Hello! I have a problem with my last employer, owner of the care home I worked for. Due to certain mistake I've made I was put on garden leave, awaiting my disciplinary meeting. On the day I had my disciplinary I provided the statement, prior to the meeting and gave my notice. Chair of the meeting said they accept my notice, yet will go with the meeting as planned. Although I provided mitigating circumstances I was found guilty and chair of the disciplinary hearing said 'had you not resigned we would sack you for gross misconduct'. Few weeks after I received my final pay slip I opened it and BOOM - from my final wages a cost of £390 was deducted. It stated is for the training. I was working for that care home for over two months and was never given my contract of employment. The training they provided was mandatory prior starting work in care setting and it was in-house training. I don't agree with that charge and contacted CAB but after 1h20minutes on the phone they sent me to read some law documents from which I didn't understand a lot I need the information - was the deduction of training costs in that case unfair? Please, please help And in case it was unlawful for my ex employer to do so what legislation describes it? Many thanks in advance!!

Hi, I had an inventory checkout and I was not informed about any deductions for 14 working days. But according to my tenancy agreement I need to be informed about any deductions within 10 working days. After I contacted the estate agent after 11 working days, I was told by the estate agent after a further 48 hours (i.e. 14th working day after the end of my tenancy) that there will be deduction for a maximum of £50 and it may be lower as well. I reluctantly agreed to it, but since I then didnt hear back anything from the estate agent, I contacted the estate agent again and I was told that the deduction will now be £200. So just wanted to know: 1) Can the estate agent inform me of a deduction after 14 working days, even though the tenancy agreement specifies that I should be informed with in 10 working days. 2) Can they agree something on the phone but then increase it further i.e they initially said the deduction will be a maximum of £50, but then increased it to a maximum of £200. Can some one please help and provide any useful information on how to resolve this?

The deductions made is not what i singed for.Even after pointing out that they are making unauthorized deductions they still continue. Can a credit union take whatever amount they want ?

I moved into a privately rented house that is managed by a letting agents on 01.02.2012. When I first went to view the house it was in a bad way, it needed to be re-decorated throughout and the carpets were filthy. The agents explained that the work was due to be done but just hadn't started yet. Despite the property not looking its best I decided to take as I knew that it would be sorted out. When I moved in things weren't perfect, it had been painted throughout but wasn't a great job (patchy walls, odd marks here and there) and the carpets had been cleaned however were still very marked and stained. I accepted this as with a rental property you are never going to get perfect however I noted these down on the itinerary I was given that stated that walls were "immaculate" and carpets were "clean throughout" and posted it back to the agents the next day (it said to be returned within 7 days). There were quite a few things on the itinerary that were wrong and I corrected, such as the light fitting in the living room that was stated as "working" was actually just dangling there, not attached to any wires or the ceiling so clearly didn't work and curtain rails and a shower rail that were hanging off the walls. I called a week later to check that they had received my updated itinerary and one of the agents told me they had it. Anyway, I moved out on 25.04.2013, while I was there I put up some shelves in the living room and the odd picture here and there, and when I moved out, i filled, sanded and painted the marked areas using the paint that had been used used to paint the house in the first place that had been left in the garage. Although this wasn't left in perfect condition, it wasn't prefect to begin with and matched up very well. I also paid to have the carpets cleaned by a cleaning company and the bathrooms steam cleaned as I wanted to leave the property in a good condition. The carpets didn't come up immaculate but that was because they were marked and stained when I moved in, I couldn't make them any better than they were when I arrived. A few days before I moved out, a lady from the agents came round to have a check and tell me what needed doing, but she only had a copy of the original itinerary not the one I had posted them, she said she would check when she got back to the office for the one I had sent in, but called me the next day to say they couldn't find it I hadn't heard anything from the agents until this week when I called on Monday to find out why I hadn't heard about having my bond (£600) returned, I was told someone would get in touch with me as they were still liaising with the LL. Today the agents left a message on my phone that said due to having to have the carpets cleaned and walls repainted as they were all "immaculate" when I moved in, they would be deducting £380 from my bond to pay for these repairs. I provided them with a receipt to show I'd had the carpets cleaned and they said it wasn't good enough! The message said if I accepted this then they could process everything on Monday and contact the DPS for return of the money or I could dispute the deductions but then in their words "this would be time consuming and obviously it will be a long time before any money is returned". I don't know what to do now, I left the property in a better condition than when I moved in (I don't think the oven had ever been cleaned, and I had fixed all the broken curtain rails and replaced the shower curtain rail that was broken. It was much cleaner than when we moved in and the walls looked just as good as when I rented it. What can I do?! Is there anything? Or should I just be grateful I'm getting anything back at all?? Any help at all would be appreciated! Thank you!

Asking for a friend who was previously on IB and has failed the ESA medical, currently appealing. Whilst he was on IB his water rates were deducted from his money at £12.00 a week. some for arrears, some for current bill. He is now on the assessment rate of £71 ish a week, and they have still deducted the £12.00. This is leaving him about £8 a day to live on. Can we do anything about getting this amount lowered whilst his income is reduced? Thanks for your help.

Hi all, 6 month AST ended and we heard nothing about return of deposit for 2 weeks until i emailed agent to ask. They replied saying LL wanted to take deductions for some things. We asked exactly what those things were, and wrote a letter direct to LL saying if we didn't hear back we'd take legal action. Finally got a letter from him exactly 15 working days after tenancy ended. Deductions proposed are to cover damage which was already existing (we have pictures, and copy of the inventory we notated and sent to Agents detailing all this). They're even trying to claim for scuffs on a wooden floor which were indicated in their own inventory!! Plus one more thing which we don't have proof of, but certainly didn't do. They claim we damaged edge of carpet in a room and sent a picture (dated 5 days after tenancy ended) showing some short loose strands/ fraying. I'm slightly concerned they may even have set this up to frame us as it certainly didn't look like that when we left! His letter detailing deductions says what he wants to claim for, and how much, but there are no receipt or quotations?? Along with letter in post, we got a notice through DPS site that LL intended to make deductions and do we agree. We ticked no and sent it back. LL has now sent it back again, claming the deductions again. We have again ticked no we do not agree and sent it back. Today have sent a "letter before action" disputing each of the claims he makes and including a template I found on the net which covers things like LL can only claim for losses incurred, these must be accounted for, cannot use as a redecoration fund etc, and we require reply and cheque within 7 days or will proceed to court without further notice. I am wary of using the DPS arbitration/ dispute service as reading case studies it seems they often find party in favour of LL. It also seems a very faceless/ inhuman process, with little chance for us to show exactly how much LL is trying to rip us off. But I'm worried now we've rejected his claims twice on the site it will automatically go to their dispute service? I would rather go to court, even if it means paying. Apparently it will cost £70 to do this. I just wondered if anyone can let me know if I'm within the right time frame for all this and doing it in the right order? Additional points: Deposit was protected and we were notified Inventory was given to us to hand back to Agent at our leisure. They didn't show us around, attend check in, or do a check out We informed Agent of all the incorrect issues on inventory (things stated as clean when they weren't/ existing when they didn't etc) the day after moving in, by notating inventory, dating and initialling. We have copy of their fax report to show they received all this. Landlord wants to sell property - as he is claiming for costs towards replacing carpets and professional cleaning (not required in tenancy agreement) we're pretty sure he is aiming to use our deposit to do up his house to sell! We have nearly 100 pictures of property when we moved in, none from moving out unfortunately However we have 2 witnesses who helped us clean and move in/ out Deposit was over £1,000. To date they have kept all of it, even though the amount they are claiming is £450. It's now a month after we moved out and they still have our money Thank you in advance

Hello, I would like to share my problem with my landlord here, and receive opinions to see what is the best that I can do. I finished my tenancy with my landlord 1 month ago, and I am still waiting for my deposit. Reasons: He states that the deposit is held by a third part (called deposit protection) and he doesn't have the money. For getting the money, he has to take over an inspection in the house and after that he would log in, get the money, and give it back to me. This deposit is 1000 pounds, and he states he will make the following deductions that I think are unfair: - 40 pounds in concept of cleaning the toilet, stating it was in an "awful condition" when he arrived. I spent 6 hours just cleaning the toilet myself, so I really doubt it was that amount. - 40 pounds in concept of "sofa removal". When we finished the tenancy, we owned 3 sofas, and we proceeded to get rid of them. We put them in the bin container, so when the landlord arrived, he wasnt happy with it. We told him we were busy to remove them, but we will indeed do it after a couple of days. The following day he called someone to remove the sofas, so he had to pay 40 pounds that now we will deduct from our deposit. I discussed with him that we didnt agree with him this sofa removal, so we won't pay that. But as I said, he has the money and he will do it his way. As far as I can read in my contract, the landlord can just deduct money for "wear and tear", or another damages. Nothing about sofas. - 75 pounds in concept of a damaged door. We have a garden door which got stuck for no reason after 2 months in the house. We informed him about the problem, because as I am aware, the landlord had problems before with that same door. He ignored us during 4 months, and he didn't come to see the door, ask us about it, or anything similar. Now that he is moving into the house, he wants to use the door, and he want to make us pay for it, when we didn't use it AT ALL and we have the prooves of he ignoring us telling hiim about the door. Besides all this, I asked him for receipts and prooves of everything and I am still waiting. There is a locksmith going to the house next friday 22th to check if the door was damaged by ourselves, or it is a lock problem. I said to the landlord I would go to the house to see what is happening to the door, and sort everything out. He replied to me in a very rude way, that I am not welcome to go to his house, he will be in touch with me via email, and to stop threatening him with emails. Please I would like to know your opinion, because I feel so frustrated about this situation. Thank you very much for your time.

Hi i recently moved out of a rental property and got charged £50 for marks to the carpet 1. is this money for repairing the damage or for compensation to the landlord 2. i feel this is a high price there were 3 marks/burns all less than half a centimeter in diameter 3. we left a cooker which the landlord agreed to pay £50 for a bit coincidental our tenancy agreement ended 22 days ago and we still haven't received a penny. please help thank you Duncan

Hi would love some advice , i work for a company who contract installs from virgin media. Since joining this company in 2011 my wages have been reduced pretty much every week and reaching my limits of patients have taken them to a tribunal this feb. The way my pay works is i fill in a daily worksheet that is copied and sent to our wages department and they then decide if this is correct and then make changes (without notifying me). Three weeks later i receive a daily breakdown which is almost always wrong . I had a meeting yesterday with the wages manager which didnt go anywhere but he insists that changing my daily submitted wage sheet is not classed as illegal deduction has anyone any advice on this??? Thanx mrrj

Please can somebody advise? Partner was dismissed for gross misconduct - falsifying timesheets. Appeal has been made although no response has been received (only a week ago). CAB have advised they will help if it goes to tribunal (and I guess it will). Final payslip had large deduction made (presumably in line with supposed fraudulent claims) also approx 2 weeks holiday pay was missing - not mentioned on payslip. Previous payslip was missing all its overtime (quite a lot of hours). We have asked for a breakdown of the deductions (the amounts do not tie up with the hours/shifts being queried) but not received one. P45 was sent with final payslip so there is no reason to assume the holiday pay will be sent in time. We accept that contract of employment allows for employer to take back overpayments (although don't think there are any in all honesty). So, how do we insist that he provides an explanation of the hours deducted? And, what do we do about the holiday pay? Is it a job for the small claims court or do we need to wait for the tribunal? He's short a lot of money and its Xmas soon. On the plus side, he has got another job (although on less money) and they know what happened at his last place. Seems not all employers are scared off by a CV that says "I was sacked".

Hi all Appreciate any advice on this situation. Tenancy ended nearly 3 weeks ago, and agent has been delaying agreeing deductions on deposit to return to us. They did notify us that some minor burnt on marks on oven side would need to be cleaned, but oven clean otherwise. Lived in property for 2.5 years, cleaned property to sparkling, way cleaner than when we moved in. We requested amounts for oven clean a few times, and kept being told they were still waiting on quote. After 2 weeks we requested deposit back, agent said they had the oven cleaned and were awaiting invoice, so could not issue us final schedule until they got invoice back. Bit cheeky, but not much we can do. I attempted to call TDS about timelines we should get undisputed deposit back in, to be told that agent had since moved our deposit from them (but we had not been informed). I phoned the other schemes to find deposit registered with My Deposits, and their requirement is that we need to 'formally request return of deposit' and give agent/LL 10 days from that formal request. I'm gobsmacked because we didn't even know it was with them, and besides, it's our deposit, why do I need to formally request it back?? FAQs on MyDeposit state that undisputed deposit should be returned within 10 days of end of tenancy (not 10 days after formally requested). Today agent sent final schedule (18 days since moved out) with deduction of £48 for oven clean, and £35 for agent admin fee to arrange clean. This seems unreasonable on 2 counts : 1. They agreed the oven was clean, with 'minor oversights and burnt on marks' (potential fair wear & tear?) 2. An admin fee of nearly the same amount to arrange a clean that isn't strictly required? With regard to admin fees, our tenancy agreement only states : "To pay to the Landlord all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the Landlord, or awarded by the Court, in: • recovering or attempting to recover any Rent or other monies in arrears • the enforcement of any obligation of the Tenant under this Agreement" So under that clause they're trying to claim an admin fee of £35. That clause doesn't make it clear to me that the agent can charge an admin fee, and that the admin fee can be whatever they decide to make up. We have never received any schedule of admin fees from them. Anyone have any advice or insight? We're asking for the undisputed amount of deposit to be paid out in the meantime, but considering disputing entire proposed deduction as well. I know it's not a lot, but it's money for old rope - there was such a minor amount of marks, and I honestly can't remember if they were there to start with. Appreciate any input, thanks.

Please advise. 3 years ago several cars were photographed by a Flash Park camera and each of us received the "Parking Ticket" £85, none of us responded. We all continue to receive regular notices and bailiff notices but none of us have ever engaged or paid fines. In the last 2 months I have had to resort to Job seekers allowance, and this week I have had a letter from them advising me that from 27th July they will be deducting £5 per week for a fine, on further discussion with the processing team, they had no more information other than a note on the computer to quote South Wales Magistrates and a ref number. When I spoke to South Wales Magistrates they had no record of me nor the ref No.? in further investigation the request has come from london north east hmcts which when Google is bailiffadviceonline. How legal is it that this company has from my Vehicle Licence number plate to now have my National insurance number and have the right to have my benefits deducted? what do I need to put in my Appeal to the benefits office. Many thanks Val183

Hi all, I would like to get some advice on the unfair deduction of my deposit with a previous landlord. I stayed in a flat(moved out 2 weeks ago) with a live-in private landlord where we had a casual contract signed and exchanged. When discussing of the deposit return, he claims me for the professional cleaning for my room, bathroom, living room and the kitchen which was quoted around £200 though the room was not professionally cleaned by the previous tenant, and for the small hole(2cm diameter) accidentally made by me using candles, he is going to re-install a new carpet which would cost £600. therefore it is most likely that the deposit would not be back in a big sum. it is true that the landlord has put " tenant is responsible for hiring a professional cleaner to professionally clean the room, the bathroom, the common area and shampooing the carpet at the end of the tenancy" in the contract, but I find it unjust and would like to take actions to this. Is it possible to sue the landlord based on the above information? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks all in advance.

I'm trying to get a sense of what deductions are reasonable against a tenants deposit. I have an unfurnished flat that I let out and the tenancy just ended. The tenants created a 2cm diameter burn hole in the carpet, luckily it is covered by where the sofa typically sits. The tenants also did a poor job cleaning the flat both during their tenancy and as they moved out. Rent was in the order of £1000 in Reading and the property is billed as "executive flats". A deposit of 1.5 months is held in a TDS via the letting agency. Most of the walls were freshly painted, I had cleaned the carpets with a rental carpet cleaner and wiped down woodwork and doors before the tenants moved in. A fairly comprehensive inventory was part of the lease contract. Last week I cleaned the flat myself after the tenants moved out, spending about 15 hours doing so. I hired a rental carpet cleaner again and touched up the paint on the walls were it had been heavily marked and where blue tack had been used. If all light-bulbs were in service before the let, is it reasonable to expect tenants to replaced dead bulbs? I'm trying to figure out how to put a cost on what it has taken me to restore the flat to the condition the flat was in before the tenants moved in. I know wear and tear is to be expected but if it can be cleaned in a few hours then I don't see it as wear and tear. Is it reasonable to value my time at £10/hour and to assess a carpet burn at £75-£100? This is my first time as a landlord. I know most of these forums seem to be targeted more at getting the best for the tenant rather than the landlord but I'm hoping I can get some understanding of what is considered usual and reasonable. Thanks, Ryan

ET1 was submitted for deductions of pay, an offer was made of xxx amount but this does not tally up with the companies policies. Would it be OK to get back to ACAS and asked them what the employers pay of xxx is covering or will this take into account all the deductions that was put on the ET1. Employer payslips are very confusing and do not make any sense at all. Hope someone will be able to help with this question. This is a very large employer of thousands of employees all over the world, but are feeling the pinch at moment due to depression and looking to get rid of staff.

I have a question (not relating to my ET claim) about fines my employers. It came up in a conversation with someone I know. My friend has a full time job, but is taking 2-3 weeks holiday off to do some short term work for an agency, as it happens for the Olympics (so it's time bounded). The rate of pay is say £120 per day, but they've been told that if for whatever reason they can't attend a day within the agreed time period, the worker will owe the agency £120. The contract includes a clause to this effect, but I've not seen it myself. Sounds madness and terribly dodgy to me. Would this be considered unlawful deductions?

Hi i'm looking for some advice here i was renting a managed propery through a letting agent. at the end of the tennancy the letting agent claimed a large proportion of the (rather large) deposit for repairs to the property. The property was then re-let with a different letting agent. While the property was open for viewings with the other letting agent i viewed the property only to find out that none of the repairs to the property had been carried out. At this point i beleive i should consult with a solicitor, however my finances are somewhat limited. I beleive this is a clear case of fraud. Is there any reason i should think otherwise?