Yes, and appears to be stonewalling me.

Hello I rent a room in a shared property. On the 2nd of this month, I paid a month's rent in advance. I also gave my live-out landlord 28 days' notice to leave, as per my contract. Because I was reluctant to allow viewings of the room prior to me leaving the room, my landlord proposed a compromise: 'When I advertised the room last time, I was overloaded with enquiries and pulled the ad 2 hours later. There seems to be a serious shortage of rooms and flats. Many of the people wanted to move quite quickly. I would suggest that you secure somewhere then I place the ad, but you would need to let people see the room. Don't worry about giving 28 days' notice.' Today, having found a new place to live, I gave my landlord notice to leave on the 12th of March. He complained that this was short notice, and has not specified whether he will refund my advance rent payment on a pro rata basis. If my landlord does not issue a pro rata refund, would I be entitled to take action to recover the money, either via a tribunal or the small claims court? There is nothing specified in the contract about rent refunds. In case it's relevant, I live in scotland. Thanks. Jeff

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Hi Uncle Bulgaria If the meeting had been on Wednesday or later. to allow me time to prepare for the meeting and to arrange for someone to accompany me, I would have been given a month's notice rather than a week's notice. I was therefore thinking of seeking as compensation the difference between a week's notice and a month's notice. Jeff

Hi Ethel Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure that's correct. I believe that, even though I have no comeback if I get sacked within the first 2 years of employment (with a few exceptions, such as discrimination), I do have a right for correct procedure to be followed. There is actually a precedent - from https://www.questcover.com/news/failure-to-comply-with-the-right-of-accompaniment/: 'In Collins v ILC Manchester Ltd t/a International Learning College 2013, the employee was two months into his probationary period and was called into a meeting. The employee wanted a companion to accompany him, but the employer refused and, at the end of the meeting, dismissed him. The employee complained to the employment tribunal that the company had refused him permission to be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing. The tribunal supported the employee's complaint and awarded one weeks worth of pay compensation. The tribunal refused to accept the employers argument that the meeting was not a disciplinary meeting (and so triggered the right to be accompanied) because the decision was already made before the meeting. The tribunal had also commented that it was not relevant to the statutory definition of a disciplinary hearing that the employee was in a probationary period.' Jeff

I started in a new job on the 6th of January. On Friday afternoon last week, I had a chat with my company's MD, which raised concerns in her mind about my performance. As a result, she scheduled an early probationary review, scheduled for Monday morning this week. She informed me in the invitation letter which she sent on Friday afternoon that: - This was the only time that week that she was available. - I could be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. - If I was unable to attend, a decision could be made in my absence. On Monday morning, I had the meeting, and was dismissed for performance issues. Because I had worked there for less than 13 weeks, I will receive a week's notice. Had the meeting been held on or after Wednesday, I would have received a month's notice. The MD has since sent me a letter explaining the reasons for my dismissal, in which she states that I chose not to be accompanied by anyone. However, she had blocked my access to the company's email and Teams systems over the weekend, meaning that I could not have contacted a colleague in advance of the meeting to ask them to accompany me. Also, although I am not a member of a union, it is highly unlikely that I could have arranged for a representative to have attended at 9:30 am on Easter Monday when I only found out about the meeting on the afternoon of Good Friday. Do I have any basis for legal action, on the grounds that I was effectively denied the right to be accompanied to the meeting that is provided by the Employment Relations Act 1999? Also, would I have grounds for legal action on the basis that I was not given much time to prepare for the meeting, and the fact that I being denied access to the company's systems over the weekend made it harder for me to prepare for the meeting? Thank you. Jeff

Hi Stu As far as I know, my former flatmate gave the correct notice, but I am not privy to that information. My former flatmate and I each had separate, independent agreements with the landlord. It was not the case that my ex-flatmate and I co-signed an agreement. Jeff PS I forgot to say - thanks for converting the images into a PDF.

No, he lives at a different address.

Hi 45002 Sure, please find attached. Thanks Jeff Private Residential Tenancy Agreement.pdf

Hi Yes, it's a private tenancy agreement. Thanks Jeff

Thanks Honeybee Yes, I have a tenancy agreement. Jeff

I currently pay my landlord £450 a month to rent a room in his flat (and to have use of communal facilities), and I am out of my minimum term. Until April, I was sharing with a flatmate, who was paying £425 a month. My landlord never sought to find a replacement for my former flatmate after he left. My landlord has recently decided that he wants to rent out the entire flat to one person or couple for £900 a month, rather than renting out the other room for £450 a month. I have told him that I cannot £900 a month rent (and, that withstanding, I am happy to just rent out the one room). As a result, he today issued me with a 3 month notice of his intention to increase my rent to £900. His argument is that, technically, when I moved in I was renting the flat and merely splitting the costs with my flatmate (even though there was an understanding that I had no right of access to my former flatmate's bedroom, and vice versa). As the going rate for renting the whole flat is £900 a month, he feels that his actions are reasonable. I feel that my landlord's actions effectively amount to an eviction. I am aware that I can appeal his rent increase, but is my appeal likely to be successful? In case it's relevant, I live in Scotland. Thanks Jeff

I live in Scotland, and I am considering moving address, to a House of Multiple Occupancy. Nichola Sturgeon has just announced that she will be extending the ban on visiting other households. Would this prevent me from viewing a room in another house, as a prospective tenant? Also, would the ban prevent me moving into another household? Thank you in advance. Jeff

It doesn't seem to say, but they are charging me 17.65p kWh. Is that the deemed rate? Thanks Jeff

Until March, I shared my flat with a flatmate who had a contract with EDF, and he and I had an agreement that we would split the electricity bill 50/50 (with me paying him my share, and him paying EDF). In March, my former flatmate had to leave due to CV19. I had an agreement with him that I would pay him the cost of the electricity between when he left and when EDF stopped billing him due to him having informed them that he'd left. My flatmate recently informed EDF that he had left the property, and they have billed me £400 for the period between when he left and when he informed them that he'd left (which was late September). If they had sent my ex-flatmate a bill for £400, I'd have happily reimbursed him. However, I object to EDF issuing me with a bill when I'd never entered into an agreement with them (and when they only have my ex-flatmate's word that I was even occupying the property between March and now). Surely their agreement was with my ex-flatmate, so they should have billed him, not me. Am I liable for the £400 charge? Thanks Jeff

My employer offers employees a payment if someone applies to work for the company on their recommendation, and the person they referred to the company stays with the company for a qualifying period. A colleague referred two people, and with each of those referrals she was told that the person applying hadn't put her details on their application form, which is a requirement to claim the reward. She knows as a fact that that's incorrect, because she witnessed the second referred person putting her details on their application form. I recently referred a friend, who accepted a position with my company. I've made multiple enquiries to confirm that I will be getting my payment if he stays with the company for the qualifying period. However, none of my emails have been replied to, and it feels like I'm being stonewalled (especially in light of my colleague's experience). Assuming that my friend remains with the company for the qualifying period and that the company doesn't give me the promised payment, what options do I have to recover the money?

It wasn't a tomlin order (I live in Scotland, and I think Tomlin orders are purely for England?). My ex-landlord and I reached an out of court agreement about a day before the court hearing, and we both emailed the court to advise that we had reached an out of court settlement and would not be proceeding. As a result, the claim was cancelled by the court. Thanks Jeff

A couple of years ago, my ex-landlord agreed to settle a dispute out of court by paying me £10 a month by direct bank transfer, till he had paid £300 in total. I have just checked my old bank statements, and discovered that he made his first four £10 payments, and has not made a payment since. Knowing him as I do, I don't believe that this was an accident. Would I be within my rights to recommence the previous legal action, deducing £40 from the amount previously sought, and adding on the costs of the new legal action? Or would the court expect me to first contact my ex-landlord and give him the opportunity to settle the outstanding debt? I would far prefer the former, as my landlord is a rude and aggressive person who would probably mess me around further. Just a further thought - If I were to give him a non-negotiable deadline by which to pay the outstanding balance (say, a month), would that be likely to be deemed reasonable by the court, given that the entire debt should have been paid off by now?

Last October, I emailed my then landlord to say that I’d be paying part of my final rent out of my deposit. He replied minutes later with the following: 'Non payment of the agreed monthly amount on the date agreed by you on the agreement you have signed will result in a violation of our agreement and you will be asked to leave within 7 days of this email due to this exposing breach of contract and your deposit will count as rent owing’. Soon thereafter, he confronted me in person. As I was unwilling to relent, he said he’d change the locks and throw my stuff out that day. I phoned the police, who told me that would be criminal offence. As a result of this, my landlord relented. He instead said that, if I didn’t leave that day, he would ‘make your life hell’, adding that he would invite some friends around to party in the property (he knew I was a light sleeper). As a result, I vacated the property after gathering some of my belongings, and gave him his key back (which was mistake, but I was in a great deal of distress and not thinking clearly). I’m now suing my ex-landlord for my deposit and unspent rent, and for the distress and inconvenience his illegal eviction has caused. He is claiming in his written defence that I left voluntarily and not under duress, on the grounds that I handed him back my key. If he says that in court, would it be grounds for a him to be charged with perjury, given that: - No sane person would vacate a property when they have no-where to go to, especially when they have work the next day (and my new landlady would be able to attest that I contacted her for the first time on that day, which was the day I moved into her property). - On my recording of my call to the police, I can be heard pleading with him to let me at least stay till the end of the week. - He shows in his email that he’s willing to disregard the law (by threatening to ask me to leave within 7 days and to withhold my deposit). Thanks Jeff

My thoughts exactly... Jeff

Thanks for checking. Jeff

Sure - http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/billing-and-payment/how-to-top-up/online/?WT.mc_id# Jeff

Yep! Jeff

They are now telling me: 'we haven't made this offer. It's not accessible from the website but from an archived search. This has not been fully removed which is what we're looking into. This is a technical error and not an error with a promotion. We will be in touch with the correct people and look to have this fixed if possible'. Sorry, but in my book if T Mobile publishes an offer, then it is a T Mobile offer, regardless of whether someone has screwed up... Jeff

T Mobile's website states: 'We'll add £2 credit to your balance the first three times you use your card to top up £10 or more.' However, before you rush to top up your mobile, they are no longer honouring the offer (even though it isn't time-stamped on their website). They told me that: 'This is an old, out of date page, where the promotion, along with the other promotions on this page, are no longer available on T-Mobile. We’ve feed this back to try and have this updated, however, it may be Google who have cached the page as when doing the same search using Yahoo or Bing this page is not offered as a result.' I don't think that's good enough. T Mobile could have put an expiry date on the offer and they could have put a 'this offer has expired' message on the page. If a business has a promotion on the internet that's potentially winning them business, they should honour that promotion. I know we are talking about trivial amounts, but I'm concerned about the principle, not the money. Is T Mobile's position lawful, and can I do anything to force them to honour this promotion? Thanks Jeff