Hello Mariner, The question is one of protection not legal responsibility. I know I am jointly liable for all rent and damages until the end of the contract and I know that that liability is with the landlord who the contract is with. But although I am liable to pay the entire rent to the landlord should my friend stop paying, supposing I had a written agreement with my friend detailing the six month agreement, if he failed to keep up his end of the bargin, could I in theory then recover those costs from my friend through the small claims court? Or if there is an agreement between all parties that my friend could continue to pay ALL and FULL rent for the remainder of the duration then could I get the contract altered to remove myself from said contract without finding an additional tenant? Or a third scenario, if I really was desperate, could I go to the Landlord, offer half of the rent money as a lump sum for the remainder of the duration and ask him to remove me from the contract and therefore all remaining liability? By the sounds of it, it would be best for my flatmate to find someone he can get on with who can take over my tenancy. Don't get me wrong - I've made my bed, I have to lie in it. The issue is trying to find the best way out of it with as little damage as possible to all and ensuring everyone is happy. It has been a steep learning curve, something I won't jump in to. A huge waste of money and I feel quite stupid I didn't listen to my gut instinct and say no. But I am very naive and trusting of my friends. I let everyone else talk me into it. At this stage, I suspect my friend has used me to gain tenancy of somewhere better than he was. No we've moved in together, he's being an idiot, but of course, Im now jointly liable. So he can make my life a misery and I got to pay half his rent!

Would the old contract need to be torn up and re-created for my name to be removed (assuming I had full agreement?). Hopefully all parties would be reasonable if I explain the impending surgery and explain the conflict of lifestyles and not go into how much I hate it, how Im really quite depressed and my flatmate is a bit of a plonker. It could give my flatmate time to find an interested third party to take over which could be beneficial for all parties concerned. I presume if my mate decides to stop paying his half of the rent at any time in the future, or he gets us evicted, I would be jointly liable for the full amount (unless my name is removed from the tenancy agreement or I have a written letter from my friend). Why didn't I read anything about Joint Tenancies before I signed? Why did I let my mate talk me into it? It seemed like such a great idea at the time.

Im not looking at depriving anybody. The LandLord wants one amount put in his account every month, so my friend pays the LandLord the full amount and I give my friend half the amount. What Im looking to do is to protect myself from my friend more than anything. I'd like to ensure that my friend keeps to his agreement that I can leave after six months. I would give him the appropriate amount each month up til six months then my friend takes over the full amount as agreed for the remainder of the tenancy (unless by some miracle I actually end up staying). If not, I have no choice but to pay half towards the rent. What I want to ensure though, is that I don't end up paying more than half the rent or for any damages due to my friends shenanigans, which I would like to hope for, is if agreeable between all parties that my friend remains and I leave, that I can get my name taken off the tenancy so I have no legal responsibility and my friend takes over and sole occupant and remains paying full rent. I have little problem in paying the full half of my rent if necessary for the remainder of the 12 months though.

I recently moved into a joint tenancy agreement into a rented two bedroom property with a good friend of mine. He's a bit strange in public, but appeared to keep a good home from where he was living before, a good laugh and always got your back. I should have taken it as warning bells all the problems he was getting into with everybody else, but the picture painted was that everybody else was being unreasonable, which actually seemed fair enough, people were taking his things without consent, returning them late, he seemed to be the provider for the accomodation he was living in and people were taking the mick. Anyhow, we started having a look around and he became more anxious to leave his current property than I was to exit mine, so the pressure was applied to get me to agree. I didn't know if I was making the right choice having lived at home all my life, people said it will be better when you move out, more independence blah blah blah. I was feeling really sad and guilty, I guess my gut was saying no, and yet my head was saying I have to give it a try. Coupled with the pressure and the convincing from my friend that what I was feeling was normal and I should take the plunge. So within a week of seeing a property, we're down the estate agent filling out reference forms and getting checks completed. A week later we're signing an agreement - which I admit did feel good. At the time. Now, less than a month into the tenancy, I have really cold feet. I miss home. But my flatemate, is well, strange. He arranged for installation of a popular broadband and television supplier who came to drill holes through the walls without consent of the landlord. In fact he arranged this before we even signed the contract so I still felt like I couldn't back out, I gave my friend a commitment. We went with a twelve month agreement even though I wanted a six month agreement so that I knew I could back out earlier. But we agreed verbally that if I wasn't happy, I could back out after six, so we went with a twelve month contract on the basis that he would cover the remaining rent from the six month period on. He's stuck things on the wall with sellotape and pins in contravention of the agreement and thrown darts at the wall. Im just starting to learn what a joint tenancy is - Im jointly responsible for his mistakes - not just half, but everything if he cannot be contacted! I thought at least a joint tenancy might allow me to take my name off the agreement, but apparently even that would require the agreement to be terminated and a new one drawn up which might not happen. My friend now isn't talking to me after I asked him to switch things off that he wasn't using so we could save some money. So what are my options? I figure Im going to move out within three months in any event because I can't take his unstable behaviour and "partying" to 6am in the morning over the weekend, his actions around the house, and the way he takes my stuff without asking. Im also unhappy here. Steep and expensive learning curve. Im prepared for the worst. Obviously I'll need to talk to him to smooth things over but... He either honours our six month agreement and I ensure he's paid for the six months. He doesn't honour the agreement and I have to pay him the six months, then the following six. In the meantime, I need to protect myself from his activities. Im worried he may stick two fingers up at the landlord, and I'll be responsible for the entirety of the rental fee, not just my half. Worse case scenario I pay all the rent for me and him and pay to fix the holes in the wall. Could a signed agreement between two friends stating he is now responsible for everything blah blah have any effect? I realise the landlord could come after me for failure to pay, but then I could sue him? Im just thinking worst case scenario. The other problem is that I have some major surgery in December which has only just come to light since moving in. So I could out of work for several months and cannot afford to rent this place. Can I get my name off the tenancy? Can I get him to legally assume responsibility? How do I protect myself from his mistakes if he further abuses the property? We have not yet received a full signed copy of the contract from the estate agent, though we signed it there. We noted also that the landlord had not signed his copy yet either. If for some reason the landlord has not signed his copy yet, would the contract still be valid, or could I rip it up there and then and move everything out? Bob

I don't disagree with phoning up, though the intent isn't for safety purposes but for monitoring purposes as no one is trusted, but I do disagree with storing several numbers on a personal mobile phone when a simple call into the office should suffice. One number should be all that is required. The main office number.

There wasn't anything this draconion in the contract previously. As I said, everythings changing, and yes, the idea is you ring around a list of people until you can notify someone either that you've arrived at a client or that you're going to be sick. I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't for the fact I called my manager on the landline and he told me I've got to call his mobile from then on. You could say if they're not in the office, it wouldn't be much use calling them on their mobile because they're not likely to be in a position to do anything.

My employer has put in a new policy where the manager, or the supervisor, or one of the directors must be contacted whenever arriving at a client site and whenever leaving. We must also call in that order every day we have off sick, even if you're sick for two weeks, you must call in every day. IIRC they cannot enforce the constant calling in on sick days, but my point is this. The workers do not have access to work mobiles, so we have in effect been asked to use our own personal mobile phones (or home phones in the case of sickness) to trawl through a sequential list of their mobile telephone numbers for different people. I don't have any objection to remembering the main office number, but I have an objecting to trying to remember several different mobile telephone numbers or storing them on my personal phone. Does my employer have the right to demand I call their mobile instead of the main works number?

I recently bought a mobile phone off contract at an online retailer using a credit card two years ago and it's pretty poor. It has many little bugs in it and the biggest one is that the inbuilt GPS doesn't work. I understand my primary contact should be the retailer I bought it from, but they recommend using Nokia and that the phone would be sent for repair for two weeks. I find this rather unfair as I rely on my phone for GPS, calls, texts etc. Although I have a spare phone, I don't see why I should have to keep a spare phone around just in case the phone I buy is faulty. I've had the phone two months, and it's taken me two months to get acquainted with it and realise it is indeed faulty. Under the SoGA, can I insist that it should be replaced? Can I not simply get my money back? There's various information about the SoGA floating around, and not much of it seems particularly accurate. You do read lines like this: If goods do not conform to contract at the time of sale, purchasers can request their money back "within a reasonable time". (This is not defined and will depend on circumstances) and A purchaser who is a consumer, i.e. is not buying in the course of a business, can alternatively request a repair or replacement. Thanks Bob

don't know why lunch is at your expense. presumably the time is unpaid? shouldn't matter how long it is, but if you need them to put in more hours... frankly i wouldn't work for anyone who offered me less than 60 minutes for lunch. i couldn't buy and prepare my food in that short period of time and actually de-stress. keep your employees happy, they look after you!

Employer has provided a new "electronic" contract to save paper. PDF Document basically. Same document sent to all employees. No cover sheet with specifics of name or job title. Employer has asked that we all print off and sign the back page agreeing to the terms and conditions. He says that I don't need my name or title as my contract isn't changing, but I still need to sign. I pointed out that it has still changed as he has changed the hours of work without consultation. As an aside, if the contract hasn't changed, then why do I need to sign? Thoughts? Does the contract need a front page addressed to me to sign? Should the contract have a physical body if you will, for security purposes and to prevent someone tacking their own T&C's on in the future as they see fit? As he has said the contract isn't changing, do I have to sign? Bob

I've never been one for rocking the boat if I can help it, but if I can splash the face of the boss in showing all the extra overtime that he hasn't thought about should an issue arise, then Im more than happy to do that They once had the cheek to tell me if I have to book holidays for hospital and dental appointments. Im under no such obligation I understand from ACAS. They have no right to interfere with my holiday. I can ask them to deduct relevent amount from my salary. They once changed the terms and conditions of sick pay while I was off sick. That's an aside, but gives you an idea about the kind of company I work for. Bob

Hello Engima, Im driving a private car. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the recession in my mind, as the company has reneged on various deals, such as promises of pay rises such as when an employee gains a qualification, no pay rises in five years for very many people and the company keeps demanding more. Although Im willing to do things as the nature of the job, the previous communication was that if we didn't travel during our own time then their advising solicitor says that we can then be dismissed for "interfering with business". I would probably say it isn't bullying, but I would say that there is an unwritten expectation and I have known things to get messy in the past when an employee stands up for their rights. I've been threatened with redundancy in the past for not taking work home with home. Pay is fixed salary. I do not belong to a union. The company isn't that big. But still 15 to 25 people (without being too specific). Again, Ive never minded going onsite, I just don't want someone to take the mick and expect me to leave at 6am, arrive at 9am, put in a full day, get home for 8.00... I probably also don't have the energy to fight this. But I would like to know if driving for work can be considered work time - not so I can necessarily get more, but just so I can get it acknowledged. Bob

I would imagine its how important the job is to me. I understand that they could just terminate the contract if there is no agreement and he can always then re-issue.

Employer also keeps trying to change the contract and terms of employment. Although not expressly written in the previous contract, medical cover has now been taken away and not replaced with anything, not even an appropriate pay rise to seek other medical cover. Additionally, they want everyone to work an additional week effectively by increasing the working hours by an additional 15 minutes at the end of the day for no additional pay. What are my options? 1) Discuss politely and request extra payment? 2) Sign under protest? 3) Put up with it. 4) Resign? I understand I have very little room for movement. Bob

Thanks janmal, Hello enigma, I find it troublesome that just because they say we may expect you to work over at some times, that it means they think they can tell me what to do outside of my normal working hours. The contract is quite limited. Relevent bits Work hours are clearly outlined in the contract, but goes onto say "to meet the needs of the business, the hours may be changed to include evening and weekend working and a reasonable number of additional hours at the discretion of yourself and management". It even goes on to say that we "won't be entitled to any additional pay". It does say that we "won't be regularly expected to work in excess of forty eight hours" per week. "Travel to a client is considered part of the normal working day." I don't mind travelling, but I just want to know if it is work time. If it is work time, I could perhaps have a bit of a get out under "Rest Periods" under the Working Time Regulations where say for example I have to get on the road for six, and not get home til eight. Strange clause says no equipment should be left in a vehicle outside of working hours. That seems quite impossible to me when you have an appointment outside of work but are expected to take things home with you. Yes, work interferes with personal life that much. Or what if Im on the road on the way to a client and stop off for a bit to eat on the way before office hours? The contract is full of rubbish like this. Bob