Hi I had an issue, see previous thread, locked due to comments made by other members. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?434113-Incorrect-CT-Liability-Order-and-Bailiffs-Forced-to-Pay-it-by-Police(1-Viewing)-nbsp I had an issue where council generated incorrect Liability Order stating I owed this much when I did not, it has took months and months, almost 10 in fact and they finally only 2 weeks ago stated they made a mistake and it would be resolved. Its all in the other thread. Here lies my update. After receiving my new Genuine Revised Council Tax bill on Friday morning amended to show the exact dates I actually lived in the property, actually what my outstanding balance was (stated genuine purely as someone on the other thread said I probably made bill on computer), this now differs somewhat to the liability Order they raised some time back after telling them it was wrong. Basically my question for this is what can I do with regards the Order that was raised incorrectly, even when they knew it was? Obviously if i get a bill saying I owe this much, I will pay, but when you get a balance that is somewhat higher I will not pay it regardless, especially when they refuse to amend it for whatever reason. My main pressing concern is where someone said Bailiff who entered my property aided by Police acted Lawfully. He stated he was informed by Council on Friday to proceed with order and collect Full amount Outstanding. Didn't show me proof, didn't show me ID, obviously didn't comply, called police and wasnt instructed by anyone. Police arrived, basically made me pay exactly what he was asking for without any proof from him, just a slip of paper with 4 lines and total balance. If i didn't pay, take a car not belonging to us (bill of sale in partners name only) or my Business Assets failure to comply would result would be arrested for breach of peace. So had no option but to pay leaving me with hardly anything left. Today I get informed after numerous calls over 5 hours that Council gave no instructions at all to bailiff company and that pending action wasn't being taken at present due to known error that had occurred which by this call had been rectified. So basically bailiff tried to come into property on a blatant lie, having police aide him in his so called lawful duty as they put it. Now I have email today from council telling me that it has been sorted, how much is actually owed etc, also confirming that they didn't instruct any bailiff action and that as of 1st September as per received letter it was still on hold until further notice So bailiff now definitely acted on his own accord with no instructions, lied to police who they based on his lie, aided him in forcing me to pay money I didn't have to or else I faced possibly arrest. Basically if you read thread most is on there, just now can clarify that monies was owed, but left on my account to pay was £73 for the year. Council apologised and said they will speak to Bailiff Company as they don't understand why he did this but all they could do is get them to refund the difference between the original debt on Liability Order and the Correct amount they revised it. Unfortunately their Fees are not our responsibility that goes to the bailiff so other than that that's all we can do but at least its sorted now and balance cleared and then obviously asked if I was now willing to pay outstanding for this years as refused to pay it from June when they were reluctant to fix their mistake. I did query why I had 2 council bill accounts instead of just amending address change on other one but said human error and its just one of those black friday cases that happens once in a while but not to worry as I have paid the balance at least. I have already raised formal police complaint based on they actions of the Police Officers but also wondering if I have grounds for reporting a crime. The bailiff acted on his own authority and I was subject to intimidation by police and in some case blackmail in that if I didn't pay what he wanted regardless of whether right or wrong I could face possible arrest. Also council state under no circumstances can an Order be revoked they can amend amount but it was still be enforceable. This should never of gotten to this stage in first place as they were told back in December, January and February that it was wrong and their notes on their system clarify my concerns but it was never actioned. Who is right and who is wrong in all of this? Is liability Order correct and still valid? Can I not have back Bailiff £310 Fee? Was it theft? What ground if any are there towards Council, Bailiffs etc for all of this situation? Note bank were no help and said can only do a chargeback(as some stated is option) once transaction is authorised and not still at pending and that may not constitute one, also fraud said no as I handed over my debit card regardless of circumstances. I have had to keep my little one off school today due to all this hassle, and the ordeal has left my partner physically sick with whole ordeal and situation and I cant drive and cant afford taxi fares and this took more pressing matter to resolve. Only thing been told so far is complain for maladministration on behalf of council and bailiffs action as for council to pick up on as they are their agents? What does this achieve in mean time?? I for one now have to try and sort out my p***ed off landlord who expected this today and who i cant tell exactly when will get rent! Feel like phoning police and reporting it as crime as to me in some instances i believe it is

Hi, I have recently moved into a new room with a private landlady. I paid the deposit on 11/9/14 via bank transfer as this would also hold the room. She acknowledged this via text and confirmed the room was mine and said she would send a tenancy agreement to my old address. I have now moved into the new place but have still not received anything after several texts requesting and her saying she would send. I have read that a written tenancy agreement does not have to be in place, but obviously I want one as was promised. Also I am unsure of where I stand in regards to TDS. I have read different information about this. The sticky at the top of the page says I need confirmation of this within 14 days, but another website says 30 days from the payment of deposit but only if a tenancy agreement is signed. Can somewhere advise where I stand if the landlady just never sends me a tenancy agreement, b) what date I should receive confirmation that my deposit was paid into a TDS., and c) if i don't sign a tenancy agreement is it correct the deposit doesn't need to go into a TDS. Thanks

I have just lost a county court hearing against Travis Perkins builders merchant. The judgement amount is £2100. 10 days before the hearing TP wrote to me offering to settle at £1500 if I paid within 14 days. The letter is marked "without prejudice save as to costs". Their letter (sent to the wrong address) arrived just before the hearing. I did not take it with me to the hearing to hand to the judge (never thought I would lose!). I have now paid them 1500 the day after the hearing ie day 11 of the 14 days. "the said sum to be paid within 14 days from the date of this letter" is the only stated condition. I wonder about applying for a variation on their judgement when the court order comes through. Anyone got any wisdom on this?

Long story short - Apart from the company evading tax by telling staff they are paying a cash 'after tax' figure, none of the staff including my father ever received payslips. And the P45 he received indicated a lower amount than what I was paid. His new Manager was taking over, which was the owners son. He told my father to not come into work a few weeks ago, and would talk to him the following monday as he felt that my fathers heart wasn't in it anymore, and accused him at the same time of passing work over to another rival company. My father went in but recorded the conversation, and was told he was letting him go. The new manager felt that my Fathers heart wasn't with the company anymore, he had handed work over to another rival taxi company, and he was caught smoking inside the premises. - My father only ever phoned another firm to hand work over when he didn't have enough cars on a nightshift to cover the bookings he had. - My father did get caught smoking in the office, but everyone smokes including the drivers and two owners. He supposedly got a verbal warning for this. However, no written warnings were ever issued! Despite my Father being a Taxi Controller there for over 7 years, and a driver previously for 7 years - meaning nearly 15 years of service to the company. I have 3 main gripes: - No Payslips ever given. - P45 indicating less earned than what I was paid, suggesting possible tax evasion. - Unfair dismissal. I feel he was dismissed because he was infact one of the highest paid controllers, on nearly £100 a week more than others, and they wanted rid. However, they did not follow procedure. I was very rarely ill. Never had days off. And they sack me on the spot for pretty much no reason, with no verbal or written warnings!? Does anyone know where we stand with this? We have recordings of the conversations etc. Thanks in advance, Tony.

Hello there. I recently signed a tenancy agreement with a social housing association for a two bedroomed first floor flat. It was a five year fixed term shorthold tenancy agreement with a 12 month starter period. There is a 4 week break clause if you want to end the tenancy early. I had the keys to the flat for 5 days but did not move into the property at any time. I started to become very ill as I was moving boxes into the flat. I suffered with headaches, dizziness, blurred vision and loss of balance. Symptoms subsided when I left the property. Symptoms returned when I went back to the property. I took three friends with me on separate occasions and they all felt the same. On the fourth visit to the flat I noticed an electricity substation in the front garden. I have always been sensitive to EMF pollution ( I have not been able to use a mobile phone for years except on loud speaker) I returned the keys and asked for a surrender of tenancy which has been refused. I feel that it is very unfair that I should be liable for any rent payments as I left the property through no fault of my own, on health grounds, as I simply could not stay there without experiencing these symptoms. The tenancy agreement states that the property would be safe but it was not safe for me. The social housing association say I have to give 4 weeks notice and pay 4 weeks rent and if I do not sign the form to say I am giving notice then they will extend the notice. I have told them I am going to seek legal advice. I do not have the money to see a solicitor. Can you advise? Many thanks.

My good friend has been chased by numerous DCA's over the last 5 years for 2 credit card debts. One for £1,000 and the other for nearly £4,000. Due to the inefficiencies and disorganised nature of the DCA's we've managed to keep them all at bay and they've now all been quiet for the last 3 months. My friend is now wanting to move house but we're worried the DCA's could issue county court proceedings to her current address and she won't know about it until it's too late. Should we notify DCA's she's moving or just keep quiet? We're very conscious the debts will become SB in approximately 6 months so don't want to miss any correspondence this late in the game,

It would appear that I have been moved to another energy supplier without my authority! This started back in November last year when I was contacted by Unicom sales and offered a better deal on my electric supply all sounded pretty reasonable on the phone and they e-mailed me a Letter of Authority to sign and return. On reading this Letter of Authority which gave them the authority to contact my current supplier and gather information about my account and rates; but I noted that there was a paragraph that gave them the Authority to Terminate my contract with my current supplier and move it to them, so at this point I left it. I soon received a call asking for the Letter of Authority, I explained that I wasn't happy with the Termination Clause and that I wouldn't sign such a letter. I was assured that they wouldn't terminate my current supplier contract without my say so; so to be sure I edited the Letter of Authority and removed the offending paragraph, signed it and sent it back. I never heard any more until a couple of months ago when I noticed that my DD payments to Unicom had jumped from about £30/Month to well over £1,000/Month. I immediately rang Unicom to see what was going on and they told me that it was because of my electric supply which they had taken over, I found this to be quite distressing as I had been paying my previous supplier in the region of £700/Quarter. I asked on who's Authority had they transferred my contract? I was informed that I had signed a Letter of Authority and that they had this letter on file; I asked for them to e-mail me that letter which they did and I can confirm that the copy they have is the edited version that I sent. So my question is did they have the authority to terminate my contract? Regards Chris

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. I had my Mercedes clk convertible SORN'd and uninsured in a secure lock up underground car park. I am the owner and was the registered keeper. I say was as someone unknown to me had the car transferred into their name by the DVLA. I never received any correspondence from the DVLA. I phoned the DVLA and they won't give me any information as I'm not the registered keeper. It's ludicrous. I owned the car outright and had known the previous keeper and was with him when he purchased the car 6 years prior to me owning it. The new registered keeper then had a locksmith come and clone a key and drove it out of the car park at the end of July, MOT'd it a week later and sold it the next day apparently for a paltry amount. I noticed it a week later and reported it stolen. Initially the police said it was a civil mater(how?) then they eventually listed it as a stolen a few days later. 36 hours later the person who purchased it rang the police saying that the car he had just bought for a 5th of its value had been reported stolen. Initially the police left the car with the new purchaser but have now impounded it. I feel like I am bashing my head against a brick wall as the officer dealing with it didn't believe the DVLA would just transfer it without my knowledge until he had an email from the DVLA that they would so ordered it seized. Now the person who had it transferred into his name has emailed the officer and so again he is emailing the DVLA for clarification. My car was stolen, how do I get it back. A civil case would cost me more than the car is worth and I couldn't afford it either. Has anyone had to deal with a similar situation, what do I do to get my car back

OK HERE GOES I have worked at the company for just under 14 months, no disiplinary action against me until this point. Long story short, I have had 5 days off work, i sent a message to my boss on the first day saying I wouldnt be in work that day. The same day I posted an SC2 form to work. I made no further contact with them nor received any contact. On my fifth day of absence I received a letter stating that due to unauthorised absences my employment is terminated with immediate effect as i have failed to report my absence in line with company procedures. I have had time off before and not reported it to my manager due to them being off work on long erm illness, in these instanes i have always contacted the head of personnel and this has never been an issue, however my letter says that i have failed on several occasions o report absences via company procedures. My employment is terminated from the date of the letter and once i have been paid what I am owed i shall receive my P45. I was hoping for some advice please. As a side note and I dont know what relevance this has but I cannot tell you the companies procedures tehnacally as I have never been given a contrat (despite asking several times) I have since SAR them and also sent a letter before action. Basically they have sent the return to work forms, DWP forms (where Job centre asking about dimissal etc), copy of health and safety trainign checklist, copy of letter of dismissal and check lists showing employment contract issued (yes ticked) but underneath they put handbook issued. On second check list under employment contract issued, they ticked N/A and put handbook issued with 6 weeks. they also only referred to informal verbal discussions , but no info on formal past disciplinary was provided and indeed they admitted was not formal but informal and no records were kept of them

today I arrived home to find a notice for my attention in the main foyer of my block of flats from the company who do my annual gas check service. They have turned off my gas supply at the meter because it is at risk as my appliances have been unserviced. My gas appliances were last checked in September last year (so ten months) and all was OK. I was told to expect to hear from them in August this year. They normally send out a letter a couple of weeks beforehand saying when they will be coming out. I have not had anything through the post. They usually stick a card in the main foyer if they have been out and were unable to gain access with details of how to get in touch. I have not seen a card saying they have been prior to today (not that I have been expecting one but I normally check the foyer most days just in case). As far as I am aware this was their first attempt. I have checked my meter and they have stuck a "do not use" sticker on it. A quick check suggests that I do indeed have no gas and no hot water (as that runs off the boiler). So my question is can they do this and where to go from here? I can't do anything tonight as they only work office hours but I am really annoyed. For all they know, I could be vulnerable or have small children. Any help would be much appreciated.

Hello! I went to court with my neighbour over a land dispute. I had to withdraw from the trial because I am deaf and the audio loop wasn't working, but the Judge refused to adjourn... This is probably a whole other area, however, the neighbour was awarded costs of £23k and has now placed an Interim Charging Order on our jointly mortgaged house. My husband is not the debtor. I want to know if I can argue that the Award is unfair, not just because of what happened in court, but also because it includes a 100% success fee, which I feel they are not entitled to because I did not receive the Part 36 Offer which the neighbour's lawyers said they sent to me prior to trial. They are unable to prove I received it as they only sent by first class post. The hearing to decide whether the Charging Order is to be made final is in August, and I wonder if anyone can advise what I should do if I wish to object to the award for costs. My husband will object to the Charging Order. What argument should he provide, please? There is little equity in the property, as there is a lot of work which needs doing, including subsidence. The Judge was biased and failed to adjourn when it was discovered that the Audio Loop necessary for me to participate in the Trial, was not working. He instructed the room to shout and speak slowly for my benefit. None did as they were all the opponents witnesses. All of what they said under cross examination was of no consequence. I entered into litigation after much studying, and was confident of success. What went wrong? I am now being taken to court by my opponent for his costs.. £23k.. He is trying for a Charging Order, too.

Went to my local Job Centre today only to find out that they have removed the Job Points, and out of the 7 phones they had, only 1 was left, their excuse...all the jobs on the Job Points can be found on Universal Jobmatch, and we should be helping ourselves by using OUR own phones! I've hated being unemployed for ages now, but this just smacks of being heartless! Job Centres are supposed to help us get back into work, but in my eyes, this whole UJ system is only in place to catch us out and sanction us! The sooner i'm off this nightmare roundabout...the better!

Yesterday morning I went to work without a care in the world. I was told by my manager then at 10am that an 'investigation' was being carried out as I had forgotten to lock a loaded vehicle overnight on Friday, thankfully it had been spotted and wasn't actually left unlocked. Then at 4:30 as I was leaving I was told that I had been dismissed and would be paid until the end of the week. I had no meetings (other than the initial 'we're investigating, did you do it chat), no chance to give my side across, and no letter or anything advising of my right to appeal. My manager had given me a sheet of paper to sign earlier in the day and said 'just sign it, it basically says you've been a numpty and you're sorry'. It basically said I admitted I had left the vehicle unlocked and I was sorry, as I had just had the investigation bombshell dropped on me I didn't question it I just signed it. Then at the end of the day again I was asked to sign a hand written paper and told it says I've told you you'll be paid until the end of the week and you're no longer employed by us. To be honest I was so shell shocked I just signed it without reading it. Some information: I have worked there for 6 months. I have a contract however disciplinary procedures are outlined in an employee handbook which I wasn't given and when I just went and asked for a copy I was told no. I know the same thing has happened by other staff members (and the mistake was not picked up until the next day when the vehicle had actually been left unlocked overnight) and they were basically told off, no formal disciplinary action was taken against them. When I got home last night I checked the jobcentre and found my job already advertised. I have written a letter of appeal and spoke to the HR person who apologised that I was told in the warehouse around other staff members that I had been dismissed and asked me to go back tonight for a meeting with her and the 2 top bosses. I don't want to take them to court I just want my job back. I made a genuine mistake which I held my hands up for immediately however my punishment is much harsher than anyone else has received. Is there anything I can do or say to encourage them to change their minds and overrule the decision? Have they followed procedures correctly? Thanks in advance for any advise.

Just as a enquiry can anyone tell me can an employee record meetings between ourselves and him, and pass them on to third parties??? or indeed communicate meetings over phones. either the above without consent

I found out today by finding it in the local press that I've been taken to court over not notifying the dvla for change of ownership... This was on 12/5/14 ..but this was in my old married name (changed by deed poll in nov/11) and to my old address which I moved from in nov/12... I've sold all vehicles in my name by part exchange to reputable main dealers.... I don't know what's going on but am extremely upset that the local press and the court have demeaned my good character...anyone got any ideas?

At Twickenham Job Centre, they have been paying benefits to my mother without my mother signing on. My mother's job seekers advisor explains that my mother does not need to sign on as "hardly anyone signs on anymore". I believe this is totally incorrect as a Job Seeker surely would have to sign an agreement in order to receive their benefits and must comply with the agreement in order to maintain their benefits. Otherwise a Job Seeker could receive their benefits and also obtain employment at the same time as they are not agreeing to any terms and conditions. Can anyone confirm whether people have to sign on in order receive to benefits?

I am hoping to get some advice, my son went to help his friend decorate a new flat he was moving into, he left a note in the windscreen stating 'working at No * ' he was given a however ticket which says he was parking in a permit space without a permit. contravention code 16. Can anyone give me any advice re appealing? Thanks

Hi I'm looking for some advice. I bought a single ticket to Cheltenham at a ticket machine prior to boarding a train at Cardiff. I used the ticket to go through the turnstiles and then boarded the train. When asked for my ticket by the conductor I was unable to produce it. I can only imagine that it dropped from my pocket between the turnstiles and the train. The conductor was sympathetic and said that I just needed to fill out a form and the matter would be resolved if I was able to produce evidence of buying the ticket. Shortly after I received a letter from Transport Investigations. I wrote back to them and copied in the receipt from my credit card which gave all the relevant information about my purchase including a purchase reference number from the ticket machine. In response, Transport Investigations sent me back a generic letter alleging that I "had failed to pay the fare correct due and had boarded a train with the intention of travelling without having previously paid the correct amount". This is obviously not true and I have evidence to demonstrate this fact. What should I do now?

Hello everyone, newbie here Ive searched through the forums and found similar cases but expect for one important thing. Ok so heres my story My 4month old HP laptop's cd/dvd drive didnt work - it couldnt burn cds or even read them. So i took it in because i had the knowhow insurance. the rep in the knowhow section in currys, took my details and said it will be sent off so it can be looked at. bearing in mind this was the 1st time i have had a laptop, i had no idea that needed to back anything up and i didnt even think of backing anything up because it was a cd drive fault and not anything to do with the drives itself (im thinking of things like viruses) also the tech guy at currys didnt say anything either. 1 week later, my laptop arrives back at currys and i went to collect it but couldnt check it as the battery was completely dead. So once it was charged at home, i switch it on and see they have completely re-installed windows and all my saved work and photos in c drive have gone... luckily couple months ago i decided to partition my hard drive, so anything i saved on d drive was saved. Also i do monthly backups normally at the end end of each month, so anything i had not saved from march 28th onwards was not saved on my external hard drive and there was a fair bit of files i phoned up knowhow straightaway and they said that the techguy shouldve warned me and he will email currys. But i have no faith left in them as it has been a rollercoaster ride ever since i have bought the laptop and the accersory bundle... (the sales rep tried to make me look like a liar and say i didnt buy the acc pack, but i proved him wrong as i made him write that i was owing an acc pack on the reciept itself. But after many emails to customer service - who are biased people anyway - got sort) So i want to know is what are my rights and what can i get out of this as i had important work saved and photos saved on it too.

I checked by bank account this evening and SP have decided to take over £600. I recently moved house from rented to mortgaged. I transferred my account from the rented property knowing I had £600 winter debt I put up my monthly DD. I have mail redirection from the rented property to come to my new property and therefore can safety say I have received no correspondence to state this will happen. I am now financially insecure for the rest of the month because of this and not very happy. Can SP do this to me without any warning. If they would have sent a letter I would have contacted them to discuss further. Please help!!

Hi all, We moved out of our property about a month ago. Within the 10 days the landlord requested 200 pounds worth of deductions, and we've been given the rest back by the agent. We've repeatedly asked him for what these deductions are, and so far he's only mentioned some supposed damage to a sofa which he says will cost 60 pounds to clean, then if that can't be done, more may have to be spent on repairing it. We wish to dispute this, as we absolutely did not cause this damage, and will do so with the mydeposits dispute service. However, we still don't know what else this 200 pounds is supposed to cover. We've asked for a list a number of times and all we get is the mention of the sofa. I guess he's just hedging his bets in case it costs more. I want to dispute this, but my concern is this - we need to submit evidence with our dispute, so how can we do that if we don't know what the majority of the claim is for? If we only submit evidence about the sofa, he could then change his counter claim to add in 140 quid's worth of other issues, which we'll have no chance to submit evidence about. What's our best move here? Should we demand a finalised list before we dispute, or would the fact he hasn't given us one yet count against him in a dispute? Or will we be given a chance to counter with evidence if he brings up stuff we haven't been notified of yet? Thanks in advance for any help with this. Louis

A quick run down of my case. August 2012, started claiming ESA IR. Initial WCA appointment March 2013 (Missed due to severe illness), so our ESA was stopped, we appealed citing the reasons and providing proof and the decision to stop the benefit was overturned and our benefit continued. Then it took a good 5 months (Aug 2013) until I actually had my assessment. I was awarded 0 points, the assessor made up lies in the report and said I could do stuff that I was not even asked to do etc etc etc. So we appealed this, I must have put in the worlds biggest appeal papers, about 20 odd pages, braking every single descriptor down and how I believed I should have x amount of points. DWP re-looked at the decision and desided NOT to change the decision, so to tribunal it goes. I have been sending paper work an forms off to the tribunal ever since and actually thought I was getting quite close to my day in court with it being about 8 months since I appealed. Anyway, Yesterday (05/04/2014) I received a letter from DWP and it goes sort of as follows. Now, I know I should be happy that I have finally won, but I can't help feeling short changed here, I meet the descriptors for the support group regarding walking 50m etc etc. Now my questions I suppose... a) I am now due to be backdated £26 to week 14 of my claim which is around Dec 2012 until April 2014 (17 months @ £26pw = £1700 give or take) If I appeal the group placing will this put a hold on the backdated payment which can tke upto 6 weeks. That is my main worry as this money really could come in handy right now. b) Would appealing to the support group be cutting my nose of.... I do meet the descriptors to be in the support group! c) Does it look like DWP have re-looked at my case and thought that on balance they would lose at tribunal and have stopped it early??? Or are they trying something on to get me away from the support group which I truely belive I should be in? Any advice would be brilliant, and sorry for the long winded post. Dawn

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That' s right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the Stellas for the past year: * SEVENTH PLACE * Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son. Start scratching! * SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with aHonda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Scratch some more... * FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching. There are more.... Double hand scratching after this one.. * FOURTH PLACE * Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot.. * THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Whatever happened to people being responsible for their own actions? Only two more so ease up on the scratching.... * SECOND PLACE * Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000.....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. Ok. Here we go!! * FIRST PLACE * This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home. Are we, as a society, getting more stupid....

Concerning the issue of whether we are a casual worker or a an employee there is many criteria to consider for example the time we work for the employer, our skills, whether he employs us only in case of shortage or during peak time or he uses us in the normal running of our business...etc. However I would like to know if the conclusive evidence is not when the P45 has been issued because if it has been issued one year after the start of employment this means that we are now an employee. It is up to the employer to decide if he need us anymore or nor and as a consequence if he send us our P45 or not. If the employer decides because it is not convenient for him not to issue a P45 at the end of each project we could be consider as an employee There is also the issue of HMRC and in order the employer not to pay tax maybe a worker has to work only for a small period of time and not come back for a long time There is also the issue of the difference between temporary employee and a casual worker

Hi CAG I've tried searching but no luck, apologies if there is a thread on this. I'll try and keep this short. My contract with vodafone came up to the end of the 24 months today. I requested cancellation 30 days ago and that's all dandy. I looked through some of my recent bills lately, and I've noticed that I've been paying £5.50 extra a month for an extra 1gb data. Now I never actually told vodafone to add this on, I did enquire about it way before they added it on (because I was hit with heavy charges for going over my 500mb allowance) but decided not to as the value at the time wasn't very good. So I called vodafone 2 days ago, 1 to request a PAC serial for my new PAYG sim, and 2 to enquire about the bolt on, and whether I'm entitled to my money back. I discussed the matter with a customer care colleague, telling her I never requested this and I should be entitled to my money back (I've been paying this for about 8 months). She first said they add that one for me to stop lots of charges, then said calls are only recorded for 60 days (surely that's their problem?) so it can't be proved. I did disagree as I haven't signed a contract based on this. She then said because my contract is being cancelled they would not be able to credit my account, and that it would need to be reinstated before they could do so. I said I have 1 more payment with them due to go out on X date, suggesting I should just cancel the Direct Debit which would just about cover it. She agreed I should do this, I asked if they would try to take the payment as I didn't want a default, she said no, they will send me an email with a bill. I didn't get this so I had to call again, received the email later, but it's got a bill attached from November and doesn't address anything I've discussed. So does anybody know if legally I'm entitled to my money back, and whether it would be a good idea for me to cancel the direct debit? Thanks in advance (sorry it wasn't very short)