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    • No I have not. I will probably do that
    • Based on ECP's previous, what will definitely happen is this. They will send more idiotic letters. After they will send a Letter of Claim, and it is essential that your brother replies at this point to this to show them he would be big trouble in court. Next it is highly likely (but not certain) that they will crawl back under their stone and that will be the end of the matter. The slight worry is that if they do do court it will seem a likely story to a judge that your brother has no connection to the ticket, when it was him who appealed and replied to the Letter of Claim.  Indeed I think it would seem the lot of you were playing games with ECP and with the court by getting unconnected people involved and then later deny they were involved. So be aware there is that slight risk. You talked about "a mess" in your first post, and you weren't wrong. Someone hires a car and gets a ticket.  There is an appeal.  Who appeals, the hirer?  No, the hirer's mate's son.  Obvious! There is an approach for help to a consumer website.  By the hirer?  No, by the hirer's mate's son's brother! This is so damn silly and totally avoidable. Anyway, it seems the decision has been made for your brother to carry the can so whatever consequences will ensue will ensue. 
    • Doc 04-19-2024 11-01-51-merged-compressed.pdf good morning.    9 pages attached.    thank you  UCM
    • Hi I was being supplied my ovo after unknowingly being swapped from SSE.  My issues began when we had a smart meter fitted and our bills almost doubled overnight - we at the time assumed we were just paying not enough until then and just continued to pay the excess bills each. Month.    I would from time to time contact ovo and get faced with a call centre on South Africa of the most rude agents who would just hang up after hours of wait and I could not even get an acknowledgement of an issue with my meter.  At one point we were not in the property for like 4 months and the bills were coming just as high!  It was at this point I was sure something is not right and ovo only care to send bailiffs and started threatening us with a pay as you go meter despite me taking out a 3.5k loan to pay of my outstanding balance.  Around 1600 each on both gas and electricity.  This is where its gets really bad -  the very same day they sent me out a new bill saying the money paid already was only to cover up until the November previous and because its now Feb we owe another 1k.   By that August this had risen to over 3k and I still couldn't get anyone to even acknowledge a fault let alone fix it.    In despair I tried to swap suppliers and to my surprise octopus accepted us because even tho the debt is owed we are trying deal with.  During our time with them the bill was coming only on my wife's name as I was responsible for other bills and she this one - now that we owe them 3k they have magically started adding my name as well as my wife's to the same debt to apply double pressure and its showing on my experiwn report now with a question mark and 2700 showing in grey -  This was my wife's debt which we dispute we owe yet the have now sent me letter with both our names on from oriel and past due credit debt agencies - is this illegal and how can I get them to take my. Name of this and leave on wife's name as its so unfair they give us a both a defualt for wife's debt which we dispute anyway.    In the end about 3 weeks ago I wrote an email to their ceo and rishi sunak and low and behold for the first time in our history with ovo someone who spoke English contacted us and said she will look into our claim.    I explained to her that we feel our meter is faulty and despite me contacting them using WhatsApp email and phone I still have not got anyone to acknowledge a fault even. And that I dispute I Owe anything as my son was in hospital for 3 months and we stayed with him so house was empty and still. They were sending us super sized bills more than when we started at home.  She promised to investigate and a few days later replied that she is sorry for the poor customer service and offered us £50 compensation - however she also. Mentioned that she's attached statements for us confirming the payment for 3k I made was only up until Nov and in Feb despite me pay 3.5k nearly it's correct for them to bill. Me. Another £900 the very same day and she did not agree our meter was faulty and therfore the debt stands and she will not be calling it bcak from past due credit.  During my time with my new supplier post ovo, octopus I requested tehy check my. Meters because I felt they were faulty and over charging me and I got excellent response asking me for further details which I supplied and I got a. Response bcak within days to say my meter was indeed faulty and octopus have now remotely repaired it.   I then contacted the energy ombudsman and explained my situation how she at ovo tried to fob me off and demand I apy money we don't feel we owe due to faulty equipment we reported but ovo had to process or mechanism to deal with it or lodge complaint even without having to cc their ceo and our pm. And now I feel sick to think both husband and wife will get a 6  year default for debt which have a validity of a questionable nature.    I explained all this to the energy ombudsman and they accepted my case and I explained to them that my new supplier found my fault which ovo refueed to accept - I've uploaded the email from new supplier to ombudsman showing we had a fault.    My. Question is is there anything I can upload in defence of my case to ombudsman before they decide outcome ina few weeks    All advice greatly appreciated not only would I like advice on how to clear this debt but also how I can pursue ovo for compensation and deterrence for the future.  Thansk 
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Using a Comparator in a disability discrimination case


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I have a thread about my current Employment Tribunal already but am concious that using just that one thread will make it more difficult for people searching for advice on similar issues.

 

I want to use a 'Comparator' to show I have been treated less favourably. The concern I have is that I don't have detailed information about the comparators or any proof to back up my argument - just what I know. Will an Employment Tribunal expect me to be able to provide proof? How can I obtain the information? For example, one element I know is that;

 

  • I work with vulnerable people in their own homes, providing generic support and advice;

 

  • The comparator works with vulnerable people in their own homes, providing specific support and advice.

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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A comparator does not have to be a real person! The test is whether a hypthetical person without a disability, in the exact same circumstances, would be treated in the same way. This is because, in many circumstances, there would not be a real comparator. The most apposite case law is Child Support Agency v. Truman ( if I recall correctly it was 2009), but this also links to the Malcolm case (Lewisham v. Malcolm) because the terms of the DDA relating to housing and to employment are the same. If you can point to a specific circumstance where somebody else who is not disabled in exactly the same circumstances as you has been treated differently, then you can do so, but it may get murky if you get bogged down with arguments about how John Doe isn't like you, rather than whether it was discrimination or not! The whole point of claiming disability discrimination is that you are alleging that you have been traeetd less favourably that someone without a disability - the tribunal will judge the claim on this basis whether or not there is a real comparator.

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Thank you for clarifying that for me SarEl. I'll have a read of that case law later today. My employers policy sets out what action should be taken when someone makes a request for home-working (which I did). This policy and the assessment procedure was completely ignored in my case and they instructed a private detective to spy on me (funnily enough, not in the policy). The comparator I had in mind is a real person but they were working from home from the beginning of their contract (several existing contracts won by current employer and merged into one team) so I'm not sure that helps me?

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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Possibly, but it also may not because the the "same circumstances" thing - I don't know what their circumstances are. For example, they may have negotiated this as part of their recruitment. They may have an elderly dependant relative. And unless you know their circumstances, you are treading on dicey ground relying on this. I would recommend the route of persuing the "unfair application of the policy", let the tribunal consider that against the "fictional comparator", but make sure you mention that others have permission for home-working - in other words, let the tribunal chase that if they feel it relevant. Tribunals aren't stupid - they have to apply the law, but they can also see through attempts to pervert it. The comparator arguments are filled with flaws - as you will see when you look at the relevant cases. So in your shoes I wouldn't want to get too bogged down in that if you have a clear case of them not following their policy.

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Thank you SarEl. I can relate to what you said about letting the tribunal chase it if they feel it is relevant. For my PHR I had prepared arguments about 'Deduced Effects' and weight of evidence but the judge did it for me before I got the chance. The Respondents solicitor tried to capitalise on my lack of experience a couple of times and although I could see this and feel I could have responded, the judge again did it for me.

 

I haven't had time yet to look at that case law but still will. The people I had looked at as comparators all worked from home because this was how the contract was run before they were transferred to this employer under TUPE.

 

There are at least two of their policies that they did not follow which is much easier to evidence.

 

I will of course mention that other people already work from home. On the ET3 they stated that I could not work from home due to data protection issues regarding client's files. I was surprised to see this as there are already several people working from home and keeping their client files there. I have worked from home in the past so know it is possible as long as data is kept confidential and in a secure, lockable unit.

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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I haven't had time yet to look at that case law but still will. The people I had looked at as comparators all worked from home because this was how the contract was run before they were transferred to this employer under TUPE.

 

And therein lies the snake in the garden - they are not comparators because their terms and conditions are protected by TUPE and yours aren't! So the circumstances are not the same. Stick to what I told you - concentrate on your main points and use these as "hares". If the dogs run that is their business.

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And therein lies the snake in the garden - they are not comparators because their terms and conditions are protected by TUPE and yours aren't! So the circumstances are not the same. Stick to what I told you - concentrate on your main points and use these as "hares". If the dogs run that is their business.

 

I have just read a summary of the case-law you mentioned. It's clear now that I can't use the existing homeworkers as a 'comparator' but it does at least prove that home working is possible. Additionally, as you pointed out - the failure to follow their policy is more relevant. They have a 'home-working' policy and it's even cross referenced in their 'Equal Opportunities' policy.

 

I didn't want to start yet another thread so hopefully this will be ok here: They have said that someone has 'left' their employ as a result of the way I was treated. I was never told this and only found out as it was in the ET3. There are no details of who this was and on what grounds and I feel this information is likely to be beneficial to my case. What would be the best way of obtaining this information?

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that it may have been over the instruction of a private detective to spy on me and if this is the case, surely there are implications as they have since decided to use it as evidence?

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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You're right of course, I didn't consider the confidentiality aspect. They say this person has left their employ as a result of the way I was treated so I assume they were using this in their defence - despite claiming not to have done anything wrong.

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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Yes - but it is hardly in their favour, is it? But I think you are chasing herrings again. You can cross -examine if they raise this at tribunal, but I can hardly see what it has to do with anything. After all, assume for one minute that the employer is right in what they did, and someone left as a result of not agreeing with them. It doesn't make them less right, does it? So what does this actually mean - it means someone left and that's all.

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Thank you SarEl. I understand what you're saying and it's really helpful to have some perspective on these smaller issues. They are 'niggles' which I need to put to bed to be able to better focus on the more important points.

Settled Tribunal claim against employer regarding Disability Discrimination.

Recovered my money from an AXA Bonus Cash Builder Plus after discovering here on CAG that the original advertising was found to be misleading.

Cabot still can't provide a copy of Credit Agreement and have left me alone for about a year now.

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