Firstly, Hi to one and all - new member here. I'd like to say thank you to all the informative and helpful posters who I have been reading for a while now. I feel much more confident about my problems now that I know a bit more than your average Joe! Now, the problem.... Got myself into a stupid payday trap like many have on here, with multiple loans covering each other until I reached breaking point recently and couldn't keep up. Most lenders have been very understanding, especially textloan, who I e-mailed a payment plan on my balance which was agreed no questions asked, and with no extra money added. If only speedcredit were like this... Reading around it seems, like many, I am going to have one hell of a battle to sort this one out. I took out a £400 loan in September which I extended a couple of times. SC demanded a final payment from me of £693 on 14/12/12. I didn't pay, and it zoomed up to £1169 on 16/12/12! Nearly £500 more in 2 days, incredible! They have also said it will go up to £1265 on 23/12/12. I sent 2 similarly worded e-mails which offered them a repayment, the bottom of these below is the first sent, the top the last: Dear Collections, Thank you for my reply, which has addressed none of the queries I have listed below. I will only confirm payment dates and amounts to repay my loan when I have been dealt with sesnsibly and reasonably, and more importantly, relevantly! I also find it strange that I e-mailed speedcredit, yet get a reply from NDR. Actually, not that strange on second thought, as you are both the same company. Anyway, back to my original point. I will not be paying you £1169, £1265 or anything like the astronomical and ridiculous figures you are trying to charge me for my loan, and which I know you will keep bumping up as you keep delaying my repsonses in order to add on more of your fantasy fees. The mere fact that you were asking for £693 to settle the account only 3 days ago shows how ridiculous your demands are - how can you possibly justify demanding £476 more in the space of 2 days??! Utterly laughable. As stated below, I offer you the full repayment of the loan funds, plus one months interest, which equates to £592. This is a more than reasonable sum for a one month loan - you are making £192 on £400, which is almost 50% of the loan amount in one month! Add on the rollover payments I have already given you, and you will have had almost £800 from me for a £400 loan, which in itself is incredible. I have blocked any attempt you may make to take any money from me with my bank, so you will be receiving nothing from me until you agree to my more than reasonable offer. Once you agree to me paying £592, then you will start receiving payments until the account is settled. It couldn't be more simple than that. I look forward to hearing from you, XXXXXXXXXXXX To: xxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: re loan ref: xxxxxxx From: Collections@NorthernDebtRecovery.com Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2012 17:23:00 +0000 Dear Matthew, Thank you for your message passed to us by Speed Credit. You currently owe £1169. You will be incurring additional interest charges on the 23.12.12 making your total outstanding balance £1265. If you are unable to pay in a one off payment, but are willing to pay £150 per month starting from this month, we are prepared to FREEZE all interest and charges. Please confirm the dates that you will be making payment on and whether you wish for us to set this up to take payment automatically. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us on 0843 381 0843 Failure to make a payment or come to an amicable agreement will result in your file being passed to a third party bailiff company who will commence proceedings against you in your local county court. Yours sincerely, COLLECTIONS (224) NORTHERN DEBT RECOVERY 0843 381 0843 NOTICE: The contents of this e-mail are intended for the named addressee only. It contains information which may be confidential and which may also be privileged. Unless you are the named addressee (or authorised to receive for the addressee) you may not copy or use it, or disclose it to anyone else. If you received it in error please notify sender immediately and then destroy it. Northern Debt Recovery Limited (NDR) is a company registered in England and Wales whose registered address is Northern Debt Recovery Limited, 15 Lyndhurst Terrace, London, NW3 5QA, United Kingdom. Company registration number 6956396. Northern Debt Recovery Limited (NDR) is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading under Consumer Credit Licence number 631166. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear speedcredit, I am writing to you to arrange a final settlement on my account. I am experiencing some financial difficulty, and am unable to make a full payment - I am therefore asking you to help me with a reasonable repayment plan. I am not trying to escape or get out of paying back what I owe, but am refusing to pay all of your additional late fees, as they break OFT guidelines in the unfair terms in consumer contracts act, as well as potentially invalidating the loan with unfair charges under section 140a and 140b of the consumer credit act 1974. Simply ignoring my previous correspondence in order to give yourselves more time to add on these late fees is disgraceful. You have tried to chase my debt with three 'different' collectors - speedcredit, northern debt recovery and Marshall hoares bailiffs. A quick search of company check shows NDR and MHB to be dormant, a search of the postal address for MHB shows this to be a dead address, and the registered address for the company is also empty. Even more incredible is the fact that having had threatening calls and letters from all three, in which they all claim to be independent, all have demanded payment with exactly the same bank details. You may be able to leech extra money from some less informed 'customers' of yours, but unfortunately I am not one of these. I know exactly what you are trying to do, and will not be intimidated or scared by your bullying and threatening tactics. I know for a fact all of these are the same company, with these fantasy fees added or purely to extort as much money from each customer as possible. My initial loan was for £400. One months interest on this figure equates to £192, giving me a total to repay of £592. I will happily pay this back, and not one penny more, in reasonable monthly payments, until fully repaid. Please reply to this email, and I will happily negotiate a fair and reasonable time in order to pay you back. Until this is agreed, I will not be paying you anything. Yours, xxxxxx As you can see, they did nothing to address any of my queries, merely telling me I owe £1000+ again, and threatening further fees and court action etc. Decided I'd try the phone option, and phoned NDR today and made them a final offer of £592. All he would do was offer me a payment plan on £1169, which i immediately rejected. I then said I will pursue other avenues such as the OFT, FOS etc to assist me. He also threatened court action, to which I openly invited NDR to take me to court so that they could justify adding nearly £500 to my loan in 2 days as a fair and just fee, along with all of their other stupid breaches of code and practice. I said to him I would be 100% confident of success in court if they wish to choose this option, he just laughed and said 'Sir, there is no way you would win'. At this point it was obvious he was running out of ammo, so i just decided to terminate the call as It was clearly getting me nowhere. Where to next?? Are there any other email contacts who will possibly deal with my query without firing back some standard reply without giving any answers to my queries and offers? Sorry this post is so long, hoping someone will be a kind soul and further advise my next move. I have cancelled my card and blocked CPA's and any attempt from SC to take anything from me, so they will be getting nothing at all until they accept my more than reasonable offer. Many thanks

Hi,new to this but need a little advice, I am seeking legal advice through the proper channels but any extra info./advice is always useful. A few weeks ago, the place where I work informed us that they were wishing to make cutbacks, starting by offering us short time working of 3 days a week. After a couple of meetings, and awkward questions by myself, they told us they were imposing it on us. A little digging around by myself and I found that this was potentially a fundamental breech ofcontract, namely that they cannot impose a change such as this unless a varying term is used in the contract or terms and conditions to allow this(the contracts are very very very basic). I actively protested against this, we have no union being a small company of around 20. I voiced my concerns to no avail. Management refused to speak to myself and a few others and as a result I became ill to the point of being prescribed anti-depressants. I handed in a 'work under protest' letter and also started a grievance, believe it or not my employer has no grievance procedure!!!!, so I followed the A.C.A.S. code of practice, 29 days have passed and still no formal meeting (tribunal???). Deadline for contracts was 10th December, few days before management had received no signed contracts and suddenly dropped the action (I wonder why!!) , 'There will be a business review in January'. So when asked I was told there would probably be redundancies. Anyway, I have been on a fixed term contract for 2 years now, most recent one ends 28th December. I was informed on the 16th December that my contract would not be renewed, I was told ' The business needs to make cutbacks,starting with me' . Some more digging around and I am hoping to take them to a tribunal for unfair dismissal for asserting my employment rights, and for less favourable treatment of a fixed term employee on the grounds that 1 - another employee got a permanent contract , a position which I should have been made aware of 2 - Actively exercising my rights under employment law and being dismissed as a result(no-one else has suffered) and 3 - Not being considered or pooled for potential redundancy, fixed term contract law says that I should be pooled and not just left for my contract to expire. So do I have any chance??? No grievance meeting? Less favourable treatment? Unfair dismissal? Possible H.S.E. regs. broke regarding stress at work? My employer has no procedures for grievances, they tend to brush any problems under the carpet or put them off so people dont take action. They dont like confrontation, have already got rid of one employee and paid them to keep quiet, they dont seem to have a clue. This past few weeks have been hell for myself and family, Im also trying to study a degree, seriously thinking about making it in employment law due to the hours I have put into reading legislations!! Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and if anyone offers any help/advice

I have been employed since 07/07/2012 (5 months). I have 10-years work experience as a dementia carer; nurse's and nutritionist's qualifications; spotless track record. I work as a live-in carer on 2 weeks on/2 weeks off rota basis: 2 x Wed -Wed; paid breaks 7h on Wed (11am-6pm) and 4h on Sat (11am-3pm). Sleep in nights on call. Client (and a dog) has advanced dementia and is very mobile. I think this is more like a shift work, where the shift pattern is: 4 live in shifts (315 hrs) are worked in 14 days: Wednesday 6 pm – Saturday 11 am; 65 h; 4 h break Saturday 3 pm - Wednesday 11 am; 92 h; 6 h break Wednesday 6 pm – Saturday 11 am; 65 h; 4 h break Saturday 3 pm - Wednesday 12 am; 93 h; handover 315 h worked in 14 days. I believe my employer has committed a serious breach of my EC by: 1. Failing to pay NMW Required to work 315 h in 14 days, being paid £ 80 per day = £ 3.55 p/h. 2. Failing to provide minimum daily and weekly rest periods The breaks I get at the placement are: 7 h break (11 am – 6 pm) on Wednesdays; 4 h break (11 am – 3 pm) on Saturdays. 3. Serious breach of the 'duty of mutual trust and confidence' a) by accusing me of gross misconduct (on 29/11), Unprofessional conduct: raising concerns about the Company and carer colleagues with the client representative (client's son). I replied to Client Son's personal text message to me about his Mum, making a comment about the Company and relief carers. I felt this was my duty of care to let the son know how his mother is being treated by relief carers the company is providing. They are accusing me of Crossing professional boundaries (Company's Policy 93) and Failure to follow their policies and procedures.When I asked what policies and procedures do they mean, manager said Policy No 93. Said I haven't seen it, he said it was available on the website and was included in my employment contract (not true). Was given the copy of Policy No 93: Professional Boundaries on 06/12. b) by imposing a suspension with pay (on 29/11), Suspension Grievance on 30/11. c) giving a warning of possible summary dismissal (on 06/12) before the disciplinary hearing ( 13/12) (adding to unnecessary stress) Suspension was a “final straw”. Other perhaps relevant breaches and actions: 1. Failing to sign off my Common Induction Standards (Care Academy), which I have completed/passed in 09/12 and it is pending sign off since I passed my probational period (07/10/12). 2. Failing to acknowledge my name. I changed my surname in October and notified the employer – they are still referring to me by my old name (incl all the disciplinary documents). 3. Not treated equally and fairly (was lied to) when applied for Senior Carer's position within the company twice (21/09 and 14/11). 4. Elements of bullying from senior manager (who is in charge of senior carers) - destructive irrelevant criticism and irrelevant remarks undermining my abilities. I'm in the situation where I have suffered a psychiatric injury, I am not able to work or defend myself at the hearings in English, because my mental health has suffered: I have panic attacks and constant anxiety and tearfulness, difficulties to concentrate. I have no money for a lawyer, I have no money to pay my rent, I have no money to buy food. I have no money to go home for Christmas .. Could you please advice what should I do. Do I resign asap to be able to claim constructive dismissal? The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for 13/12 and I'm pretty sure they will dismiss me as they have warned be doing so in the hearing letter. I have documented everything and kept placement diary. Please help. Thank you.

i need assistance with employment law, and personal injury claims. i would appreciate any advice that fellow CAG's can provided Work Related Breakdown i suffered a work related breakdown a year ago approx, however despite the problems at work i loved the actually job itself and always intended to return to work when i was well enough to do so, however i was pre empted financially and returned October last year and at that point formally started my grievance. like most people i had not idea of how a grievance procedure would work, so it was a massive learning curve. it is so unbelievably stressful and im still not fully well. all of the stresses remain as nothing had changed within the team on my return and my health has again deteriorated. Occ Health have recommended in writing that my place of work is toxic to my full recovery and i should leave. my p/trist is saying the same, as is my counsellor. they have all made clear that outside of that environment my health should improve enough for me to get another job doing the same type of work but with a different organisation! my question is this. is it possible for me to take civil action over and above tribunal action against my employer for the pysiatric injury they have caused me, in addition to which i had lost all my body hair. my head remains bald and i have to wear a wig, my eyebrow are going again, my arm and leg hair have gone, however my pubic hair did grow back a little. i am very grateful that my eyelashes have grown back - but for how long. i have been tested medically, the is no physical reason for the universal hair loss. constructive dismissal i am aware that the issue of constructive dismissal and discrimination can only be held in a Tribunal. but i would want to know how p/injury would work in a civil court, and could this take place more quickly than a Tribunal, and although not the right venue, will the issues of the discrimination, harrassment, bullying and victimisation come out at a civil hearing? i have an outstanding grievance appeal taking place by the end of March, it is likely to be negative, a little more detail first 'last straw' - manager held PPP (nearly 2 years since the previous one) tells me basically im c.... and that my colleagues have all complained about me, and gives examples of complaint. Fair enough. however all of this has come out of nowhere. manager provides no discussion or plan on how to resolve the situation between me and the rest of team, and goes off on 2 weeks holiday. naturally this has a devasting affect on my feeling toward the manager and the rest of the team, i have believed what he is saying. i make complaint to manager on his return and challenge all his accusation and complain that if the situation were true how is it he didnt try to help resolve the situation? i copy in HR. manager writes back taking no responsibility claiming i have misinterpreted and didnt say some of the things. my complaint was comprehensive and i gave back to him all the examples that he had used! a meeting was held. HR had lead me to believe that the meeting was a grievance as laid out in their policy, but it was a mediation meeting whereby the manager states again that i have mis interpreted and that in fact no one had complained about me - he failed to give any further information. he actually stated that i was made for the job. on hearing this however instead of making me feel better it devasted me further. i couldnt understand how he had done this to me in the first place. i had worked so hard and was so proud of the work. i went into freefall. from the time of the meeting with manager to what i thought was a grievance meeting was just over 2 months during which time there was a complete and utter breakdown between me and the rest of the team. i was signed off sick with work sky high blood pressure and related stress which i had desperately been trying to ward off. emloyer contact during sick leave during sick leave, the manager above my manager demanded to to see me, didnt advise that i could be accompanied and during the meeting told me basically that the best thing for me was to get my arse back on my chair and that in their experience involving the medical profession would mean that i would be off work longer! remember this talk at me is whilst i am unwell and vulnerable. end result even more freefall. during my sick leave there were a bombardment of letters from work, which stressed me out further than you can believe i felt hounded. i thought that it would be better to return to work even thougth my GP didnt think i was ready. i thought that it would be best to stop the hounding and make sure their were no more meetings with my managers manager. phased return meeting GP formally recommended this. unfortunately he did not specify a time. managers manager didnt want to follow GP's advice and tried to insist instead that if i felt tied i went home. luckily an HR officer was present and had to remind manager that it was normal in such circumstance and length of time away that a phased return take place. manager reluctantly agreed to 1 week! there was mention of a review, but no details of when the review would take place or who with. naturally 1 week was not enough. situation with team not resolved. i approach HR for help and am basically told to go away. i return to my GP who tries not to give the 'i told you so' and signs me off again. long term sick which brings me back to my return last year. Discrimination bullying and harrassment prior to the first last straw i had been suffering discrimination harrassment and bullying from another member of the team for a couple of year which i didnt handle very well. i absorbed it - but this just caused me to lose my body hair. i genuinely believe that this new member of staff would get used to me being there, also i had hoped that other members of the team would come to my defence when i was under attack from this 'colleague' - but no one did, some of them even joined in. this colleague was good at getting others to express their prejudices and the others knew better. i felt so isolated, ashamed and scared to say anything just in case they thought i was the one with the problem the one with the 'chip' so i said nothing. there was no one or manager that i had any trust or confidence in that i could take this matter to, so i suffered in silence, until the breakdown came. Employers investigate the complainant on making the complaint my employers carried out an investigation - a shock to me, a bigger shock was later learning that they had carried out an investigation on me too. thank God i was good at my job, good things were said about me. so they cant get me on that angle. grievance 1 outcome it transpired that others had complained also about my 'colleague' and my manager showed up themselves good and proper at the hearing. recommendations. words would be had with colleague and manager, but no grounds for discrimination - however.... appeal 'colleague' had actually admitted to what they thought would be a lesser complaint that they thought they could get away with, but this put employers in difficulty and they had to make a statement at the appeal confirming that at least one act of discrimination had taken place. it was agreed (and is on tape) that i was the brunt of this 'colleagues' abusive behaviour promotion of the main perp it was always the intention of my 'colleague' to get me out of the team and take over my Officer status and effect they way up from what they considered to be a lowly administrative position. they have now achieved this. even with the outcome of the grievance they still hold this position. what does this say? Victimisation (final 'last straw') managers manager has not taken too kindly to my complaint and raised awareness of what's going on in one of their departments and has targeted the 'trouble maker' me. a serious incident of victimisation has recently taken place. but i am covered by a 'protected act' and acted immediately. i put in a grievance about the harrassment and bullying by this particular manager. naturally management have stuck together. so i am just about to put in an appeal. Back to the start again this brings me round to where i started. based on the medical recommendation i think i will have to leave my job immediately i am notified of the appeal decision otherwise i will lose any rights i may have to claim constructive dismissal. i am not sure i want to claim this anyway as i would prefer the matter to go to civil court, where i can completely sue the a... off these people for what has happened to me over the past 18 months. my medical state the complete and utter indignity of having to constantly wear a wig and a cheap one at that as i dont have the money to buy a decent one. how further freakish i look without eyebrows. the constant eye infections because of no eyelashes, or where they were just coming loose and falling into my eye - the constant rubbing. im not so distressed about the rest of the body hair - no on sees any of it. im on medication up to my eyeballs. i have a diagnosed prolapsed disc and whilst of sick couldnt even put my knickers on or use the WC without putting a bucket on it first as i couldnt sit. thankfully my mobility is such that i can get around better, but i walk with a limp now, and still prefer to use the disable WC as they are a little higher. the constant pain in my back, shooting pains and numbness in my left leg is sometimes unbearable. also since being back at work apart from the deterioaration again of my mental state i have the additional indignity of repeated boils on my arse - what the hell is that about? i do hope that there is someone prepared and/or managed to read through this and provide advice or answer my query. Thanks

long winded story but here goes. In 2008 HSBC started proceedings to repossess my home due to arrears. At that point the oft case was underway but not completed and i had stated that the balance owing was inflated due to bank charges. (We were forced to take out a further loan in 2004 to pay an overdraft which consisted mostly of charges (£x,000's) Also in 2004 but prior to the above my wife became ill and we attempted to claim on the mortgage protection but they said my wife was not on the policy. 12 Months later i had reason to make a complaint to the bank over another matter and happened to mention this, we were then told that my wife was on the policy and that we would have to make a retrospective claim which we did, and after 12 more months of "your fault not ours" from the bank we were sent a document from the underwriters which basically proved that it was an error due to the bank. The bank then accepted full responsibility and paid out. During this 12 months we were charged over£1,200 in charges. these were refunded and we were offered £100 (1/12th of the amount we were charged) which i refused saying that if this error was "worth" £1,200 when they thought it was due to my error then it should also be "worth" £1,200 now that they know it is their error. After all if we go overdrawn we have to pay the money back plus charges, the bank are saying all they have to do is pay the money back but they would also give £100 as a goodwill gesture. Back to current day, I have written to the court stating that under directive 93/13 they have a duty to test these charges for fairness. I have stated that the charges are unfair due to schedule 2 terms which have the OBJECT or EFFECT of:- Part D - “permitting the seller or supplier to retain sums paid by the consumer where the latter decides not to conclude or perform the contract, without providing for the consumer to receive compensation of an equivalent amount from the seller or supplier where the latter is the party cancelling the contract;”. (Basically if A can charge B should an event occur then B should be able to charge A the same amount if the roles are reversed) I now need help in encouraging the court to perform this duty. Although the property was sold for more than the balance owed, the bank are claiming that the court costs have created a mortgage shortfall. Can anyone help????

Hi. Hope to make this post as succinct as possible. Thank you for reading and helping. 1.My Union's solicitors wrote to me saying they were taking my case (RSI back-strain from work), but according to the same letter, I am outside the statute for an action as I (not my GP) realised my pain was work-related in 2006 and they say it has to fall within 3 years. Solicitors knew this was the situation - they have my letter of grievance to my HR from 2007, so I don't know why they bothered to say they'd take on the case. 2. My workplace HR did make some noises about making an 'amicable parting of the ways' if first my GP report then their Occupational Health report, concluded it wasn't likely I'd be able to return to work soon enough (been off since Feb). I sent them my GP report last week and I have left numerous emails and phone messages to the HR person but got not a word in reply. She has never done this before. Whassup, d'you think? 3. If I'm too late for legal recourse, could I/my Union negotiate a leaving package anyway, d'you think? Or will they smell that I'm screwed legally if I try? I have just done the ATOS medical and am so screwed as regards employment and money. I do not want to live on benefits so: 4. I was even thinking of just doing Saturday nights at work; I'd get HB and Council T bens and maybe medicine help, but wouldn't have to deal with other benefit groups. That would be my last resort, because I'm terrified my back will get worse. I'd be able to rest up a lot afterwards, though. Sat night is the unpopular shift, of course, so my workmates would fall on me with a glad cry, but not sure employers would wear it. Thing is, I don't want to go through all the other negotiations, lose, and then rely on them being accommodating enough to agree to my last resort. Left a message with the solicitors and my union but neither has got back to me, so I'm appealing for any wisdom from you guys!

Can someone point me to some case law for Unfair Dismissal. In summary, someone has been dismissed for something they didn't do, it could have been any one of 4 guys. This person is suffering clinical depression, its already accepted he is covered by Equality Act 2010. He was signed off sick with depression, and whilst he was off sick, he was sacked for gross misconduct. No investigation, no hearing, no right to defend himself, he had no idea it was going on, until they turned up at his house and informed his partner at the front door that he was sacked! A letter followed listing how awful he had been throughout his 4.5 yrs with them, however, not once has he had a written or even verbal warning! Just looking for some case law for similar circumstances (hopes Becky is reading this!!) so I can have a good read up nefore the telephone CMD. The lad is not looking for mega bucks, just his holiday pay and notice, and most of all he just wants to be heard. Here's hoping!

In May 2012 a old Morgan Stanley account of mine was sold to Crapbot. Had all the assignment letters etc. I then sent off a CCA request to Crapbot and as I thought due to the age of the account no CCA could be found. Well told them that until one was forthcoming the account was in dispute and that enforcement could not take place. They agreed they could not enforce and the last correspondence was in August saying you were paying Barclays so that is proof of debt. Sent them the various cases on here quoting that basically they were talking bullocks and to either put up or shut up... Well today is the day I met the man from the mortgage company to hand in me keys to my old property and the last chance to pick up my mail. To my surprise I have a two letters from Barclays asking for payment on this old Morgan Stanley account. ??? !!!!! Surprise it is, they say they are going to default me the usual threats, this must be the most defaulted account in history, defaulted by Barclays back in 2009 then Crapbot in 2012 and now Barclays again ??? What I would like to know is, if as they say they purchased the debt have they given it back to Barclays and is this usual ???? Barclays have been sent my reply stating, Account in dispute blah de blah ( basically where's me CCA ) and how many times can I be defaulted on this ??? Very strange as Crapbot has an old Yorkshire Bank Visa Card which they tried to get money out of me for but again due to age no CCA. Have not heard about that one in nearly two years. Can they get there money back from Creditors who sold them the accounts when they know they have bought a lemon. ???

Hi All, Here's a quick explanantion of my enquiry: Rented a house under contract for £2,300 a month. Wife asks me to leave her and kids and moves in new boyfriend. I write to landlord give two months notice to leave and move out lasy 30th April. I pay rent until end June. Landlord confirms receipt. Estranged wife stays in house and hasnt paid rent since. I was in court yesterday she didnt turn up they served a summons on both of us but not to my new address they wont acknowledge i am not there. Judge says I am 50% responsible for the costs and the rent arrears. But he also said there was no longer a contract and didnt know how to structure the money to be paid to the landlord. He mentioned the eviction could be a case of tresspass then changed his mind and said come back in 21 days. My case is the landlord should have acted quicker to reduce the arrears and the court is delaying whch again adds ot my cost. If there is no longer a contract can I wriggle out of paying the rent I could argue if we had both moved out then the property may not have been rented out immediately. Im not sure how they assess their loss really Im clutching at straws I just want to limit my exposure. I havent got any money left now and lost my job so I cannot afford legal representation either. I will do a further statement with a character reference but im not sure what to write now. Mnay thanks for any detailed advice on my statement perhaps some case reference would help for me to quote where a contract has expired. Im the only honourable one here i even paid for the kitchen to be replaced as her dogs ate the base units. Ahh well. Regards Frank

Hi, I'm new to this and forums, so forgive me if I've put this in the wrong place. My ET1 was accepted. The employers submitted an ET3. Due to 'an administrative error' (Employment Tribunal's phrase), there has been a very long delay between my being physically attacked by my employers and the submitting of forms by them and the employers. I have literally just received the hearing and due process dates and today I have received a letter from my now ex-employers' solicitors, asking for an unbelieveable amount of information, that I would have to get together by this coming Monday. It would take me more than three days under perfect circumstances, but I am on new medication, from the GP, and have been referred to crisis intervention and a psychiatrist, as well as other health care professionals, as in their words, I am very ill, due to the stress of the attack, incidents leading up to the attack, subsequent court case and continuing intimidation and threats. I am too ill to get this replying information in this time frame. How do I word an email to the Employment Tribunal people, to ask for an extension, to get myself together enough, to answer all these questions? I am also suffering side effects from the medications and clinical depression. Also, I have been asked by the tribunal people to describe my disability (also present at the time of employment) under some kind of regulation rules. Do you know how I do this please? I take about ten medications to maintain my hormone levels, including Metformin as I am pre-diabetic and I am diagnosed with Bipolar Affective Disorder, which is triggered by things like stress, including someone trying to kill me. At some point, I will post a full explanation as to what happened, but I need to first remove the stress of being expected to answer a whole heap of intricately detailed questions by Monday. Thank you for taking time to read this; I hope it makes sense (it's hard to concentrate at the moment) and if anyone answers, I thank you, in advance, for your help. If possible, I think I have to ask for the extension today. C

Is there anywhere online I can search to find a date when a benefit fraud case was tried (2007-2008)? I don't know if it was tried in the local County Court or Magistrates Court. The person concerned was convicted. It was also reported in the local paper at the time, but the paper doesn't seem to have archives. I have moved the other side of the country so it wouldn't be easy to visit the court .., but I would if I have to.

Hey everbody, Im stuck and I have no idea what to do. Basically back in 2009 I hired a van with a driver from a company (usual van hire company, locally based not a national company). Me and a friend bought a load of dental chairs that were on pallets, and basically we had to pick them up from a joinery shop, put them into the van and then offload them at a storage unit I had taken over. At the time of hiring the van I told the company the chairs were approximately 80kg, but I realised they were heavier when we got there (probably around 120kg each). But either way we did not have to physically lift them, we used pallet trucks to manouver them. The driver stayed in the van at all times, and only used a pallet truck to manouver the chairs and place them where he thought best in the back of the truck (he was obv trained and had done this sort of stuff on a daily basis). We got this all done within 2 days, and at no point did he ever say he was injured etc, he even came and picked some food that my mum had made for him. However, he is now claiming against the van company, that he injured himself during that trip. So the van company family members approached me (harassed really, as they kept turning up at my house and workplace) and said they would need a statement from me, and that I would not have to go to court etc, so me being naive helped with that and signed a statement they had made (not a statement of truth though). There insurance did not cover the driver to drive off the premises so if they lose they will have to pay out themselves. Then the van company's solictitor turned up at my work and said sign a statement of truth, I said thats fine, but just asked again that I would not have to go to court, and he said I may be compelled to! At which point I refused to sign the statement. He then left and I heard nothing from him. I then received a letter from the claimants solicitors asking me for my insurance etc I just didnt reply (stupidly) and then i received another letter saying I had to attend court as they were trying to have the judge add me a second defendant. I was like what have I got myself into! Court day was today, I went myself (cant afford a solicitor), I thought the judge would understand and know its utter bull that they can add a customer to a case where I was not the employer. The defendant had a barrister turn up, the judge asked him to say what he had to say. He spoke about why I should be added, mentioned that the van company may have to close so they may not get any money from them, but that they may get money from me (like I was some sort of guarantor even though im broke and have defaults on my name!). The judge listened to my side for like 2 mins, I told her how I was just a customer, and gave an example, something along the lines of this> Just say I was going to post something at the post office, I pay for the service and now lets just say the person handling the parcel hurts his/her back, how does that make me as a customer, liable? After I was done, she basically moved on and had already made her mind up to add me to the case! I was fuming, but obviously I kept calm because I was in the county court. The judge had made her mind up before I'd even got into the room! Now they started talking and she asked would 2 weeks be okay to get a defence together, I was going away for a week, so I said no so she has given me 3 weeks to submit a defence?! I asked her what I should do if I cant afford a solicitor, she said to represent myself! Now I have no idea what to do, my friend (who was with me the whole time of the actual delivery process) said he would happily be a witness for me. But what do I do now? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and now I know why my parents always told me never get involved with this sort of stuff, law is a dirty game. This has really really put me on a downer, really lost as to what I should do. Please help anyone. Thanks

Ok, glad to have joined up here. I checked and read through DVLA posts on the site. I think my case is different to others. I'll give the basics. Car (Fiesta) taxed at the start of the year: Tax up 31st July 2012. Had a warning letter through the door around June to say my car had been spotted with no tax. I took a quick check of tax disc in car window and couldn't see what the problem was. Ignored it. Went to tax car start of August (was on holiday and out of country until 2nd week). The guy said I had a fine to pay before I could renew the tax. I explained about the letter I received and how it was sent by mistake. He checked details of my car and said there were no records of it being taxed in 2012. I explained when and how I had paid, even details of the guy behind the counter. Only when I went out to get the tax disc, I realised that there was another registration on it. The registration of a 3lt twin turbo GTO that blew an engine about 3 years ago. A car that I had returned all forms for, one which was supposedly scrapped out by a mechanic who could not fix it. The guy then put me onto their fine / debt / whatever department. I explained to the girl on the phone what had happened. She says there was no record of tax on the GTO since... guessing here May 2010. I said that's right cause it's scrapped out. She explained once again, there was NO record of the GTO being taxed since that date, meaning the Fiesta tax disc with the GTO registration on it was not recognised. I had to send it off or call in to sort things out. I called in last Thursday as I needed the car for work Friday to Monday. After 20 minutes discussing it with her supervisor, the girl behind the desk said it was my mistake. I had landed in with the white form (the one they post out) for the GTO and that's why it was processed to the wrong car. I believe I used the Fiesta white form, but they argued different. Now maybe I'm wrong but I thought I needed to show a valid Insurance and MOT certificate dedicated to the vehicle in question to be able to get tax. So how can I tax the 3.0 GTO using an Insurance certificate and an MOT certificate for a 1.3 Fiesta. That would leave it open for lots of criminal activity. Finally, my fine! I was told there's nothing I can do about the GTO tax, it can't be reclaimed. I had to pay the missing Fiesta tax from the start of the year, plus a fine for being caught on the road without tax before I could even get to pay tax for the next 6 months. To cut a long story short I'm out almost £380 for what I believe to be their error! They told me I stood no chance of getting money back. Maybe I'm biased and it's not as clear cut as I think it is. I would like other people's opinions if possible? Thanks in advance, Iain.

Hi folks, I have read with great interest all the other DVLA related threads on the forum. I think it's outrageous what the DVLA are doing, anyway, on to my predicament. Salient points are as follows Sell vehicle in September 2011 Post V5c to the DVLA the same day. The postbox is directly opposite my house! Receive a letter earlier in the year with a fine for failure to notify Then recieve a questionaire to return, which i did they now say they haven't recieved this either! Then post a letter explaining that I sent the V5c and it isn't my fault if they or Royal mail have lost it. They reply stating that this isn't a defence and are demanding payment. I do not respond to this letter (What the hell is the point?) Letter recieved today with court date set. Attached to letter is a Guilty/Not guilty form. So , my problem is this. 1. I don't have a copy of any of the paperwork I sent to them, even the one letter they do admit to recieving 2. I am unemployed and without funds for legal representation So I am left with two options as I see it. 1. Plead guilty and ask whether I could pay the fine in installments (The thought of this makes my blood boil) 2. Attach a covering letter to the 'not guilty' form outlining the fact that waiting for a letter from them to confirm the vehicles disposal and therefore them recieving the v5c is not a legal requirement and that sending the V5c to the DVLA constitutes informing the Secretary of State. And that this would be my defence when attending court. If I go with option 2 I would need some assistance with the wording or I'll end up making a real hash out of it! Any and all suggestions are welcome Many thanks Simon

CAn anyone advise pls? Sent a LBA to LL re non-protection and return of deposit and court proceedings. Heard nothing back within 14 days then receive a letter from the LL's solicitor asking me not to instigate court proceedings for a week as they'll be in a position to answer the "issues" i raised then.They threatened that if I don't comply then they'll produce the letter to the court when the issue of costs arises if not before! I thought that in the case of non-compliance with the TDS rules that I could not be liable for LL's costs? Any other pointers welcome. Thanks Bit of background. Left the property a few months ago but after the 6th May deadline for TDS compliance.

Hi I have received a case management order in my claim, that was heard without the claimant and respondent (not too sure why), and it states within the order that the file of documents should have no more than 100 pages, my case is for unfair dismissal and discrimination and have documents which substantiate my claim for both way in excess of 100 pages - can i apply to the tribunal for more pages in the bundle? Thank you

Hi everyone, well OK this may get a bit complicated but I will try and keep it brief and as clear as poss. So last week myself and my parter had out ET, I won my case and the employer was slated!!! however the employer managed to squirm out of the partners judgment. One the the reasons I was sacked is because after my partner made a qualifying protected disclosure about my boss I was suspended while a fake investigation was run, this lasted about 6 months while he attempted to find anything he could to get rid of us for, eventually as nothing could be found legitimately he made changes to a policy that meant my partner had been overpaid by the company, unfortunately for him the tribunal saw through this with evidence we presented. Basically her fixed term contract was due to end in April 2010 as stated in her terms and conditions of employment. The employer knew this but the person she had made a protected disclosure about wrote to the council (who paid her wages) and said clearly that the company did not need more funds for her post as they would not be keeping her (this was within days to her fixed term contract ending) he was also caught out my asking a solicitors by email on the day her contract ending "how best do we make xxxxx redundant and remove her right to appeal ect" basically this and lots of other things proved how mistreated she was. Now the employer claims it kept my partner employed without her knowledge or consent and without providing her with any paperwork such as payslips ect, they claim the reason that she heard nothing and was not aware that her contract had been made permanent was because she was still on suspension (however this suspension if real would have now lasted 7 months!!!! Well they now claimed that because she had worked for the company on 4 fixed term contracts that she had become a permanent employee under the 2002 regs. (even though later in the case they did admit that they had only found out about these regs when looking for a way to remove her appeal rights to being made redundant. So during the case the judge asked if we would allow them to challenge our claim and throw it out. The judge focused heavily on this point and kept asking us to stop and think about what this means over and over, but as we were not represented we now think that maybe we missed our chance then "as the judge highlighted in his decision" to ask that in the alternative we claim that the later decision was unfair dismissal because they only kept her employed for 4 months after the end of her fixed term while they made 100% deductions from her wage without her knowledge and as mentioned previously without issuing payslips or communicating with her in anyway so she would know she was an employee (by the way, she also returned all her works equipment to the employer on the day her fixed term end and they gave her back her belongings from the office, but did not say anything to her!!!) So what we are trying to find out now is: how do we get back the wages they withheld for those 4 months as they should not have made this alleged 100% deductions, or could we complete an new ET1 and ask that the tribunal allow it (even though its way out of time) because we only found this out last week, and our claim was based on her being made redundant in april 2010 not july 2010. Or any other sugestions???? thanks

Hello, Can someone knowledgeable here explain to me what is meant by prima facie? I am vaguely familiar with this term in US law, but can someone explain, in layman's terms, what is meant by this in UK law? Thank you.

Hi folks. To cut a long story short, my husband brought a civil case against his ex who lives in Scotland.it took THREE years to get it to court through one thing and another. Anyway, my husband lost....badly. The sherriff said he felt he lied under oath....he did not... and that some of the evidence was not true..it was and we can prove it. We feel very let down by our solicitor as they did not present half the evidence we had. However the sherriff has awarded FULL costs to his ex....she went for £5k and has said if my husband appeals he will condiser referring him to the Lord Advocate for criminal proceedings as he feels he lied under oath!!! We are furious. He did not lie and the evidence he claims is a lie we can prove beyond doubt that it is not. We are struggling to get hold of the solicitor, and my husband has said he will go to jail before he pays a penny to her. It appears that something is very wrong in all of this and we dont know what to do now. f he doesnt pay what will happen? We have a house in joint names can they go after this? How does it work if we live in England?? Any advice gratefully received.....this year has been a freakin mare for us and im not sure how much more we can take.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100018627/taxman-gets-a-bloody-nose-in-court-but-630000-people-face-deadline-this-month/

Hi All, Apologies I know you probably hear these things a few times. I was shopping in Lidl in Aylesbury - its car park run by UKPC operates a '2 hour free if you disaplay a ticket'. I literally was in Lidl 15 minutes, and absent mindedly forgot to get the ticket. I dont deny that fact, but I am feeling very hard done by especially given I was using the car park for intended use. I still have the receipt from Lidl to prove that I was shopping in the store the car park is intended for. And its not like the company lost money from lost car parking fares, as they are free. Ive read other places that the parking firm have to prove that me parking there lost them money by parking in that space. Is this true, because if so I cant see how they can say I cost them money if I was shopping in the store and if the car park is free anyway? I sent a letter saying I was refusing to pay because I felt it was extortionate and not representative of what I cost them (nothing) - and they sent me back a letter today which in all honest much waffle but they arent budging on the fee and giving me 14 days to pay a reduced rate.. ...which I havent any intention of paying, but Id like some advice as to whether that is the right course of action to take. I dont see how the punishment in any way represents the "crime" here. Thanks for any help

Hi Guys, I’d really appreciate your help with this.- sorry to blab!!!! I have just been dismissed from my job after 12 months (first 6 months was through an agency), for Gross Misconduct. The background is this: I When I started with the company, I filled in an application form for the agency so I could start. I now know that I made an error on my paperwork. I wrote “redundant” instead of “resigned” as reason for leaving one of my employers. I didn’t notice at the time and it wasn’t brought to light until 2 weeks ago. Anyway everything was fine, my attendance, working practice, timekeeping etc were brilliant, and in early January, it came to pass that the new rules surrounding agency workers came in to being, and the company rushed through rolling 3 month contracts for us. I was given an application form to fill in, and it had to be done there and then. The call centre is exceptionally busy and I had about 10 mins to fill it in, as that’s all the time I had off the phone. So I just copied the agency paperwork that I had and handed it back in (to be honest after 6 months, it seemed like it was ‘going through the motions’. No interview again was held and I went back to work without a second thought. 2 weeks ago, the company checked my reference, and the ex employer advised that I was NOT made redundant and due to the nature of me leaving would not re-employ me. This was when it came to light that I had made a huge mistake on my application form, I apologised and advised the background of why I resigned, and offered another employment reference. And thought no more of it. Two days later I was suspended for 5 days pending an investigation, due to dishonesty on my application form. I was gutted. I had a meeting on the Friday with a third party (I was advised I could have someone with me) where I explained how sorry I was and that it did look dishonest, but I t was a genuine mistake. They then dismissed me for this on Monday this week and I am now job hunting with a dismissal on my record. I have received a transcript of a so called informal meeting I have with my manager, at which she took no notes, and seems to have recalled very badly from memory, as there are many inconsistencies. Bearing in mind that my contract was up on 30/06/12 – I don’t understand why they just didn’t renew it – if I didn’t meet the criteria (based on successful references), why go to all the trouble of dismissal procedures. My problem is this: • Why I was never interviewed – where I certainly would have noticed my mistake on my form. • It doesn’t have any bearing on my capabilities at work; I was consistently top in the call centre for work resolved. • I received my performance bonus just the week prior so there was no problem with performance. • Why has this taken a year to be resolved? • Why didn’t they just end the contract? • It doesn’t have a negative bearing on the Company. • If I wanted to be dishonest, I would have omitted this employer completely from my form, as it was I have nothing to hide. • The meeting that was used for a transcript – was not recorded in any way, no notary present, I have 5 minutes warning that she wanted a ‘word’, so I was not able to ask anyone to be present. Surely if this was informal, a transcript could not be used? • It looks as though there is an ulterior motive, as the decision was made before my meeting on Friday as nothing I said seemed to make any difference. Do you think I have any grounds to appeal this decision? Please help, I feel a bit lost Thanks a lot- i appreciate it. xxx

Ladies & Gents, I received an offer from Lloyds/TSB last week, although it says 'offer' it does look to be approximately what I expected. I posted Lloyds for my SAR back in April as I've been banking with them for around 15 years during which I've taken out 5 loans. The first 4 were with PPI which were recommended and sold to me despite the fact I'm an insulin dependent Diabetic of some 34 years. I received my SAR and sent of my claim in May. Last week a letter arrived from Lloyds saying "as our final response we are offering you a payment of £8,865. This represents a refund of all the PPI premiums paid (inclusive of interest), plus simple interest at 8% which is then adjusted by other factors that are relevant to your circumstances. For example , if you have already received a partial refund of your PPI premiums, then these will be deducted from the overall payment." A full breakdown of the calculations was provided - THE MONEY WAS IN MY ACCOUNT THE DAY I RECEIVED MY LETTER. To be honest I'm chuffed though surprised as I still have a loan with Lloyds (they tried selling me PPI with that but they REFUSED ME EVEN THOUGH I DECLINED THE OFFER IN THE FIRST PLACE). I made sure this was pointed out to them in my claim letter. I also have a claim with Lloyds/TSB for my Credit Card, this is being dealt with seperately and as yet I haven't received an offer. This is around £350 before interest. I've also had good news from both Halifax and MBNA Virgin both for Credit Cards, so at last things are looking up. If readers will allow me to hand out a bit of advice to those new to claiming I would recommend - * sending for an SAR first, I have had 3 refusals and 1 (low) offer so far but as I had nothing to refer to I'm now having to wait for my details before I go to the Ombudsman or Court. It also helps you to sort your arguments out beforehand, banks are less likely to turn down a well reasoned argument using details received with your SAR. Sadly I've learnt this a little too late. * Secondly, don't be put off by claims which go back over the 6 year 'limit'. Both my Debenhams & Burtons claims although declined (for now) they did not say anything about the length of time since my accounts were closed (both 8 years). In fact my Debenhams refusal came with a copy of my application form from 1997. Strange how they can find the information when it suits them. * Third, research your claim. As stated above including your SAR info use this CAG Forum and any other internet searches to back your argument up before making your claim. * Finally, DON'T GIVE UP!!! The worst part is the waiting but if you do get a refusal or an offer lower than you were expecting, read their reasons for the refusal/offer, research some more and go back. They are hoping we give in and plenty have done which simply encourages them to continue doing so. Lecture over, good luck everyone Tenmen10 Halifax Credit Card - WON - £295.00 Lloyds/TSB Loan/s - WON - £8,865 MBNA Virgin Credit Card - WON - £487.00 RBS/Style Store Card - OFFER MADE - Awaiting SAR as offer seems too low! Barclaycard Visa & Mastercard - 2 LETTERS SENT, NO REPLIES RECEIVED. Researching claim, due to contact FOS. Egg Credit Card - CLAIM REFUSED - Non-advised sale, PPI not required for sale, full T&C's provided! - Awaiting SAR Santander Burtons Store Card - CLAIM REFUSED - Telesale, advisor explained main features, PPI chosen - AWAITING SAR Santander Debenhams Store Card - CLAIM REFUSED - Tick for PPI on Agreement, I didn't, 30-day review, non-advised sale - AWAITING SAR HFC - Loan for TV Purchase - Awaiting claim reply CitiFinancial - Loan - Awaiting claim reply

Hi, I have been reading through the forum, cam across one case similar to mine, but didnt post an outcome. I took out a car loan (HP) in 2006, with black horse, I had been working for 4 years and in a steady job. I checked my agreement a few months ago after reading of all the success stories. PPI wasnt down on my agreement, so thought no more of it. Have heard that ppi was still added to some within the interest, or just without being shown on the agreement. Is this correct? If so should i go ahead with my claim? Thanks for any info, Liam

Firstly, apologies for harping on about this (as i've already posted on the general issue), but this is a related issue Does anyone have any case law for data protection breach by a UK employer ? I am aware that the majority of data protection complaints are probably settled out of court, (so therefore not public knowledge), but i am struggling to find any case law verdicts that actually were decided in court, and what if any compensation was awarded. To be specific, my employer dismissed me without warning, prior arrangement, representation, or records of minutes taken at 'the hearing'. This is being dealt with by my trade union legal team, so it isn't necessary to gain any further advice at this time. The issue at hand is that my employer sent an email to the entire UK network telling them that they had immediately dismissed me, and naming me in the email within 15 mins of the event, then to prevent any possible defence to this issue they deleted my entire company email account, and all of the emails contained within it within 15 minutes of the event also. The company didn't have my authorisation to release this data, and it was released prior to any dismissal letter, or invitation to appeal. Considering the size of the company, and the nature of the business (welfare to work), i feel that i will have major issues attempting to gain employment in this sector for the forseeable futue owing to the sheer amount of people in the industry that now know about my instant dismissal. So how would a court even quantify this and translate this into a compensation award ? What kind of compensation awards are awarded for breaches of this nature ? And, where would i find case law of a similar nature for cases that have actually been won in court ?