I am self employed and my earnings vary a lot often for a short period oftime. My housing benefit claim was already close once because my earnings weretoo high. However the problem is that my earnings vary a lot often for asmall period of time and it is inconvenient for me to make a new claim forhousing benefit each time my earnings vary. I would like to know how to explainmy situation to the housing benefit department to avoid that my claim is closedeach time my earnings vary temporarily I would like to know if there is a specific law for self employer or if I have to file a specific form

I work for a company that provides civil enforcement to local authorities (parking wardens). Last week I was suspended pending an investigation into an allegation of gross misconduct on my behalf, I have yet to hear the outcome or any further action but am obviously concerned that I may lose my job and I'm looking for some advice should that happen. The situation is: I drive to work and I often park in bays which cannot be enforced due to problems with bay markings or signage - so I'm parking without paying because I know I can't be given a parking fine. I'm a supervisor and the wardens that work for me have, on 4 separate occasions since last October, given my car a parking fine when I've been parked in one of these unenforceable bays, essentially making an error on their part. On one of these occasions I appealed against the ticket through the normal process and finally heard back after 4 months to confirm it would be cancelled. On two other occasions I was informed by one warden that another warden had given a fine to my car I advised them to remove the ticket and cancel it, as it was invalid. On the final occasion I discovered a ticket on my car at the end of my day the following morning I spoke to the warden that had issued it and arranged for it to be cancelled also. The allegation is that I have cancelled these fines to avoid paying them, which is untrue as they were all unenforceable bays and they would have been cancelled on appeal, but as I mentioned it takes 4 months to get an answer on an appeal. Aside from the time period involved, we as a company are penalised if we issue too many invalid tickets and can incur a financial penalty from the council if we don't meet our KPI in this area. This is the reason why I arranged for them to be cancelled. They are saying that my actions could bring the company into disrepute and although I don't believe I've done anything wrong I am concerned that they may still decide to dismiss me and I wondered if anyone might be able to advise me if I would have grounds to go to an employment tribunal or how I should go about it? Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Doing a delivery on Rupert stree W1 london, on the left side there were three coaches parked, If I had parked on the right side of Rupert street W1, I would have been parked legally but I would have blocked the whole street, so I parked on the left hand side with the coaches, I didn't see the yellow sign suspended sign, when I came back I had a ticket, I appealed and stated why I was the only vehicle given a ticket when the other three coaches didn't I did check, I also stated I would have blocked the whole street up for 15 mins if I had parked on the right. My appeal was rejected on the grounds that I should not have parked on the left side where the bays were suspended and the fact no other vehicle was given a ticket was none of my business, should I proceed with a further appeal or not

Hi I am about to seek legal advice with my problem, but thought I would post on here first. I was suspended on the 8th July following an anonymous letter alleging inappropriate posting on a social media site, this hinges on privacy setting's, but I can prove that they where in place. My main concern is the process... I have been accused of gross misconduct and the disciplinary hearing is at the end of this month. The paper work says I was suspended on the 5th not the 8th, I had an investigatory interview on the 24th July, and didn't receive the minuets until the 16th September, to amend and return. Two days later I received the disciplinary papers dated the 1st Aug!! The letters also refer to our meeting on the 29th not the 24th.. I know it sees like picking at straws, but as the "person on the Clapham omnibus" it does seem a bit messed up, and something as important as this needs to be right. I have worked in my role for over 10 years, and its a local authority, and would welcome others thoughts...

I am a single parent and a carer of a young person with a severe disability. Because of chronic illness I have been unable to work for a number of years . I have a second mortgage with First Plus which was paid by my PPI insurance. Unfortunately PPI insurance with First Plus is only for the first 5 years of the loan. I got into serious arrears with the loan when the PPI policy expired and First Plus took me to court in May to repossess the property. Fortunately I had surgery in February which corrected by health issues. I had a job to start in June so was able to gain a suspended possession order from the court. The terms of the suspended possession order was that I paid the 600 loan plus 200 per month against the arrears. In June I had to make a 4k payment off the arrears. I had to sell my car to do this. I paid the 4k off the arrears by the due date as per the court order.I did however run into difficulty in July because my new employer does not pay till the 28th and my payment was due on 20th. I therefore paid the 600 on the 20th and the 200 off the arrears a week or so later when I got paid. I have done this for the months of August and September too. To my dismay on Saturday I received a letter from Evershed's the solicitors for First Plus stating they were applying to the court for an eviction date. I tried calling First Plus on Saturday but they refused to talk to me about it as the matter was with their solicitors. I tried calling Eversheds but of course there is nobody there until Monday. I am after being back to work only 3 months in a position to pay on the 20th rather than the 28th when I get paid. I have written to Eversheds and have sent them photos of the receipts to evidence that I have paid all the money I should of. On Saturday I did tell First Plus that I can now pay on 20th by direct debit. First Plus told me that they are unable to set a direct debit for me as the matter was with Eversheds. They also said this in June when I made the same request. I have had to make the payments by cash into Barclays. Can anyone please give me any advice. I could not sleep last night, the stress is enormous. I plan to ask the judge if I can change payment dates to the 28th and if I can pay by direct debit or standing order. I will go to my bank and set up a standing order for the 20th of each month anyhow. I will go to the court tomorrow to ask for an emergency hearing to stop the eviction. Why are First Plus so unreasonable. There behaviour is so aggressive. Just as I thought I was getting my life back on track. Thank you

We have been fighting the bank regarding a 2nd charge on our properties. They ae currently seeking repossession (already had one adjournment as we were and still are negotiating!!). The question is this: We are unable to offer the full amount, however, we have been given an indication by a mortgage lender of what we can re mortgage for. We have offered this value in full and final settlement ( approx 72% of the total amount owed). We have stated that we will not process a mortgage application until we know if this would be accepted, to save unnecessary costs etc. There reply was for us to agree to a 28 day suspended re possession order as part of any agreement. But if we do this, is there not a part of the mortgage application process which states that if we do not declare this repossession order, then the application could be classed as fraudulent ?, OR if we do declare it, it would potentially disqualify us from making a successful application? By the way, they want us to agree to this prior to our newly arranged repossession hearing of next week, even though this agreement was only proposed this morning!! Help!!!! Any advice or suggestions are most welcome

Hi all, I am hoping that you will be able to provide me with some advice. My apologises if this is a long winded post . I work in health and social care as a home manager. On the 27th July 2013 I was telephoned at work by my line manager who informed me that due to allegations made the pervious week to safeguarding I had to leave my service and go home. I asked if I was suspended to which I was told no just relocated to another service as all parties believe the allegations were made maliciously ( 5 days prior I had sacked a staff member for verbal abuse of a client after a disciplinary hearing). The following day I was contacted by the investigator who arranged to meet me on the 6/6/13. I had a colleague with me and in total there were 9 different allegations. I was not told of the allegations until this meeting so did not prepare or have any counter questions. The investigator informed me they had spent time in my service reviewing documents and speaking to various people. I was then asked a whole host of questions which I answered honestly. I was very distressed throughout as I have an exemplary record and no complaints or grievances during my 5 years of employment. During the meeting I explained that I had worked my way up from the "shop" floor to manager under extreme circumstance and had made a proven success with minimal support and no training. I was asked if the company had provided management training to which I replied no, nor after 18 months in post had I received and induction from any of the 3 line managers I had, had during that time. At the end I was informed by the investigator that I had no need to worry. I run a good service and although there were minor procedural issues I would be returning to post in the next few weeks as both the investigator and financial auditor believe the whistleblower was malicious. This was said in front of my accompanied colleague. I was also informed by the investigator that I was not but relocated from my own safety and that I must continue to do my complex job from a service an hour away from where I am based and also from home. I expressed that I was finding the situation difficult to cope with and that I was very stressed and lacked confidence in my abilities due to the false allegations having knocked my confidence. Again I was told I would be fine and back to work in no time. I received no notes, minutes or documentation from this investigation nor was I asked to sign anything. Two days later I received a phonecall while I was on scheduled annual leave from my assistant manager. They explained there had been a serious error at the unit and she was unable to deal with it. I contacted the unit to find the details and was faced with a distressed staff member. I made various attempts to calm her down and informed her that I would deal with the situation and not to panic. I then contacted my assistant manager and told her the same. Due to being on annual leave and have 4 very boisturios child at tea time I was awaiting the arrival of my husband a few hours later so I could contacted my line manager without disruption. I must add that there was no immediate danger to anyone if I delayed. Before I was able to contact my manager she contacted me to inform me I was suspended but would not tell me why. I was told I would receive a phonecall the following day but I did not. Two days later I received a letter stating I was suspended due to : Attempted falsification of documents and Attempted neglect. 5 days later I received a phone call from a different investigator asking me to a meeting the following day. I explained that I was on scheduled annual leave due to the children's summer holidays and I was unable to sort childcare at such short notice. The investigator informed me she was on annual for 7 days so either it was then or I would have to wait until her return. Considering the amount of stress and pressure I was already under I felt I had no option but to agree to a meeting the next day as I did not want the situation to go on longer than necessary. I was asked to prepare a statement regarding the allegations to which I informed her I did not know the full details or the situation to how the allegations had been raised. She asked has your line manager not told you? I replied that I had no contact with anyone from the company since the 8/8/13 and it was now the 16/8/13. During this investigation it came to light that 3 staff had made the allegations against me. The three staff were the ones directly involved in the incident and would be held responsible for the mistake, however I was not there nor had I been for 12 days. I was asked various questions and then given the investigation to read and sign and also given a copy. I never received this from the first investigation. I was then told I would be contacted week commencing the 26/8/13. I am still waiting and its the 11/9/13. On the 27/8/13 I was contacted by the first investigator who told me that my failure to attend a meeting on the 23/8/13 resulted in my suspension pay being stopped. I informed her I had no letter inviting me to a meeting on that day. I was told the letter was sent on the 22/8/13 (not recorded delivery) and that she had telephoned my home the day before to inform me and left a message. I explained I had received no such letter or message and I was out on the 23/8/13 due to a family bereavement. I was informed that under my suspension I must be available 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. I again explained my situation and apologised that I was with my family and did not contact HR immediately to inform them of my unavailability but given the situation it was far from my mind. The investigator then asked me to attended a meeting that 3 days later (Friday and the phonecall took place Tuesday) I agreed and asked for a colleague to be present. I was told I would be informed via e-mail that day as to whether or not my chosen representative could attend. I was not contacted until the day before my investigation meeting that my colleague could attend ( I have later found out she was not asked the same day as promised but a day later). The third investigation carried out by the same investigator who did the first was held on the 30/8/13. I was informed during that investigation there was now 3 investigations being carried out. I had 1 letter stating 1 investigation and had received no other documentation relating to the 2 other investigations. I was then asked a series of 6 very benign questions based on a 3 day quality assurance investigation carried out in my service. Non are sackable and under normal circumstances would be met with retraining and a supervision. I was not informed before hand of this new investigation and only 2 of the 6 questions asked related to the first investigation. During this investigation I again expressed my distress and the mental strain I was under, this had been going on since the 27/7/13 and it was now the 30/8/13. I also mentioned that during my 5 years I had achieved a great deal with little support and no training and also zero complaints and grievances. I received a phonecall a few hours later from the investigator expressing her concern and my stress levels and informed me that although previously banned from contacting colleagues she felt I needed support so could contact the colleague I took to the meeting. On the 2/9/13 I received a phonecall from the HR department informing me they would look on the internet to find me an employee advice agency as they felt I needed some support and would get back to me the same day. She also stated she would telephone me on the 4/8/13. She e-mailed me the number the following day. That is the last contact I have had from my company and it is now the 11/9/13. I feel that the company is trying very hard to get rid of me. If they had any real serious evidence given the industry I work in wouldn't they have sacked me by now? The advice I am asking for is do I have a case for unfair dismissal ( which I think they will do)? Have they kept me informed correctly? Have they dealt with the situation quickly? (27/7 until 11/9) Given that I was never trained to do the job nor even inducted in to post does this count in my favour? I have made a profitable success of my service and have increased the reputation 10 fold since I took over without complaint or grievance. Will this count? I have had only 4 supervisions and 1 appraisal in 5 years? I have a very young and large family who rely on me financially and if I am sacked I fear I will be unable to continue in my career due to SOVA and bad references. Again I apologise for the long post but I feel without the details you would not be able to advise me. Thank you for taking the time to read it.

I am having a right nightmare with Kensington mortgage company and need some much appreciated help . I had a suspended possession order granted in oct 2007 as I had lost my job at the nhs and my wife business had collapsed the suspended possession order was issued in oct 2007 for my monthly payment plus £50.00 i think i need to dig it out as it was nearly 6 years ago i will post later the exact amount I have been making payments over the last few years to Kensington but also built up massive arrears on my council tax and second secure loan with welcome finance at the mo long story short I have now cleared my 7000 pound arrears with council tax (rossendales ballifs ) april 2013 and got my arrears down to £1095 with welcome finance (was over £5000) however with doing this I have now got arrears of £20,018.46p as of 19th august 2013 with Kensington. I had an arrangement in feb ,march,april, to pay £636 (monthly payment) to Kensington of which I paid march £640.00 april £650.00 may £800 i only paid £160.00 in feb due to having several other debts elsewhere stupid of me i know !! on the 28th of april when i paid £800 i was charged arrears fee of £50 and i was told my arrangement had finished and i needed to fill in income expenditure form send bank statements in and wage slips to consider a new arrangement for may after filling in all sheets and sending in the above i offerd £636 + £64 off the arrears (£700.00 a month after 19 days i got a letter stating this had been declined and was advised to up my offer so i didn't make a payment in may as i wanted an arangement setup so i knew what i was paying i will explain later (don't want to go on but arragrements have been declined lots of other times over the past 5 years until i offered a lot more even if i couldn't afford it so im at the end of my tether and on the verge of giving up ! after clearing more debts in mid april and doing a new budget sheet i could offer £636 + an extra £200 .a month off the arrears i sent again budget form, wage slip, bank statements and again the payment proposal was declined after 16 days stating i couldn't afford the above (even tho the budget form stated i had an extra £204.00 at the end of the month ) offer as i had stated i would like to pay weekly and the computer calculates some months as 5 weeks the payment would be nearly £1000 in certain months i didn't pay anything in june as im holding onto my money incase thy issued possession which they kept stating every time i called them unless an aragement was agreed after sorting the above over the phone along with been told Kensington had inputed my child benefit of £134 into child benefit and also the same figure int family tax wrong (not £179.00 as stated on the budget form) and explaning the weekly thing i put a new proposal of £640 a month + £200 a month of my arrears which would take roughly 8 years to clear (still have 22 years on mortgage term) i advised i would start paying at the end of august and was advised the new payment proposal was affordable and would be given to the senior team (5th of august and boom i get a letter today dated 19th august stating unless i pay £20,018.46 in 7 days evershields (solicitors ) will apply to the court for the issue of a warrant of possession im holding onto my £840 incase i need to pay a rent deposit in the past i have an arrangement for 3 months pay it then it ends then seems to take 4-6 weeks to get a new arrangement i get charged £50 a month arrears fee and i can never get an arragemnt set up that's affordable they always decline 1 or 2 times until i offer a silly amount once i pay that for 3 months the same again the arrangement ends i have to update my budget forms and again charged £50 a month arrears except this time agfter 3 months arrangement they wont renew it.. please help i don't know what to do !! i called Kensington this evening and was told they sent a letter dated 15th august stating my 3rd proposal had been declined and due to previous arrangemnts not been kept and arrears building up they are seeking evection sorry for the long thread but don't know what to do regards mark

Hi everyone I hope someone can spare the time to read this and perhaps point me in the right direction, I'm currently trying to help my hubby who's gotten himself into a real mess at work. I'll try to keep the story short. Its been a tough year for us. DH was made redundant last year, aged 30 and fed up of going nowhere in his career and decided to go back to college to study mechanics and motorsport (passion of his) in the hope of making a career in that field. As money is tight, we have two small children and I only work part time, he was forced to take an evening-and-weekends job delivering for a well know Pizza chain. He does about 35-40 hours per week in the eves and weekends, which covers our mortgage and main bills. Understandably, at his age, he hates working for a fast food restuarant but realises its a means to an end. Things have been made doubly bad by the fact that I lost a baby earlier this year, which devastated us both. Recently things have gone very bad at DH's work. He resents the way the shift runners treat the staff and refuses to allow himself to be pushed around, being a 30 year old married man with kids and not a school leaver! He hasn't crossed the line though, hasn't been abusive or sworn at anyone, just tends to stand up for himself and put them straight. A week or two ago one of the shift runners was bitching about one of DH's fellow drivers who had been sent home early. DH pointed out that the guy had been working at a local festival, all day in the heat, wearing a suit, and was feeling rough, and that it was out of order to criticise him for this. He said something along the lines of "You're being unreasonable, now shut up" to which the guy responded, telling DH to "F*ck up". Later that night, DH received a Facebook message from this shift runner, calling him abusive names and saying "No Englishman tells me to shut up, you c*nt" (we live in South Wales, but DH is from Kent and sadly encounters this a lot, I am Welsh but it makes me ashamed of my fellow Welsh people sometimes). DH reported the matter to the store manager that night and showed him the message, and was told to lodge a formal grievance, which he didn't get around to due to being off sick for a few days with a bug he'd picked up from our children. He went back to work and the second evening, was greeted by two shift runners, both friends of the one who'd been abusive to him, accusing him of leaving the store in a mess the night before, and telling him to clean it up before they clocked him in (exact words were something along the lines of "You better clean up your mess from last night"). DH had NOT left the store in a mess and pointed out that the piles of boxes dumped beside the bin had been there for several days and were NOT dumped by him (they were dated during the time he was off sick) and refused to clear them up. I'm afraid to say that he became quite infuriated by the way this pair spoke to him and lost his temper, as he put it "having a go" at them and demanding an apology. He was sent home from work and told to come back the next day. When he did, he was told he was suspended pending investigation. Now. I know its a crappy job and one he doesn't even want to do, but right now its all thats keeping our bills paid. He's been looking around for something else but with the job market the way it is right now that could take awhile, and apparently if you're dismissed for gross misconduct (which is what I think they're going for here) you can't even claim Jobseekers (which he couldn't anyway if he's at college which is where he intends to be from September). I need some advice on what to do. I personally feel that this bunch of officious nasty little whatsits have taken a dislike to him and are trying to get him out. He gets on OK with the actual Store Manager, who was on holiday when this incident occured. He has an investigatory meeting on Thursday. I have typed up a grievance letter for him to take, outlining what happened with the guy who insulted him, and will tell him to get a screen print of the Facebook message. In the letter I have expressed concern about bullying, possibly of a racial nature (due to the "Englishman" comments). I know he possibly doesn't have a leg to stand on but I don't think he should just take this lying down, as I can see a definite bullying edge to it. He's been under so much stress lately and has just been trying to do whats best for his family (he could have just sat back and claimed benefits like so many do after losing his job last year but instead he's ben working and going to college and trying to better himself, I want him to at least get fairness.) Can anyone point me in the right direction. I know he can have someone with him at the meeting and he is a member of a union although I don't think he's spoken to them yet. Many thanks! x

Hi Please help i have a suspended possession order on my second mortgage/secured loan of cmp £678.77 + £181.28 to clear the arrears and i have missed two monthly payments because i havent been paid my tax credits!! I wrote to them (so i had proof) to let them know straight away and i asked if i could pay a lower amount but i never heard anything. I have now received a letter from there solictors saying they are applying to court for an eviction date, i contacted there solicitors yesterday as the mortgage company are not dealing with it now and they said unless i clear the full arrears balance the eviction will go ahead. I can hopefully get some money in the next week to get me back on track with the agreement will this stop any further action? even though they say the require the arrears in full and will i have to go to court again,please help im very worried thanks

I am currently paying £200.00 a month on a CCJ which I am currently in arrears by £400.00. There is a suspended attachment of earnings order and I have been told by the company (Lightfoots) who are acting on behalf of Southern Pacific Mortgages that their client will not consider reducing the monthly payment. I have sent an income and expenditure form and have yet to recieve a reply to this. I am looking to submit a N245 to the county court to have the amount for the CCJ redetermined, I am being very reasonable and offering the sum of £100.00 per month which is more affordable. Once I submit the N245, will that prevent them from enforcing the Attachment of Earnings Order? Also, once a new amount has been set, will this just continue at the new rate without having to pay the outstanding arrears as I cannot afford the arrears at present. Desperately need some advice on this. Also is the fee for the N245 £40.00?

Hi all Need a bit of advice with my situation... I am currently working my notice period, and am starting a new job on 9th August. I was off on annual leave last week and returned to work today and was promptly suspended on full pay pending investigation. The reason for this is that I work for a company sub-contracted by the prison service and have been seeing an ex-client of ours who was transferred to another prison in April. I have held my hands up to this as I know that the situation is wrong, however I'm not sure why they've decided to suspend me when a) it does not state in our employee handbook that suspension is a consequence of misconduct in any form (they class this as gross misconduct), and b) I'm leaving in two weeks anyway. The employee handbook states that any form of misconduct will go through the following channels: verbal warning, written warning, final written warning, dismissal. No suspension mentioned. I'm not particularly fussed about the fact I've been suspended as I knew it would only be a matter of time, and my personal life was one of the main reasons I handed my notice in, so that I could continue seeing him without there being any issues. I know I should have waited until leaving my current position but as they say, you can't help who you fall for. I am worried that when my new job asks for references, my current employer will obviously tell them I was suspended for the last two weeks of employment, and I don't know whether this will affect my offer. I have a fall-back job offer as well but again, I don't know how much a bad reference will affect it. Also, I have been told I need to go to an investigation meeting on Wednesday with my area manager. Do I really need to attend this? At the end of the day, they will be dismissing me for this so what is the point in me even going to fight my corner? It's not like they will agree to a good reference if I go and that would really be my only advantage... Has anyone been in a similar situation or can give me any advice on what to do with regards to the new job? I don't know whether to ride it out and see what happens, or be honest with them now and potentially risk losing it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks D x

Hi My son came off holiday 5 weeks ago and was asked to call into his work office before starting his shift to be told he was suspended on full pay. He was given a letter asking him not to contact anyone else who works there while investigations were being carried out, but giving no reason for the suspension. He had a call from them yesterday which lasted 24 seconds just to inform him that he was still suspended on full pay and that was it nothing else. We are finding this really strange as my son says he cannot think of any incident or anything that happened at work before he went on holiday and also that he has not been given any reason for the suspension.

I have worked for my company for 5 years during which time, I have been bullied on and off along with other work colleagues by a director. In May this year, I was made redundant. 3 days later the CEO who works in the South heard of this and phoned me personally to advise he wanted to reverse this wrong decision made. I returned to work in June. I was told by the HR Manager that on her first day the director and my line manager had given her the task of getting rid of me. I still did not feel at ease after returning. There had been an impending pay rise and everyone were discussing this. A manager friend had a review with the deputy CEO and he told her what the pay rise would be and that we would also get a bonus. A good friend at work (of 5 years) came into our office discussing the pay rise and I told him what I had heard, as he had financial difficulties. Last week I was asked to pop into the HR office and told they were investigating if I had told anyone about the pay review. I did not want to get this lady into trouble for discussing with me as she told me it had been discussed at her review. HR manager also asked had I seen it in Board papers. I lied and said I had. This was to protect this lady, really not thinking straight. I was asked if my other colleague had shown a job description for a new director to this man and I told them this was a question for her not me. My line manager also discussed the pay review with a man from IT, but this had not been reported. This was playing on my mind and 2 days later I told my line manager the truth after a lot of probing from her (as HR manager was not in work) . I said I had been told this and that it had come from the deputy CEO. The deputy CEO then interviewed this manager friend and sent a message back to me to stop worrying and that he was satisfied the leak had come from him and it was just a mountain out of a molehill and would blow over. He is now on leave. Later that day I received a text from this manager friend telling me that the good friend of 5 years wanted to come to my home on Saturday (as he had visited me there on many occasions) and that he was scared and frightened and was sorry he got me in trouble and he had not complained about me, it was his line manager. He never turned up. He never came to work on Monday and I was worried about him as I have many texts from him, he is being bullied by his line manager. I was so concerned for him as I have been a good listener to him for years. I decided to go to his house around the corner from my house. I was suspended from work Tuesday for harassing him as he has told the company that I went to his home Saturday and again Monday. This is totally untrue, I told them the truth I went there on Monday night. The HR Manager shouted at me and marched me off the premises. This has upset me so much I cant sleep, eat or do anything. Had a letter from work and have to go in for the results of the investigation into the pay rise issue, stating that the harassment issue will be dealt with later date. Not been allowed to contact any staff at work, not allowed to take anyone with me for the results of the investigation - I am scared that they will try to discipline me for this. Any advice would be welcome.

I have been an avid reading on this site over the last 2 weeks. I had fell into mortgage arrears with db mortgages (horrific sub prime lender)due to redundancy and buried my head in the sand. my mortgage company would not accept my offer to clear my arrears, and I received an eviction date which was my wake up call. I read up on Ellens repossession guide on here and people who have gone through similar things and I have attended court today, terrified, the judge could not have been nicer and the solicitor from Eversheds acting for DB was terrible, he huffed and puffed that much even the judge asked what was wrong. The judge discussed everything with me and then suspended the warrant for my monthly payment plus £200.00 per month (not the £350.00 I was offering) Just wanted to say thank you to people like Ellen for doing things like this where you can read other peoples situations and get help to assist them.

Three weeks ago, I received an email from eBay telling me that my account had been suspended. The reason given was that another account, that had a name that bore some similarity to mine, was linked to my account and had been suspended, meaning that my account was automatically suspended too. I have been using eBay for years and have never opened a second account. When I tried to get more information from them, all they would tell me is that there were similarities between the two accounts that led them to believe they were linked. I have disputed this several times and now they just ignore my emails. I feel insulted and abused by eBay. I have been a good customer of theirs for many years, both as a buyer and as a seller, each with a 100% record, and suddenly they do this to me. I know they have the right to do so, under their T&Cs, but it just isn't right. I don't know how to get the situation rectified. I have tried writing to the Sunday Times, hoping they might take up the case, but I have heard nothing. If I can't get my account re-instated, maybe I can at least warn other people about the arrogant way in which they treat customers.

Hi, I am asking for some advice on behalf of my sister (she is not good at this sort of thing and is now too embarrassed to follow up). About 3 years ago she was suspended from work WITHOUT pay pending an investigation by the police. a few months after she was informed that no action was being taken as there was no evidence to back up an allegation made against her. The matter was closed in the police side as far as I know. Anyway, my sister waited for her work to contact her with reference going back to carry on work. NOTHING. she spoke to members of staff she was good friends with and no-one knew anything but there was a lot going on with other members of staff now and other allegations where being thrown around by the managers (false ones too from what the general opinions where). Now almost three years down the line my sister is STILL waiting for her 'employer' to contact her and clear up the situation. I had finally got her to stop just chatting with staff and contact the employer. Following the 3rd letter off her and several telephone calls to the office without response I called the office twice to be told the boss was in a meeting but would be given a message to call me. No call to me over the next couple of days so I called him on his mobile. He was a bit niffed I think (understandably I guess) but he would not tell me anything at all about my sisters employment situation or status. He assured me he had written to my sister in response to her letter and that she should follow this letter up as soon as possible. NO LETTER. Today the letter arrived - this is the one he had sent out weeks ago in response to my sisters letters - saying she should contact him at the office to confirm her postal address so that he could send her more mail regarding the situation. He also commented on the telephone call from 'a man claiming to be her brother' he had received - odd how I spoke to him long after he had sent this letter!!! Anyway, she is now meant to ring him to confirm the postal address so he can contact her and progress the situation. Seems to me like a runaround is developing here. My sister is moving to Germany THIS WEEK to live with me and is not returning. We need the P45 etc... to allow a smooth transaction onto the German employment system. The employer has been informed verbally and by letter of the move to Germany but there has been no cooperation so far. Where does my sister stand? For 3 yrs she has been cashing in her saving to live off !!! Is this right or is there something fishy going on here ? I tried Citizens advice, job center, benefits office and tax office but it was like talking to a faulty bath sponge. The information soaked in but nothing came out. Please help as we are meant to be driving home to Germany this Friday. Thanks, Iain. By the way - I forgot to mention she has worked for this employer for 19 fault free years to the date of suspension!!! She has only missed a shift four or five times for any reason in this whole period. She is mid 40's now. She is an old people care assistant and worked nights full time. I want to go to tribunal over this. Can my sister give written consent to the employer that I can speak on her behalf to him about it? Thanks again for ANY help as soon as possible.

Hi guys, Been pretty upset today as found out i'm suspended from work for 'misconduct'. I'll explain..I'm a youth mentor for a university and work mainly with FE Students. Basically i started the job in September 2012 and had all the relevant training provided by the university. As a youth mentor I have to teach students about various educational topics every month such as sti's etc and monitor/supervise students in the student common room..as part of the university's interest in students they ask students to fill in feedback forms at the end of each educational topic teaching session. In December 2012 there was some comments left in scribbly writing which made racist remarks to myself as a tutor stuff like 'why don't we have a english tutor etc'. I didn't actually see these comments but my manager did. My manager rung me at the time and asked me to call him. I called him and he told me that he had seen the comments and that i should ignore them as the majority of students are white and its ignorance, but he didn't want me to feel the matter was being ignored so he would have a meeting with all students and get the police to come in to talk about racism. He did all of this and no one admitted they wrote the comments. He then asked me if i wanted to file a police report or what. I told him that I didn't as I wasn't bothered about it and they're only college kids mainly 16 so i put it down to ignorance. In March 2013 this year we've had two new staff members as two left who work as youth mentors next to me. Basically since then staff members have been getting odd texts which appear to be from another staff member but aren't saying they've been sacked etc. I was also victim to this and almost fell for it, luckily our work noticed and text us all so I realised. My work never found out who was doing it but had a meeting advising everyone to be careful and as a result they moved all staff files from a public area to a secure area. Today I got called into a meeting all of a sudden at work with the head of youth mentoring and head of staff. They asked me to recall the racism incident in December and pulled out the feedback forms which has racist comments on them. They then pulled out feedback forms I had signed as part of my contract and another's mentors feedback form which had been modified and extra words added on it. They told me that all 3 pieces of documents looked like they were my writing (scribbly) and could I explain this. i told them that I was extremely offended that they would imply I had been modifying documents and more importantly the pens we all use to write with are the same and shared between students and ourselves because we have limited supplies and I had not been writing or modifying anything and had no reason too. Furthermore the way of the writing ie: the way the a's and g's were wrote on the racism form seemed totally different to mine. They noted this and I told them just because someone has scribbly writing and mine is also does not mean that this is the same person. They then said to me on that basis I wrote '&' on a sheet and the last mentor's work that had been modified also had an '&' on. So they put to me that no racism ever happened, I was lieing and secretly unhappy with my job and decided to falisify feedback documents, feedback sheets and was so dumb I used the same pen, same writing style and letters and words. They then ever said that next year my re-application for this job should be suggested that 'it won't go to the same person'. To be honest I was pretty upset as I haven't done the above things and they told me that they have sought advice from their 'HR lawyer in the university' and that she hasn't actually seen the documents but her advice is to suspend me. I will be paid for days i worked that's it. I feel this is really unfair espically when the feedback forms are left in a open environment on a desk where students can get them or staff and i did put this to them. However i feel i've been unfairly treated here espically suggesting and implying that I won't get the job next year if I re-apply. The thing that annonyed me about that is that they had someone last year who re-worked here so necessarily that wasn't a fair statement. I just wondered what can I do? what are my rights? have they acted fairly? Could i ask that if they want to speak to me further that I have a lawyer there? If anyone could let me know that would be fantastic as at the end of the whole meeting I was pretty upset as i really enjoy teaching these children and giving something back..

Hi - I need advice regarding any rights I may have; following DWP decision to cease my Income Support Payments? Received DWP letter this morning, advising me that as from 08/05/2013 they cannot pay me - for failing to return A2, sent to me on 26/04/2013. I contacted them immediately, explaining that I had in fact completed and returned the A2 form to them on Monday 6 May 2013. On checking, they advised me that it had not been received by them and were going to issue a duplicate A2 to me via post. I queried the fact that they had mad a decision to stop my Income Support Payments, with effect from 08/05/13 (2 weeks ago); as I am paid fortnightly; I had been due a payment tomorrow which I had been relying on and asked how the hardship this will cause me can be dealt with? The lady said she would get a BA to contact me from the section, which would be between 1pm today, up to 1pm tomorrow? I expect call will be tomorrow, but wanted to ensure I ask the forum how I might go about getting my payments back on track, pending their receipt of a dupliate A2 form from me? It just seems ridiculous to take such action, retrospectively - causing extreme hardship unnecessarily. Why can they not threaten to stop such benefits, if information not received by X-date, allowing you a bit of time to liaise with them and ensure info reaches them within set timescale. As I am paid fortnightly; it is really messing up all my accounts/outgoing payments, council tax, shopping etc. I am also considering they will likely mess up my housing benefit payments now also!!! Its ridiculous!!! All this mayhem and hardship this drastic action will now cause for me and my family, when a simple reminder would have got things sorted out without so much chaos. Any advice anybody can offer me, so I can probe the DM calling me tomorrow with a view to getting my payments reinstated until they receive the duplicate sending of A2 - recorded delivery? Please Please any advice - would be very much appreciated. The next fortnight going to be a nightmare without IS payments in progress and esp no advance warning, to prepare me? Many thanks in advance to all! Nadia

My HB was suspended on 15th April due to a change of circumstance of partner moving in and making a joint claim for ESA. A decision cannot be made on my ESA until I have attended an ATOS medical assessment on 31st May I have not received any HB since 25th March and my landlord is now chasing me for eight weeks rent which is understandable. I have been to Shelter about this and my landlord has given me more time to pay luckily. I have also wrote to my local council asking them to pay my benefit based on the only income I have which is Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits. Today I checked my benefits online which I can do with my local council and my account is saying that the next payment is due on 17th June which will be 12 weeks benefit. Can HB only be suspended for 12 weeks and then a payment is released? Shelter has even telephoned my council to make a payment and they still haven't I have also read on here that if I email the CEO of my council, the problem will be resolved much quicker. Any help would be much appreciated.

Good morning all. I'm hoping somebody can give me a little advice on a problem I have at work at the moment? Basically, I have just been suspended from work for something that supposedly happened one evening earlier this week. I have been accused of bullying by a female member of staff. She claims that I had a disagreement with her during the day (which I accept) and that just before leaving for home that evening I approached her desk, "red faced and in a rage" and proceeded to launch a torrent of verbal abuse at her whilst leaning over her desk in an aggressive manner with my fists on her table. This upset her and made her feel threatened, she burst into tears after I had left and has lodged a formal complaint about my behaviour. I was off work the following day (normal weekly day off) but received a text message from my sales manage saying that I needed to make sure I was in early the following day to attend an 8.30 meeting. I was eventually called to the meeting at 12.30 which was held with my general manager, not my sales manager. He immediately warned me that an official complaint had been received and that this could be going "legal". I immediately asked if I could have somebody present to witness what was being said, but this was refused on the basis that this was just going to be a discussion between him and I to let me read the letter of complaint and for him to hear my side of events and to answer other allegations that had been made against me. This discussion was recorded (with my consent) by the way. It was immediately apparent (once I started reading the letter) that this was being blown out of all proportion. I had not approached my work colleague in a rage, and had not leant over her table aggressively. I had gone to talk to her calmly before I went home as I didn't want there to be an atmosphere at work due to the disagreement that had occurred earlier in the day. I had stood by her desk in a non threatening manner, had tried to resolve the issue as best I could but she became aggressive herself, swearing at me. Now this whole incident was recorded on CCTV camera, and when I asked my general manager if he had viewed the footage he said he had. When I then asked if it had shown I was acting in an aggressive manner he immediately replied "to me it looked as if you could have been discussing football or something" which indicated to me that it didn't, although he wouldn't admit as much. Aside from the allegations of what happened earlier this week, my work colleague is stating that there has been a history of my repeatedly belittling her and "bullying" her, which I refute. I have text messages on my phone from her, some as recently as 6 or 7 days ago where she has replied or sent me texts with kisses on the end of them. I find it hard to believe that somebody who feels she has been bullied or belittled would send text messages of this kind. As I say, I have been suspended for 10 days (paid) whilst further investigation are carried out. Thoughts? Sorry for the long rambling post, but I am really worried about this as it could cost me my job.

hi i am new to the CAG, but would like some advice please. we currently have a suspended mortage eviction order. we have had this for 3 years. our arrears are £3300. we have to pay back our monthly mortgage payment of £495 plus £75 towards the arears. we are not behind with our payments until this month. we have only been able to pay £300 this month so we still owe £273. we have not been issued with a default notice yet but we will be. my question is will the default be for the total arears or for the £273, which i can pay this thursday. our building society is Chelsea and they will not enter into any negotiations. i know this through previous experience. i am worried sick about this as we have kids and i do not want to lose my home. any advice asap would be greatly appreciated.

I made a claim to ESA when I got put on Pensionable Rate Of Pay in January following a motorcycle accident last summer. Trying to get through to the office was a nightmare, being met with "I'm sorry we are unable tio take your call. Please phone later." for days on end. I finally got through and after the multitude of hurdles to try and dissuade me from claiming, I finally made my claim and got my ESA. Now my wife has had her hours reduced in work and I need to report a change in circumstances on an ESA3 form. The only way I can get this is by phoning them. But for the last 3 weeks, every time I've called (about 6 times an hour on an 0845 number) I have gotten the same "I'm sorry we are unable tio take your call. please phone later.". This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to make a change of circumstances if I cannot get through? And if the only way I can contact the office is by phone, why is it a high rate 0845 number? Surely vulnerable people on this benefit shouldn't be expected to pay these high rate calls? I worked in the benefits sector for 15 years and before I would've took people complaining about this with a pinch of salt. Now I'm seeing things from the other side of the fence and its obvious all this has been put in place to put peo[ple off claiming, or to at least make it as hard as possible. Is there any other way I can get this form other than spending my days continually phoning this crowd with no success?

Hey. I am a Care assistant, and started working in a Care home on September 10th 2012. On March 13 2013 I walked into work at 13:00 as I had POVA training to attend. As I walked in my senior leader said the manager wanted to see me and I assumed it was about the transfer I asked for as I wanted to relocate to a care home closer to home. I wen't up to the managers office and she said to go back to see her after training. At 16:30 I went back to the managers office and the manager then went and got the clinical leads. At this point, I started to worry. I asked what this was all about and the manager said she needed a witness in the room and then proceeded to tell me that I was being suspended. I was completely shell shocked at this point and asked her to tell me Why? She said she couldn't tell me anything other than it was a case involved in THEFT! I asked what I was supposed to of stolen but she said I would recieve a letter in the post the following morning. On thursday 14th, I did not recieve a letter. The letter arrived on the 15th saying I have been suspended on full pay pending investigation, but again, it didn't say what I was supposed to of stolen. or when! I phoned the manager who again, refused to tell me anything! 1 week later, a friend text from work saying he had heard about what I was suppoed to of done, and that no one would believe it. I was supposed to of stolen an iPod connecter thingy that connects the Ipod to a docking station. I own an iPod 4th Gen, but the thing that was stolen was for an OLD iPod. and I don't even own a docking station. fast forward, and its now 6th April 2013 and I have still not heard a thing from work. I only recieved that one letter saying I wasn't allowed to contact anyone or I am not allowed to find another job. Please help

Can somebody please point me in the right direction? We have two accounts with HSBC which we got into arrears with, when the business went into administration in June 2009. Various letters and correspondence transpired until we ended up in the following situation. 28.09.11 HM Courts & Tribunals Service, ****** County Court Order for possession (Mortgaged Premise) (suspended) On the 26.09.11 at ***** County Court This order has been made on discretionary grounds and the court orders that 1) The defendant give the claimant possession of ***** on or before 24.10.11 2) This order is not to be enforced so long as the defendant pays the claimant the unpaid installments under the mortgage of ****, by the payments set out below in addition to the current installments under the mortgage. 3) Payment required £534.00 per month, the first installment to be paid on or before 01.10.11 07.10.11 Letter from Shoosmiths acting on behalf of HSBC, at the hearing on 26.09.11 the Judge granted an order for possession suspended on payments of your monthly installment plus £534.00 per month towards the arrears. According to Mortgage A, HomeOwner Loan the balance outstanding @ 31.01.13 is £36,959.51, based on your original offer document the remaining term of your loan is 7 years and 3 months. Which would mean 87 payments of £424.83; I am currently paying £685.01 per month (Mortgage plus arrears) According to Mortgage B, HomeOwner Loan the balance outstanding @ 19.03.13 is £4,166.45, based on your original offer document the remaining term of your loan is 7 months. Which would mean 7 payments of £595.20, I am currently paying £700.47 per month (Mortgage plus arrears), I am not too bothered about this one, as that would see me paying that off a month earlier. Because I am ahead of the repayments based on the terms for each loan, does that mean I am no longer in arrears, I must admit I am not sure what the arrears figure finally was, but based on what I have said would have hoped so, would it be best to write to HSBC and ask them for clarification. We have paid the Mortgages plus arrears without fail since October 2011, I just need to know what I can do now to remove the threat of the suspended possession order and get back to what I should be paying, based on the remaining terms of the loans, do I go back to the solicitors Shoosmiths, HSBC, The Court or all of them. If there are any questions then please ask, I have tried to keep it brief, but with as much information as possible, thanks for reading.