Hi all, I have recently had several weeks of sick leave, that were backed by a 'fit note' from my GP. Upon return to work, my employer requested a GP report, which I approved. After signing the relevant forms, I thought no more of it and awaited a follow-up with my employer after they had the info they needed from the GP. Fast forward a few weeks and my boss and an external HR consultant (I work in a small company, so we have no HR team/person) called me into a meeting, in which they said that they had spoken with my GP (or the surgery) several times, to check if they had received the request to provide the info needed and whether I had been to the surgery to give the final authorisation to my GP (which I did not know I had to do). They then said that upon doing this, they were informed that I had ignored numerous calls and requests to visit my GP and therefore appeared to be blocking the release of the form. My employer did not believe me when I explained that I had no knowledge of this and had received no contact from the GP (which was true). I did go to see my GP last night to give the authorisation and he categorically stated that under no circumstances would he, or the surgery speak with my employer about the form or tell them about any contact or attempted contact with me, as this is confidential information and therefore illegal. This has obviously led me to believe that my employer is lying/exaggerating the truth in an attempt to try and pin a lie/falsehood on me (they were not happy about my sick leave, but as it is backed up by my GP, cannot do anything about it - other than put me on SSP, which they have). I guess my main questions are: 1) What should I do about this apparent lie/exaggeration by my employer? 2) If they have contacted the GP attempting to find out confidential information, are they in the wrong/is this illegal? 3) After being backed by my GP and the forthcoming information etc. can my employer do anything along the lines of giving me warnings/sacking me etc? Thanks so much to anyone that takes the time to read/reply and sorry for the essay!!

Hi, firstly, apologies if this has been covered before! I have just under 6 months left on a 12 month private tenancy agreement and have split with my partner who has left the flat and moved on without contributing anything towards the rent/bills etc. My question is whether or not I can go after her for half of everything (or at least a partial amount)? The complication comes because when we first separated I tried to do the right/honourable thing and said that I would pay everything solo so that she could get on with her life. Now it has become apparent that I should have asked her to still pay towards everything but she claims that due to our earlier discussions (and some texts I sent to her at the time) that I won't be able to make her stump up one penny. Any advice that people can give? I feel like I'm a bit of a catch 22 - either I leave the flat early, risk being fined and having to sort everything out, or I continue to pay everything on my own and potentially run myself into debt. Help!

Hi all, Firstly, this is actually a problem from the past and HAS been resolved (as you will see below), but I really wanted to post it here, including all the gory details, in the hope that it would assist someone in the future. We found a 'furnished' property that we liked through KFH - saw it on their website, quite a few images of the interior and a decent description, with the bonus of an 'underground, secure parking space', so we promptly arranged a viewing. Met the agent, was shown around, again very happy with everything - interior matched what we saw on the website... Same furniture etc - (mostly!) to our liking. We asked if the landlord would be happy to remove the existing sofa (which was tiny) so that we could purchase our own and to also remove the current mattress, so again, we could use our own. He replied to say this was fine and they would be removed by time we moved in. My partner arranged a second viewing, so that she could double check everything and also measure the lounge for our new sofa. Again, everything matched what we had expected and so we happily proceeded with the rental. Throughout this period KFH couldn't have been better to deal with (surprise surprise) and we had no complaints at all. Then the first problem - as soon as we had paid the initial fees (which, after doing a lot of research, we discovered were extremely high) and deposit etc, they became unbelievably hard to get hold of and it took at least 5 phonecalls each time to speak to someone. Then the BIG problem - the moving in day arrived... We met the landlord outside the flat, he took us upstairs to the flat and... it was completely bare. Our hearts sank and the battle began. The furniture that we had seen (and been told was included) with the flat and that had now been removed was: Bedroom Bed, Chest of draws, Bedside tables Lounge Sofa, Desk, Desk chair, Dining table, Four chairs, TV stand, Coffee table, Bookcase, Curtains, Rug Hall Sidetable/unit In it's place, we had a very old and tatty, two seater Ikea sofa, a tiny table - covered in marks and paint stains and another table in the kitchen - again, covered in marks. On top of this the "underground, secure parking space" was actually just a marked space outside on the street. Which, while acceptable, was still nothing in comparison to what we were initially told. From this point onwards the nightmare began as both the landlord and KFH pointed fingers at one another to say that each had lied in the setup of the rental. The first night we ended up having to go back to our families houses to sleep because otherwise (as KFH helpfully told us), "you will have to sleep on the floor tonight." The landlord eventually (after about 30 phonecalls from us) agreed to purchase a new bedframe and coffee table - which we would have to collect and assemble. The agency washed their hands of it at this point and basically said "tough" to us. On top of this, the whole flat was really filthy and needed a huge clean before we felt happy to live there. Luckily for me, my work noticed that my stress levels went through the roof over the course of 7 days and also saw that I had asked for several extra days off at the last minute so I could attempt to deal with everything. They were so concerned (and annoyed) at how I was being treated, that the CEO and legal team stepped up to assist me and went to war with KFH. At first KFH denied they had done anything wrong, but after we took copies of their web advert for the flat - including all furnishings, and then picked through the contract - which included no inventory - they started to flap a little. Eventually I spoke to someone on their side that agreed to replace ALL furniture if we would go to collect and install it - which we agreed to, and also extra compensation for LOE and inconvenience. All in all this came to approx £2000 - which is money we couldn't have afforded to shell out, after paying a big deposit and fees! Hope this helps anyone else in the future who is going to rent a 'furnished' property with KFH (or another agency)... Make sure you get in writing what is/isn't included with the flat BEFORE you sign anything! Cheers.

Got a response apologising and the usual stuff. Have been taken off their distribution lists (apparently). Still haven't really acknowledge or replied to my point that I received calls and mail attempting to steal my money... Not good.

Thanks - quite a few people advised this as the best course of action. Completed their complaint form online, so will await a response and let you know how I get on. Cheers!

Hi All, I wasn't really sure where to post this - it relates to a digital TV company, but then branches off into a number of other areas! I shall try my luck, but feel free to move the thread if need be (and my apologies in advance, if I should have posted elsewhere!) Back in October 2011, I contacted Sky to sign up for TV, broadband and phone. I was then passed across to a sub-company called Love Digital TV, who took care of the details and installation (my first time with Sky, so no idea if this is common practice?) While LDTV were average in most areas (as most companies of this kind are), they didn't do anything in particular during this period to annoy me - my services were (eventually) installed and activated and I have had no problems with them since. "No problem there then!" I can forgive you for thinking, but unfortunately this is where it got worse and branched off into the 'other areas' I mentioned earlier. Basically, they began passing my details onto numerous 3rd party companies. Consequently, I have been bombarded with calls and mail at least once or twice a day (if not more), ranging from a simple "are you interested in this service", to "has anyone in your household had an accident", right up to letters arriving, attempting to get my bank details so that they can "pay me for a recent lottery win"! My main questions are: a) Are they allowed to do this? b) What can I do to stop it? I have already put myself on the Telephone Preference Service, which has reduced the calls, but hasn't stopped them. I've also demanded a company name from some of the nuisance callers, which, when given one, discovered it didn't exist after investigating online. Just in case anyone asks "how do I know it was LDTV passing the details?" It MUST be them, due to the fact that when I first signed up, they made a mistake with my name and on the first few letters/bills, they had my first initial, followed by my first name (in place of my surname) - which is what has always been used during the nuisance calls and on the junk mail. I am so frustrated by this and due to the fact that my partner works shifts, the daytime calls are becoming a serious problem. Thanks so much for any advice/help anyone can give.

Hi, I have now had a Talk Talk internet connection (up to 8mbps) for about 5 months and have been regularly faced with the line dropping out randomly and also very poor connection speeds (usually about 1/8th - 1/16th of the advertised speed). Streaming a video online is near to impossible at ANY time of day and downloads are painfully slow. Also, another key part of the problem is that if there is more than one device (laptop/pc/mobile etc) hooked up to the connection at once, the whole thing is crippled and functions at what seems like slower speeds than 56k dialup! My question is whether I am able to cancel the contract early and move to another provider, on the grounds that Talk Talk are not providing the service they advertised to me? Any info would be greatly appreciated! EssJayDee.

Well thats it..... got home today with a letter waiting for me.... and they have paid up!! the money will go into my account within 5 days! cant believe it actually happened, so many thanks to give to everyone here, i couldnt have done it without u, safe to say im off for a beer tonight to celebrate! will be making a donation as soon as i get the money also. thanks again everyone and good luck to all the others going for it, stick with it, the day of glory will come!

received a copy of the acknowledgement from Halifax today saying they intend to defend all of the claim. fingers crossed they wont follow it through!

Well my overdraught is quite a bit larger than yours and they havent closed the account, or demanded it to be paid back in full (apart from the repayment hassle i was receiving in the first place!), if anything since starting the claim they have left me alone and been a lot nicer! of course they can ask for the o/d back whenever they feel like, but thats nothing to do with you claiming money back, and you would have to work out a payment plan, they cant just expect u to pay it in one go. good luck anyway!

Hi, this is pretty much how i got treated, with the excessive amounts of phone calls etc (i received 20 calls in 14 days - and those are just the ones i answered!), there are a few bits you can do, because this sort of threatening behaviour over the phone demanding payments etc is harassment, if you check my thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/halifax-bank/6939-essjaydee-halifax.html - there's a few posts in there about what to do in response to the harassment. good luck!

18 til i die.... i'm gonna be 18 til i die......

yeah, he's a legend. i cant watch anything else with steve coogan in now, its just not right!

Ok received a letter from the courts saying the claim was sent to halifax on 7th july and is to be served on the 12th. now to wait.... quick question though, and i dont want it to appear that im jumping the gun here.... but IF and i do mean IF i receive my money back and they pay it back into my account, will i be able to withdraw it, because it will mean i am still in my overdraught?? (ie the amount they would be paying in, isnt as much as my overdraught amount). thanks.

Take a look on the FAQ and the step by step guide, and then the relevant templates are on the library section. I would imagine it would be the preliminary approach letter you would want to send, although you would need to add a paragraph about rejecting the £200 offer.

if that is the case - i cant imagine that they could do it though - how can they possibly say 'we dont agree our charges are too high' and then bring out something ridiculous like this!

Ok thanks for that, what would i do without you guys! (dont answer that actually....!)

Claim has been issued now, something has confused me slightly.... on the pdf form on the money claim website that shows all the information i had to enter in, it gives the court address as Northampton, is this likely to be correct seeing as i live nowhere near that whatsoever!?!

big congrats, well done!

Well thats the money claim part done.... fingers crossed i did it all correctly! will keep you posted! thanks again everyone who has helped!

yeah thanks for the assistance there, you have been a big help!

they were there, just found them... http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/182-interest-calculation-spreadsheets.html just make sure when u put the amount u wish to claim back, you DO NOT add the 8% interest... this is for when you get to filing the court claim only. good luck!

it can be awkward opening a new account, lloyds also said i could only have their very basic account - not even with a visa electron, literally just a cash withdrawal card and nothing else! but i got one with alliance & leicester with no problem, hardly asked any questions at all. obviously i dont know about ur past finances but i guess if u have had anything that would flag up during a credit test then most banks may be reluctant to take you on with an account with credit cards etc. good luck with your claim though, fingers crossed!!

ok, the piece of text they give me has confused me a bit.... 'The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from {date when the money became owed to you} to {the date you are issuing the claim} of £ {put the amount} and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of {enter the daily rate of interest}'. Not sure what i need to fill in for the bits in brackets? i assume first is the date i am claiming from (in my case it is 3 years ago) up until the present date i guess?? then the amount - is this the total including the 8%?? lastly what is the daily rate of interest?? thanks!

thanks for the reply.... had already used those guidance notes, just wanted to double check all was ok! thanks!