I will be doing that once I have completed this degree. Exam on 4th May and once I know result then I will register. I searched hi and low to find answers from HMRC and some info is just not clear enough. Thanks for the help. MissyNa

Thanks for the speedy response. From my perspective being self-employed and invoicing will be better as I will be invoicing others. I have also read recently that people you are employed and self employed are away to get hit with huge tax bills as HMRC has screwed up. Makes it easier to keep my own books sorted too. Thank you

Hi there, My husband works for an international company and paid in US dollars. However, the HMRC class him as self-employed. I carry out bookkeeping for him monthly with end of month reconciliation as well as annual returns with other specific tasks on his behalf. However, this work load will increase as of May 2015, hence charging him. My question is.... Can I invoice him for monthly duties carried out. I plan to go self employed doing exactly this once I have completed my Honours Degree in May, therefore, it would be far easier for myself to also go self-employed rather than being classed as an employee (seen other responses but always focuses on limited or sole traders). Can I do this as I am his wife, if not he will have to pay the accountant to do this as I suspect I will be too busy with my own clients. Thanks in advance

Sorry for such late reply - I have been so busy with uni work. Unfortunately, you will have to take the brunt of this. If the payment was refunded back to the card and it had an outstanding balance, this would be paid to the debt whether or not it has been passed to DCA. Sorry it is not the news you want to hear x

I have spoken to my husband who had his own garage as he was a mechanic but is now an engineer offshore. He said that it is their responsibility to inform you that - yes there may be a fault with the turbo, however, they will not know if the engine has sustained damage until investigating. They should should have given you 2 quotes 1- for repair/renewal of the turbo inc labour costs and VAT 2 - repair/renewal of engine inc turbo with labour costs plus VAT. That way - this gives you the information to make an informed decision on whether to proceed. Again - from what you have said, it sounds as if they are trying to make a good profit from your bad situation. I have to go through my law folder for you to find this case study on foreseeability to see if that helps you and I will get back to you ASAP x

No problem. I hope it helps you. Oh I forgot to mention that they can also send the payment back to the account that sent once you give them reqd info. Personally, I would get them to refund yourself though. Good luck x

You should have been advised the above could be a possible situation from the technician. What I personally would do, is pay for the turbo and take the car, but also ask for the old turbo to take away with you. You are well within your rights to do so. If you have it in writing about what was required to repair the car and now they are finding fault with another this will help. As the law states, anything foreseeable - ie; the turbo would have sucked debris into the engine causing damage, this should have been explained to you as the turbo may not be the only problem. Any properly qualified mechanic/technician should know this. As a consumer you expect the seller (repairer) to give good sound advice and be knowledgeable on what is required especially as this particular refers to a safety aspect. I am actually away to go out, but when I come back I will track down a case I recently reviewed with similar circumstances and the claimant won their case. Do not involve any legal rep at the mo because if you stick to your guns and sound like you know what your talking about, they may well back down. I will have the info for you sometime this afternoon. Hang tight x PS: If they have stripped both down found no fault, misdiagnosis, I would no pay they obv do not have a clue x

I worked for RBS and I do know for a fact that it will stay in the suspense account until claimed. As it was your card, you have to ask for the refund and will be asked for proof of ownership of this credit card, which is not hard to obtain. Once that has been established, the refund should take no longer than 7 working days. Make sure you have all details to hand to make it as easy as possible for them to process. Sometimes banking clerks make the processes within sound intricate but this is not not, just terminology. Please don't worry, just call them with all details and the refund should be prompt, providing they are a reputable company. Hope this helps. x

Hi Craiul, I used to work for Hpnda - whenever we were diagnosing a problem, it was then out into writing to give the customer a quote for the repair. Did you receive a quote in writing? Was the fault for repair noted on the quote? If the answer is no, it would be hard to prove however it can be questioned as to why they bought the wrong part and as they mis-diagnosed the fault, they simply cannot charge you for the turbo in the first place. As for the engine, they will most likely be quoting you for a new engine when reconditioned engines are available, you just need to look around on the web. I myself had a reconditioned engine put into my car a while back and only paid £600 inc del when a new engine would have cost far much more. I would suggest that you tell the garage they can keep the turbo without charging you and you want the car back. Sounds very suspect to me!!! Take the car to a reputable garage - ask friends and family for referrals, at least that way you know they can be trusted. If the garage argues that you have a bill due to labour costs of fitting the turbo, tell them it is their mistake of misdiagnosis therefore you cannot be held accountable. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/consumer_w/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/cars_garage_repairs_and_services_e.htm Go to the link below there is great advice on there and how to complain. Good luck

Hi there, I tried to reply to your message but to no avail, I can only do so if posted so many times. Thanks for message, I really appreciated and I very happy for you also - at least there is some of us winning cases. I don't think I have ever been so stressed in my entire life and it has seriously affected my health, they either do not understand how this can seriously effect someone or simply do not care. I am jut so glad that I am the sort of person that has a great memory of dates and facts and also glad I kept all of the documented evidence from the hubby's long affair otherwise I would have been stuck for proof on that side of things, but also, if it wasn't for my Dr, HV, police reports etc there would have been nothing to back me up. I have even decided to post even the simplistic of letters by recorded del from now so I have any evidence I need if reqd, that is how paro this whole ordeal has made me. And once again, thanks for your message and happy you won too - yay lol x

Thank you all so much for your advice and info. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you, I had trouble with logging in etc and knowing how to navigate this forum properly lol. It turns out, that I am now due money from the council tax dating back over an 8 year period due to over banding, hhhmmmmm wonder how long that will take to get to me, however, they were really quick to claim 'their' money. TBH I dont care about the money I am still in relieved mode Thanks again folks xxx

Just to let you know. I used to work for RBS and I know that any docs any older than 7yrs is kept within the facilities and then they are sent to a central unit either in Edinburgh or Greenock. I know of account details being kept for over 20yrs as I have personally had to deal with this for customers in the past. It deffo not easy to get the info you require but there is no reason as to why you cannot get it. They are just trying to get you to give in. Also, my grandfather has successfully reclaimed on loans and credit cards from numerous lender and the cc or loans have been older than 10, 15 & 20 yrs. Just keep at them. Good luck x

Thank you for the feedback - that is great to hear that they tend not to appeal against the tribunal decision, do not think I could bear having to go through more. I feel like I can actually relax now - first time in 3+ years. Has been a hard slog, but on wards and upwards now. Thank you for everyone's help and messages. xxx:smile:

Well, I had my Tribunal on 12th Aug and had to wait for the outcome. Few days later still didn't receive it so my representative called them. They said a decision had been mad on 15th Aug but forgot to post it. I received it couple days ago and I have WON all 6 appeals. I really never thought it would go my way as I now have no trust in the system, but I was proved wrong.....with all of the evidence I was able to supply helped me so much, I am so glad that I kept nearly 100% of any correspondence. My question is however, can the DWP appeal against the judges decision or do they normally accept the outcome. Reason I am asking is that although I have won, I still feel too scared to allow myself the pleasure of winning as this whole situation has taken a massive toll healthwise and mentally, I do not want to think yaaaay then be slammed down again. Any views would be gratefully appreciated x

That is what I have been doing. I have social work reports detailing his affair and him not living with me. Police reports as they were called to the house on many occasion. Doctors letters supporting me as well as my mums doctor. Solicitor letter when I sent the separation order. I just cannot believe they are taking it so far. To be fair, my rep is really good. On paper with what they say it does look bad but when you look at the evidence I have, any 'reasonable' person would understand that I had done what was asked of me. Council are using bullying tactics, 6 letters sent in one day etc always on a fri or sat, I have lost so much weight because of this and my health suffering massively. It feels like since they have these new powers they are trying to claw back every penny they can, whether they are right to do so or not..... I am rambling yet again... Thank you so much for your responses...it is good to know that I am not alone, you can only cry so much to your parents etc xxx