Morning Emmzzi, My fiancee would like a job which would suit her commitments at home. This would either be a job that would work around school hours, or weekend work. The canteen job that was offered was not suitable because they told her she may have to stay behind after school hours some days, and the weekend job is no longer available. The reason why I have posted the redundancy offer is because I believe that she has been selected for redundancy unfairly, and that they are basically forcing her out of the door. I am now after some advice as to how I can reply explaining that I do not agree with the context of the letter. The fact that she has only been told over the last couple of weeks that her old job is no longer available is a joke, because now she is having to find another job before her maternity runs out on October 7th.

Hello. We have received a letter from the company that my fiancee has been made redundant. Please find attached. This letter has angered my fiancee, because the letter states 'Due to your extra commitments at home you asked if it was possible for you to now work weekdays during school hours only, not do weekend shifts and also avoid working at all during school holidays as these would be difficult for you. My fiancee never at one point said that she would not work weekends - after she was tldl that her current job was unavailable, she said that she would have to work weekdays around school hours. Also, they have stated 'the company does not consider you to be at risk of redundancy'. If there has been a reorganisation, does this mean that her job is redundant? She declined the canteen job as the hours were unsuitable. We would like to reply to this letter explaining that we do not agree with the points they have made, but my fiancee is scared that she may lose her redundancy pay if she persues further. What would you suggest? We have made an appointment with CAB, but they are fully booked for a couple of weeks. [ATTACH]46585[/ATTACH]

Thanks Becky. I have looked at other cases online, and I think that she has been treated unfairly. I believe that they have deliberately asked her to train another department to cover her role, and changed the internal structure whilst she's been on maternity. I believe that they should have notified her in writing that her job was to be made redundant once the other department began to cover her role - as it is obvious to me that they have had this planned. It is not right that she has had nine months maternity, and come back to work to be offered a job in the canteen (on similar pay terms, and hours - but not role wise), or offered redundancy. She wouldn't have minded if she was notified of the redundancy as the start, she could have had time to look elsewhere - but now she has three weeks to find another job. I have just asked my fiancee what reason they had made her job redundant - she says that when she had the meeting, they said they had no work for her in her previously role as there wasn't enough - and told that if she did work in her currently role or another department similar to her role, there would be an 'uproar' in the department, as they would have to cut their hours. Do you know where I can get some legal advice? I might write them a letter asking the reason for redundancy, and ask them when the job was made redundant. Is this a good idea?

It is a bit complicated. Prior to going on maternity leave, management asked her to train the accounts department to cover what she used to do. Now she has finished maternity, they are telling her that her role is not required as the accounts department deal with it. They mentioned that a law has come out that says 'if you come back to work within six months of maternity, they have to give you your job back, and after six months, they can give your job to someone else, but offer you another role in the store'. I don't know if this is true either?

Please could someone offer some advice. My fiancee has been working as a receptionist for a company for 9 years (since 2004). Four years ago (2008), she fell pregnant with our first child, and had nine months maternity. She could not work as a full-time receptionist, so they offered her a part-time weekend job, which she accepted at a reduction of her salary (apparently her responsibilities were less so they reduced her wage from £7.50 an hour to £6.80 an hour). Last year, she fell pregnant and has taken nine months maternity again. This time, she has had a couple of meetings, and they have told her that they cannot offer her the weekend job back, but there is a role in the canteen (which are at awkward hours). They have also offered her redundancy, but apparently they can only offer her redundancy of her new job, since she's been part time, so they are only paying her 4 years redundancy (£750). Are they in their rights to offer her a redundancy to her new job? I would have thought it's when you have been employed, regardless of what role?? It seems to me that they want to get rid of her, and they want to pay as little redundancy as possible (hence paying part-time wage than full-time). Any help would be appreicated.

Hi there! I currently have a mortgage with A&L, or Santander now, but I have a PPI with a different company Select & Protect. I have been paying approx £27 a month for 5 years. I was given this PPI when I got my mortgage, but I was told I needed it, and I do not remember signing anything. Can I claim it all back from select & protect, even though they are not my mortgage lender? Many thanks GC

Hello again. I want to respond to Bryan Carter's final notice but I am unsure what to send him. Could anybody help please? Should I maybe send him a letter asking to send me any records he has on hold of me to help with this case? Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks for the advice Sillygirl. Do you know where I can find the template to send to Bryan Carter? I have attached a copy of a final notice I received off them on Sat 10th July (2nd Class post ) demanding that I pay the amount in full or they will take me to court. How long does it normally take to get a hearing at court? It's just that I have a holiday booked from 7th August to the 21st August, and I don't want to spend it worrying about defending myself in court whilst I am on hols. Bryan Carter.pdf

Hi sillygirl, thanks for the reply. This is what confuses me, is my debt in dispute if Natwest have sent me a final notice explaining that they will no longer look into my claim? In their eyes, surely the account is no longer in dispute? Or am I wrong? I know I dispute the debt, but is that enough to say to Bryan Carter that the debt is in dispute?

Hello. Please could you give me some advice on a ongoing issue I have with Natwest. It started a while backed when I went overdrawn with Natwest and incurred 'snowballing' charges. With default fees and admin fees I now owe approx £600 to Natwest. I have sent them letters in the past reclaiming my charges but they refused to pay back, and also in January 2010 I received their final letter in regards to bank charge reclaiming and the bank charge case result in the high courts, saying that they were no longer willing to look at my case. This year I have had Moorcroft chasing me for payment, whom I sent letters explaining the account was in dispute with Natwest and now I think the debt has been passed to Fredickkson who have been chasing the debt. However, I have been ignoring them for now. Unfortunately, one day they rang my house phone, and my mother-in-law, who happened to be babysitting my son at the time, gave them my mobile number. Now I have them texting me 'please call this number, urgent!' messages. The worrying thing is, today I have received one from Bryan Carter solictors asking me to call them urgently. Does this mean I will be taken to court soon? I am a bit concerned because I have a holiday booked in August, and I will have to attend court and fight for my charges back.

Hello, it's been a while since I was last on the consumer forum. Yesterday my fiancee received a doorstep visit from a guy who wanted to speak to me, but wouldnt give any details of who he was. I can only assume that the guy was a Moorcroft rep. I want to write a letter explaining that I have now rang the OFT in regards to the harrassment from Moorcroft (going to ring them tonight after work), and the fact that they havent even told me if the debt has been sold from Natwest. Please could someone give me some advice on what to write to them? I have also filled out a form to send to the FOS to investigate the charges from Natwest? Do you think this is a good idea?

Hi elpulpo, it is a small furniture store and it has between 80-90 employees. Some good news anyways , they have agreed to meet my fiancee half way to £6.50 an hour. But now there is a new problem (haha!) . . . . Normally my fiancee would recrue 25 days holidays from april to april, but she has been told because she is starting part-time in Feb, she will only recrue 21. is this correct? . . . . and, the plot thickens. She has already used 13 days in april so has a balance of 8 (according to the employer), and they have told her that she will only be paid half at a rate of £7.28 per hour (her orginial wage) and half £6.50 per hour (her new wage). Does this sound correct? I know it's only pennies, but it's the principal!

Hi HB. Just to let you know that my finacee went back to work to see the manager yesterday. They have cut her wage from £7.28 per hour to minimum wage £5.85 per hour (i think!). They told her that the reason for the cut was because she could no longer do the work she used to. This is because they don't do this work at weekends, and she would just be a receptionist answering the phone, dealing with customers instead of the administration side. They also told her that it shouldnt make a difference to what they pay her, because the working tax credit would make up for it (which is a load of tosh!) as she is working part time. She has contacted ACAS who weren't that helpful to be fair. They just basically said that they had a right to do this, although it may come under 'disscrimination' (that's helps! haha!). They have told her to write a letter to the company expressing her disappointment and concerns of this pay cut. Do you know what would be best to write to them?

Hi, I am just after a bit of advise if that's possible. My fiancee is due back to work after 9 months maternity leave. She is unable to work full time now as she has to look after our little boy, and we cannot afford childcare. They have agreed that she can work weekends, but have told her that they will have to reduce her hourly rate, because she will have less responsibilites. She has to go and see them today to discuss a new contract. Do the have the right to do this?

Hello, I have posted a couple of threads in the past about my Natwest charges 'debt' and I thought I would start a new thread about my current situation. Basically, my charges from Natwest snowballed as I was disputing the fact that the charges were unfair. The supreme court ruling has ruled against the OFT investigating the fairness of the charges, so now I have a £600 debt hanging over me, all unfair charges. The debt has been sold to Moorcroft DR (although I wasn't notified of this) and now they are chasing payment. I have attached the most recent letter I have received (funny I know:razz:). I was wondering if their was any template letters in which I can send to them to get them off my back? Plus, do I have a leg to stand on now that the OFT cannot investigate the fairness of charges? The final paragraph says that 'they might have to advise their client to get their solicitors to perform legal proceedings. Does that mean Natwest could take me to court? I have a feeling that I am going to have to pay this debt eventually. Moorcrap.pdf