excess holiday (which we both had), and outstanding travel loan payments (which I had forgotten about, in my case) - That no deductions for sickness, or pay for overtime, were owed ...and that what we have been paid is therefore correct. However, this seems to be wrong in several places! My wife has done some fag-packet calculations as we do not have our payslips yet, and has managed to work out that my payment was correct if she deducted outstanding holiday and loan payments, and added on the single day of overtime and the remaining PILON. As in, using the numbers from previous payslips, it is less than a couple of pounds out compared to the real amount. Her pay, however, seems to reflect only the three days off sick that we know she took. The holiday outstanding amounted to exactly half the PILON, so we would have expected the actual amount to be much higher - this indicates to me that it simply hasn't been included. I have replied to them to ask for some clarification, but I am a bit concerned, especially when they have even managed to miss recorded absence and overtime! -
PILON timing question
gkmotorsport replied to gkmotorsport's topic in Employment and minimum wage problems
Oh good, that's what I had been thinking (and hoping). Payroll and HR don't always seem to communicate in this company, so I'm wondering if the accountant - who I spoke to on tuesday afternoon(!) - simply hadn't been told. Thanks! -
PILON timing question
gkmotorsport replied to gkmotorsport's topic in Employment and minimum wage problems
Thanks to you both for replying so quickly on a Saturday morning! We both received a letter accepting our resignation, containing the following paragraph: It was also confirmed to us verbally that we would receive PILON, and that this was not gardening leave. -
Hi all, Just a quick question, as I'm missing some of the information until Monday. My wife and I quit working for the same employer on the 24th. We handed in our notice on the 17th, expecting to work until the 17th July as per our contracts, but were told by HR that we could leave on the 24th and received PILON to cover the period from then until the 17th July. The explanation given was that, as we are shortly emigrating, we would have more time to prepare - however, we're pretty sure they just wanted to backfill us more quickly! Anyway, we have received our pay today, and it appears to be our normal monthly salary - no sign of any additional payments. We probably won't see our payslips until Monday, but the numbers certainly suggest that the PILON is completely missing. My question is, shouldn't PILON be paid when the contract ends? I have a nasty feeling they are going to tell us it will be paid on July's pay date, which is after our move. I got made redundant from our previous employer, and they tried to do a similar date split for 'tax reasons' until enough people questioned it, and then the payments were made in a lump sum.
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Break clause confusion
gkmotorsport replied to gkmotorsport's topic in Residential and Commercial lettings/Freehold issues
We've had some confusion about this (we are the tenants). The AST says per calendar month, payable on the 28th of the month. We assumed that, as the 28th was the last day of Feb, it would continue to be the last day, but the agent expected it paid on the 28th of each month. They seem to be ok with the leeway on this, which is fortunate as we are paid on the last day of the month. So, would that make the service date the 27th June? Just to complicate things, we will be leaving the property on the 23rd July as we are emigrating. I will be including this in the letter as the property will therefore be unoccupied for more than 14 days, and we will return the keys, etc. We have a fairly good relationship with the agent; would handing the letter over in person count? The AST says this is a valid method for the LL, but makes no mention on what is valid for us! This is a fantastic factlet -
Hi all, We intend to enact the 6-month break clause in our AST, as we will be emigrating soon. It seems to be the 'standard' 2-months-notice affair, but the wording has me really confused: Surprisingly, this agreement is not approved by the Plain English Campaign! The tenancy began on the 28th February, so would it then end on the 27th August if served correctly? If so, would I need to serve the notice on the 27th or 28th June?
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Hi, Sorry for the late reply, but this is now solved - even though I also speculated about what sort of 'plant-growing' apparatus might be lurking in the loft! It turns out the thermostat on the immersion heater is broken, so it was running at full pelt. We turned it off, and we're down to just over a pound a day. Still, I'm a bit miffed that the estate agent didn't check this before we moved in and spent nearly £60 keeping it running, especially as it isn't needed! They are going to receive a thoroughly amended inventory Thanks though!
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Hi guys, thanks for the quick replies. 45002: I think I saw debt on the meter last night when scrolling through the displays, but they assured me that it has been wiped, and I can no longer see it. Fortunately, they have agreed to come out on Friday and fit a single-rate meter. rebel11: Thanks for that - unfortunately, I don't meet any of the requirements on those pages. I have been quoted just over £2,000 for prepay by Ecotricity, so will be looking to switch, but I need to get the costs down in the immediate term - I added £5 to the meter about 4 1/2 hours ago, and it has eaten £2.82 since then. I think the usage has gone down a bit, but it still seems high! The tariff is 16.1p/kWh day rate, and (i think) 8.1p overnight.
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Thanks - apparently we are on their standard prepay tariff, which isn't much more than their standard credit one. I have bipolar disorder, but I don't believe I'm considered 'vulnerable' by the government. Should that make a difference?
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Hi all, We have just moved into a rented house with prepay meters, which we have no experience with. Our first problem was not letting the utility company know immediately, as the stress of the place being filthy (which is a whole other thread!) and the normal moving stresses meant that we were just topping the meters up for 3 days. We have now switched them to our name, and have no real problems with the gas, which is used only for the heating, water and hob. However, we seem to be using around £10 a day on electricity for a small three-bed house - this seems really high to me. This amount got used yesterday, even though we were out all day ant the only things drawing power (that we know of) were a Sky hub, a fridge and freezer, and a TV on standby. The TV is only a year old and brags about how little power it draws. When my wife spoke to SSE today, they told her that this was a completely normal amount to be paying for an Economy 7 tariff, but it just doesn't add up to me. The day rate is 16.1p/kWh, which is only a bit more than the credit meter at our last house, but we were only billed around £50/month there. I know prepay meters cost more, but we're looking at nearly £300 a month now! Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
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Ok, well I feel a bit better knowing that the prescribed information may well be wrong. We're going to speak to Shelter today to see what they suggest. From my (IANAL) understanding, if a precedent was set by the Superstrike case, the law would have to be interpreted the same way in all cases containing the same material facts (i.e. switch from AST to SPT, deposit not re-protected), which would explain why there does appear to be concern in the industry. However, that's just my opinion amongst many others!
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Ok, thanks for the quick reply. On the theme of too much evidence, I have also just spotted that the LL has entered the letting agent's name and address in the 'Landlord' field in the prescribed information - I'm sure this is wrong, as the LA aren't even managing it for them. We would like to stay, as it then makes our longer-term plans much more simple. Everything I've mentioned is there on the paperwork, so I guess it's just a case of keeping it safe, right? The situation as a whole has caused us both quite a lot of stress, especially as the house could still sell in the meantime. We're also a little alarmed at the idea of the LL becoming a problem if we clearly have no intention of moving out after the 29th. We have two young children and don't really want to end up having the sort of doorstep arguments you often read about!
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Hi again - thanks again for the extra information; I've read up a bit more on Superstrike and also reminded myself what prescribed information is! I have dug into my documents some more and noted the following: - The tenancy did indeed start on the 31st March, to end on the 30th. - The deposit was originally protected with DPS. - It has not been submitted correctly, according to DPS' terms. The tenancy is a joint one between me and my wife, but the deposit only has me listed as a tenant. This could have been awkward, as it is her money! Oddly, the tenancy agreement has a section marked 'prescribed terms', which simply lists both of our names, our previous address, and the name and address of LL. - Not sure how much it matters, but the 'deposit ID' for logging into the DPS site is missing. If one of the prescribed terms is the name and address of each tenant, where a joint tenancy exists, does that mean they have failed to serve the prescribed information? If so, that applied from day one. Secondly, is the current S21 invalid if it expires on the 29th?
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I'm being dim here, but I'm not sure what you mean by prescribed information, even though I feel like I should know! I can tell you that we received no new documents when it was renewed - it was a case of them visiting, telling us that the house would be going on the market, but that they were happy for us to stay until it sold. I don't have the deposit info to hand, but I'm pretty sure it is not with MyDeposits as I do not recognise the name at all.
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Ok, I think I have succeeded in confusing myself! I have dug out the original documents - the tenancy commenced on the 31st March 2012, for a fixed term of 12 months. The wording isn't particularly clear, but in the section on renewal it does say that it can be continued on a period basis after the 12 months is complete, for which we would pay £100 and be issued with a new agreement. We agreed to continue verbally; no money was exchanged and no new agreement was issued. The notice says "Expiry date. The Date this notice expires on is: DATE 29th March 2014" ...this seems incorrect to me. Shouldn't it 'expire' on the 31st, based on what you have said? It also mentions in more than one place that the notice concerns an AST, which our tenancy agreement suggests we are no longer on. Well, this could be the painful bit. If the notice should actually expire today, we're still too late, aren't we?
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Ok, more confusion - sorry about the repeated questions! I have read that the notice to quit needs to be 1 month if it is a monthly SPT. Our rent is payable on the first of the month. If I serve notice to quit on the 1st March, and send it by special delivery to ensure it gets to them tomorrow, what are the implications if it is delayed? I have read in one place that we would be liable for the number of days into the new rental period that it takes us, but then read elsewhere that we would need to stay for an entire month extra. If anyone has a quick answer to this, I'd be very grateful!
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Thanks for the replies, guys - this has been really helpful. Unfortunately, the landlord called this morning about the rent arrears - he seemed ok with the fact we will be paying it back, but also made the purpose of the S21 clear - in his words, "just make sure [letting agent] has the keys back on the 29th. Obviously, that request goes against what I've learned from your replies, but it does mean we now need to be out by the end of February to ensure our own plans aren't made more complicated! I am going to write our notice letter today and send it by special delivery - do I need to say anything other than we intend to vacate the property, and this is our notice? I'm not sure if undercutting his own notice matters?
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Thanks for getting back to me, and for making things quite a bit clearer. I had a letter ready to go, but I think I'll edit it based on your points. So, am I right in thinking that we can make efforts to pay back the arrears ASAP, request to stay beyond the end of March on a SPT, and they would need to take further action to actually take back possession of the house? I'm just a little concerned that any action they take after March might affect our ability to get a new place through bad references, etc.
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Hi all, Sorry to bump, but does anyone have any thoughts on the above? I'm going to write the LL a letter apologising profusely for the missed payment, offering to pay it back on top of our normal payments, and also asking - based on the wording of the letter - under which circumstances they would renew the tenancy. Is that about all I can do at this point?
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Thanks for the quick reply! The tenancy began on 29th March 2012, as an AST. It was renewed last year, but I'm not sure if it was another AST or if it became a SPT - we didn't get a new agreement. The deposit is protected properly in one of the major schemes - after trouble with our last letting agent, we made sure of this! We were given an S21 when we moved in, dated a year from the start date, but a new one was not issued in 2013. Because of the timing, I fear that we may have to move early, but I'm just curious about the wording of the 'cover letter' for the S21. Copied below: I know that this may be a form cover letter, but it does read to me that they might be open to extending past the date given. I'm going to write to them with an explanation and apology, but should I query this? Obviously, it would be much better for both of us (I assume) if we stay!
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Hi all - sorry in advance for the essay, but I'd be grateful for any advice. We forgot to pay the rent at the beginning of this month - my wife handles the bills as I have a mental health problem which affects my memory, and we had worked out the stress of bills makes it worse, but as she now handles most of the household I really can't blame her for a solitary mistake. I have been in quite poor health recently, and she has been particularly badly treated by our employer, so it's been quite stressful for some time. She hadn't realised that she had forgotten, but today we received an S21 notice from the landlord, dated the 22nd Jan and stating they require possession from the 29th March. It was only after seeing this that she checked back through our accounts and realised the mistake. I am assuming that the S21 is as a result of this, but I'm not 100% sure - we've had no other contact from them for months, other than the occasional pre-paid envelope to send any errant mail to them, nor have we had any problems. The only rent-related issue was a couple of months' over-payment when I was in charge of it, which they righted without quibble. The complication is that the house is currently for sale, and we are additionally planning to emigrate around the middle of the year. If we were to leave at the end of March, that would really affect our planning as we're only likely to get a minimum 6-month tenancy anywhere else. If we cut our losses and leave ASAP, giving one month's notice, we would obviously still owe the arrears. I'm just looking for some advice on how to approach this. I plan to write to the LL and offer extra on top of our normal rent each month to catch up, but I'm not sure whether to also give them notice to quit. In order to keep up with our plans, we would need to find somewhere else within the next 5 weeks, assuming a 6-month tenancy. To further complicate things, the wording of the cover letter for the S21 seems to imply that the tenancy could still continue!
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Our company has had a long-standing arrangement that staff can work from home, for at least two days a month. After this it is generally at the manager's discretion, but it is very rarely declined on the basis that a home-based employee that is working is better than an employee that is not. I suffer from rapid cycling bipolar disorder, and have on several occasions had to take extra work-from-home days due to anxiety issues preventing me from leaving the house. Our systems are all online, and I can usually be almost as productive. As such, my previous line manager (who now manages the department) always recommended I work from home rather than drag myself in and make things worse, potentially leading to actual time off. The new line manager has now brought in rules for home working; the main one being that 24 hours must be given in all cases. If not, the day must be taken as holiday or sick leave. He has informed me separately that I do not need to give this notice, as I don't usually get this much myself! However, he has also notified me that my performance has to match the rest of the department to 'justify' allowing me to work from home instead of enforced sick or holiday. I appreciate that they are probably allowed to force you not to work, but I just don't understand the logic behind it - surely the company is better off with me working, albeit not in the office, than not working at all?
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Strange sick pay policy
gkmotorsport replied to gkmotorsport's topic in Employment and minimum wage problems
Thanks for all of the replies, guys. They've confirmed to me that it is definitely not per year, and that you can therefore permanently run out of company sick days. However, they are going to 'look at something' for people who have worked there for 'several years'. It's frustrating, but they are at least looking into it. -
Hi, Thanks for confirming what I was worried about! We had paid for almost the full VT amount specified on the agreement - we were one payment short, but I'm not disputing this. We did agree to the GAP insurance, but I didn't realise (nor was it explained) that this wouldn't be covered by a VT. I have a signed copy of the inspection reports, as well as screenshots of the auction listing, which show the condition to be as collected. I think I'll phone them on Monday and ask for an itemized breakdown of this magic figure...
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Hi all, I have recently carried out VT with Advantage, and they have collected the car and sold it on at auction. They have billed me for the rest of the term of the GAP insurance, which seems a little odd as it can't exactly be used! However, I have now received a letter from them, in which they add a further £1,662 for 'Cost of repairs required to bring vehicle to a satisfactory standard under Section 100 (4) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. There is no explanation of what repairs were carried out, or even required. When the car was collected, the chap from the auction house carried out a brief inspection, and made annotations on a diagram which we agreed with and received a signed copy of. The car then appeared on their website, with a slightly more detailed inspection report - which was quite fair - and the overall impression is that it was 'sold as seen'. They certainly hadn't repaired any damage prior to the auction. I don't understand, therefore, where they have managed to find this amount. Can anyone offer advice? Many thanks.
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262 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End
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