Hi, just returned from Calpe in Spain and we were burgled in our Holiday Villa which was booked through a UK company. On our last but one day we locked all doors, windows and shutters and went out for 45 minutes, returned and all was OK outside, unlocked and went in and after about an hour noticed an iPad, watch, some jewellery was missing, our mobile phones were out on the sofa still there and nothing else was missing, all inside locks were still locked. Phoned the rep, whist waiting spoke to the one neighbour who said same thing happened last summer to a dutch family who had 600 Euro and an expensive pair of trainers taken but their GoPro was not taken, they reported to the rep and police came etc, we did not have insurance and wondered where we stand in that SOMEONE USED A KEY to get in, we had one and the Owner, Cleaners, Maintenance Etc have access to one, also previous guests, people with a grievance may have copied a key ? This Villa company does have a few mentions with other villas nearby on TripAdviser with similar stories, we used the Safe but it was only big enough for my bum bag containing passports, money and car keys etc The Guardia Police came and we filled out a report, they did not appear to be surpised or concerned. So a previous burglary should they have put NEW LOCKS on ? Are the UK Rental Company liable for lack of security and compensate me ? Any Advice please on where to go with this ? Thanks Milocoon

I have worked as a temp for an agency that pays out for “holiday pay” where the holiday hasn’t been taken. The problem is I wasn’t aware that I had to manually claim these payments during the year and that, according to them, they cannot be rolled over. I worked for them in 2015 and 2016 (and this year) so I have in effect lost these payments as I have not adhered to their policy. (their policy is on their staff portal website and I think their contract, which I don’t recall ever seeing). I am annoyed as in the various numerous training I have had with them in terms of being compliant with their admin/paperwork as part of my duties they have never mentioned I had to claim these payments. In other words they have been very on the ball where it suits them. Does anyone know if this is legal? thanks

http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/natwest-online-banking-down-what-7438405 Why does it always seem to be over a Bank Holiday or Weekend that Banks have IT problems? This time with NatWest (although that should probably read... Again with NatWest..

Hi CAG, Just looking for a quick bit of info. Was placed in ESA Support Group for 2 years from Feb 15 - Feb 17. Obviously we are beyond that date so I'm waiting to hear something any day now. I go away for 10 nights on May 15th (First Holiday in around 10 years) wondering what to do if they throw something in my letter box asking for a re-assessment while I'm set to be away? Am I entitled to go away while I'm in the ESA Support Group and should I inform somebody that I have chosen to do so? Anybody got any idea how long I may be waiting to hear from then as we are now over the 2 recomendded years since I was placed. Thank you in advance for any input, Adam

About a week ago my sister of 24 years of age and my under aged self arrived in London for holiday visiting our cousin,who is currently a university student. Neither of us has any source of income other than their parents and not having a lot of time to save up for this trip made it very hard for us to get by with the money we were given.Yesterday was our 7th day and we thought it would be a good idea to take some presents for back home but without much money it would be hard to acquire them. We finally decided to steal some but of course it was a STUPID idea.We were taken to the room downstairs by a really kind lady.She asked us for our info name,date of birth ,Addres.We contacted our mother with her help and she confirmed everything we told her. She told us a letter would come demanding we pay an unfairly high amount of money which could be 300-400 pound,around 10-15 times the amount of money we attempted to steal.After that she took copies of our ids and we returned home. I was mainly concerned about my mother as she would have to pay the "fine",so I started doing some intensive research and came across this site.Almost in every single case you guys provided amazing support to other members and always advised against paying the money. I know there are a lot of people like me out there but I wanted to know if the fact that I am a resident of a different country would change things.My personal opinion is that it would be even harder for them to do something that would affect me negatively. The security Guard constantly tried to remind me to pay that money and if I wouldn't they could inform the local authorities.I find it really unlikely but I would also love to have some feedback from you about my situation. If you made it to here I thank you very much and please excuse any mistakes i make made in English

If you are travelling over the Easter Holiday especially if you are thinking of using the Tube. You should ensure that the lines you want to travel on will be open. Doesn't actually say why they are going to be closing.

got a friend popped around says he thinks hes being short changed has asked several times about his holiday pay rate and is being stone walled or constantly fobbed off. can someone please check his workings attached and point me to a suitable letter to give them a good poke to sort it please.. not my bag this. dx

This may end up long winded, so I apologise in advance. I worked for a small domiciliary care company for exactly 6 months. I had found a 21 hour a week job with the local authority in one of their care homes and intended to work both jobs. With the 2nd job being for the local authority there is a lot of training to do and the care manager at the domiciliary company made it perfectly clear that she was not willing to work around the 2nd job. I had intensive training to do for the first 2 weeks in the new job so decided to resign from the domiciliary company with immediate effect, that is where the fun began. I received a text from the care manager telling me that the owner of the company had said that if I did not give a months notice then she could keep a weeks pay and I had to repay any holidays that I had taken that were over-paid. I spoke to ACAS and was told she could not keep wages for the hours I had worked and after a bit of email ping-pong she paid what was owed but then the holiday pay drama began. To begin with, she told me she had paid me 16 days holiday pay so I had been over paid 2 days, then she sent another email stating she has paid me 18 days resulting in an over payment of 4 days. Luckily I had worked for this lady before and have kept records! Here is where she states I have been overpaid 4 days. Thank you for your email. I have checked your records regarding your holiday pay. You took holidays on the following dates. August 2016 27th, 28th, October 2016 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th and 12th. December 2016 16th,19th, 20th, January 2017 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 30th, 31st February 2017 2nd and 3rd. This equates to 20 days. As a full time employee you are entitled to 2.33 days per month. You worked for a total of 6 months therefore ecruing 14 days. You were not paid for all your annual leave in December but did receive £50.40 holiday pay which equates to 7 hours ie 1 shift. Therefore you took 2 days unpaid in December 2016. Therefore you have been paid for 18 days annual leave. This means you have been overpaid for 4 days annual leave. 4 days x 7 hours @£7.20 = £201.60. I was prepared to overlook this however if you would like me to pay you for the 7.5hrs +2.5hrs you state i owe you i will gladly do so , this equals £82.00 (hourly rate plus petrol) . I would then be grateful if you could refund to me the holiday pay that you owe me. However if you would like to leave the situation as it is please let me know. I have not been paid for any of the January 2017 leave as the pay date prior to me going on holiday was 24th Jan, so those dates would have been paid at the end of February. I have actually been paid 12 days holiday pay and she owes me 2 days. I have emailed her to the effect but have not had a response. My issue is, how much am I owed. In another email she has stated that holiday pay is based on the 2 previous weeks worked. I have looked at various sites and they all say holiday pay is based on the previous 12 weeks worked? In total, I have received £424.80 holiday pay and the hours I have worked are - Regarding the outstanding holiday pay and it being based on the 2 previous weeks, I have kept records of the hours I worked and are as follows - W/E 07/08/16 49.25 hours W/E 14/08/16 44.5 hours W/E 21/08/16 57.25 hours totalling 151 hours over 3 weeks. W/E 28/08/16 43 hours W/E 04/09/16 49.75 hours W/E 11/09/16 42.5 hours W/E 18/09/16 63.75 hours totalling 199 hours over 4 weeks. W/E 25/09/16 35.5 hours W/E 02/10/16 20.75 hours W/E 09/10/16 ON HOLIDAY W/E 16/10/16 38 hours W/E 23/10/16 39.25 hours totalling 133.5 hours over 5 weeks. W/E 30/10/16 67.5 hours W/E 06/11/16 41.5 hours W/E 13/11/16 54 hours W/E 20/11/16 37.5 hours totalling 200.5 hours over 4 weeks. W/E 27/11/16 52.75 hours W/E 04/12/16 33.5 hours W/E 11/12/16 46.75 hours W/E 18/12/16 21.25 hours totalling 154.25 hours over 4 weeks. W/E 25/12/16 32 hours W/E 01/12/16 26.25 hours W/E 08/01/16 44 hours W/E 15/01/16 27.75 hours W/E 22/01/16 48.5 hours totalling 178.5 hours over 5 weeks. Plus the final 10 hours I worked for you totals 1026.75 hours. I sent her the above breakdown last week, but foolishly didn't give her a timescale to reply. I intend to send another email tomorrow. I would really appreciate it if somebody could look over the figures and let me know roughly how much I should have been paid. If needs be I will take her to small claims over this. I was paid at a rate of £7.20 per hour and don't have any sort of contract with her. As stated, I have worked for her in the past and went back to her after 18 months in another job and there was no paper work done at all, not even a new CRB/DBS check. Thanks in advance for your help. Elaine (Mrs Huggy)

Please could someone enlighten me. If an employee works 4.5hrs a day twice a week, how many days holiday are they due. Thank you

I am after some help with fighting TELETEXT Holidays. Basically I purchased a holiday and nothing was as advertised on their website, it cost us a great deal more money to provide the essentials whilst on the holiday and pretty much ruined our experience. I have sent in complaints and attached my emails and theirs in an attachment to this. They seem to have come to the end of the line with their compensation offers of a measly just under £200 for a £2000 holiday. If someone would be so kind as to read the emails to see my chances and then direct me on my first steps to court proceedings I would be truly grateful. I can donate to the page also. Regards Complaints to Teletext Emails.pdf

Hi, I have a holiday booked for May 2017. Balance is due on Saturday.I have been watching the forums for Fuerteventura Caleta de Fuste beach works. These were due to be completed in October 2016. I have since discovered they are still on going. We booked the hotel back in April 2016 and were not ever notified of works to beach. However we chose the hotel as it is right on the beach. But are now disappointed as this will ruin our holiday. I do not want to change to another hotel. I am happy to change to another suitable date when works are finished. Or would just like my deposit back. Where so I stand with this I have checked Tcs but they have not notified me of change they just hand out leaflets on the bus. (written on forums) Is it classed as an event out of their control?

Hi, Recently stubbled onto the site and wondered if anyone could help me. I currently work at a supermarket and have done since August 2016, I started on a 12 hour contract over three days (per week) but have never actually worked only 12 hours. I am consistently working above and beyond these hours ranging from about 24 to something 38 and occasionally entering overtime at above 39 hours per week. This is great, an I am not complaining but I am wondering there were grounds on which I can ask for my contact to be raised so I will be guaranteed more that 12 hours pay per week. Does anybody know if there law or legislation that I could use to back my case when i eventually ask for my contacted hours to be raised? I have read a discussion on here refereeing to holiday pay in a similar situation.. .as I have a weeks holiday booked will i be paid my 12 hours or the average of the last 12 weeks work hours? If I am entitled to the latter if I only get paid the basic 12 hours can i appeal this somehow? Thanks in advance, any information anybody has would be of great helps Thanks a lot Justsaying

Hi all, I've begun working with a teaching agency and have been on assignment since October 2016. The contract provided to me by the agency states that 'The Temporary Worker is engaged as a self-employed worker, although CT is required to make stautory deductions from the Temporary Worker's renumeration in accordance with clause 4(a)'. So I am self-employed but the agency deduct NI and PAYE tax from my pay - which is fine. The booking confirmations I have received from the agency cleary state Daily rate, length of booking, place of booking. There is no mention of a separate holiday pay payment to pay slips etc. I was under the impression that I was not entitled to holiday pay as I am now self-employed, however, from my reading online I believe I may be entitled to holiday pay as I am doing a job long-term that is comparable to a role that does include holiday pay. I have questioned my agency regarding this and received the response that holiday pay is part of my daily rate and that 12.07% of my daily rate is set aside for holiday pay. I find this misleading as firstly, this has never been explained to me and secondly because the contract they have provided me is very misleading in terms of entitlement to holiday pay: Here's what it says: Where on earth do I stand with all this??

Hi First, I want to say that some years ago I was a member, avid poster and grateful receiver of advice on CAG. I can now no longer remember my username and details so I've created this new profile. That said I have an issue to resolve: I have worked here for a number of years. I get a contractual 25 days annual leave + bank holidays + discretionary 3 days over Christmas. My employer has now announced that the discretionary Christmas leave will no longer happen and that we must reserve three days out of our 25 days annual leave to cover the Christmas shutdown. There is no option to come into work between Christmas and New Year - the company is shut. Is the company entitled to impose this change?

I work two days per week in an office and theres only myself and the boss on the payroll I have worked there since the start of 2014 I was told that they didnt do holiday pay Now, there have been times when I have been off work the odd day and they have paid me, that was in 2014, in 2015 and 2016 they havent, I have never taken time off when busy, and only when really slack. I keep getting told by friends I should get statutory holiday pay, and was pointed to the ukgov website, based on a two day week the entitlement should be 11.2 days annual leave. I have asked the question to see if it can be applied, but I suspect I will be told to put up or leave. Whats the general opinion on this matter? ta

Hi there, Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but it seemed most appropriate. In October I went on holiday to India. Before I went I took out "gold" cover travel insurance with Cover For You. While I was on holiday my mobile phone was stolen from my bag. I reported it to the police, got a police report, immediately had it blocked by my phone company and did all the right things. However, on contacting the people administering the insurance, it turns out that mobile phones are not included in the insurance and that it is required to take out additional gadget insurance to cover phones. Now my phone was a brand new iPhone 7 that I'd had for 3 weeks. If it had been at all clear that it was excluded when buying my insurance, I would have taken the additional gadget insurance. But I remember going through the form application and when additional gadget insurance came up, it said this (I have recreated the insurance application and the screen is exactly as it was when I ordered): I remember thinking - I am not taking up to £3k, my baggage cover is up to £2k, so I don't need to "extend" it. And carried on. Maybe that was naive of me, maybe it was my fault for not examining it more closely, but the wording appears misleading to me. Then when I looked at the key facts, there is no information at all that gadgets are excluded from baggage allowance. In fact it states exclusion includes when: The loss, theft or damage to Valuables and electronic/other equipment occurs whilst not being carried in your hand luggage while You are travelling on Public transport or on an aircraft. This is in the personal baggage section. The reference to electronic equipment in that section again reinforced for me the idea that gadgets were covered up to the value of the personal baggage allowance. I would like to ask opinions on whether I have grounds for complaint here. I feel like I was mislead when buying the insurance and that it should be much much clearer that gadgets, including mobile phones, are excluded from personal baggage allowance and that it's essential to take out additional gadget insurance. Thanks in advance you your thoughts. [Just realised this should be in the insurance section - could an admin move it for me? Very sorry.)

Hi being threatened with court action from holiday company, the holiday was booked with a deposit and then 2 payments were due to be taken from card, The 1st payment that was due I asked for a extension of 10 days as my mother was ill in hospital, ( I am a self employed taxi driver) they agreed so all was fine, then sadly my mother passed away and the holiday was just forgotten about. Started getting emails saying payment had failed and they would have to cancel the holiday, I really did not care at that time, received an email saying Cancellation charges, and they were the same as the holiday, Now I expected easy jets flight costs were probably due but they have asked for payment for the hotel and transfers etc ATOL protection and transaction fees. I returned the email and asked them to provide receipts for the so called payments for the transfers, hotel etc and they just ignored me, today I have received a letter threatening court action and I dont really know where I stand and what to do Any help would be gratefully appreciated

If someone works 20.5hrs a week, not including Mon or Tues, how is the bank holiday entitlement worked out?

I Wonder if anyone can help. I have a debt that although I still dispute was incorrect they were able to get a CCJ. The dept was for approx £2000. After a visit last year from a high court officer I set up a payment plan of £60 a month which I have been paying for the last 9 months or so. I have been paying the middle of the month as I understood the payment was due the 26th of each month. We went to visit a friend for 8 days in Barcelona got a call from the person looking after our pet that our car was clamped on the drive by a person who I assume acts from Elliot Davies the people I pay each month. I called from Spain and he said he knew I was away in Spain as he had asked the neighbours. Apparently he said the payment was due the 3rd of the month so I am in arrears the £60 for this months payment. Of course I have no issue paying the £60 as I was going to do it on Monday as I landed today but he said on the phone that there is no chance and he wants £1000 immediately and drastically increased payments to release the car. We left on Holiday the 15th he initially visited the 18th knew we were away then visited the 20th and clamped the car. The paperwork says this Debt £2338.22 (£542.10) received Interest £165 Compliance fee £90 Enforcement Stage fee £1288.72 Total £3339.95 One letter says or pay outstanding amount of £2745.95 I emailed their office from Spain to try and get none threatening clarification (as the bailiff was very sure of himself...) but I only found out late friday so their office was shut. I need to call tomorrow, is there any advice of my rights or what I need to do

Having been made redundant for the first time in over 38 years, I decided to take on a part time job in a Newsagents on minimum wage, this was Jan 2016. The job offer was for 12 hours a week, as and when required with more hours on offer. All was fine, I requested a holiday for a week in March, was paid 12 hours holiday pay. Since starting I have never done 12 hours always 13 or more. I requested 2 weeks off in Oct and was told I would receive my holiday pay on return. Due to staff shortages I had been doing on average 22 hours a week over the previous 12 weeks. On return I received 18 hours holiday pay. I was expecting at least 24 hours pay as I'm on a minimum of 12 hrs a week. On querying this I was told that since March (why March!) I had accrued only 30 hours holiday pay (60 hours a year). 12h from 30h is 18h. I was told I had been paid for all my extra hours worked so this does not count. As I started in Jan surely I have accrued 45 hours. On looking at the Acas and Gov websites I am not sure of what category I'm in but feel I am being duped? To ad insult to injury I have not received Particulars of Employment or Contract for the post so am finding it difficult to state my case. Any comments or replies? Please

Hi I work for a small business which has no HR department. It's a combination of the administration manager and the finance department who deal with any HR related matters. I'm leaving the company and have asked for a note of my remaining holiday entitlement. They are saying I have no remaining annual leave as I've taken it all. I haven't. I've only taken 5 days. They say I've taken 16 days (I wish). I can prove that I was in the office on the days they say I was on annual leave but it's a proving to be a battle. When I first handed in my notice I was told I had quite a bit of remaining leave. As soon as I say I want to use some of it, it disappears. Can they take away holiday entitlement? What are my rights as an employee if they refuse to correct their records? The holiday year starts on the 1st April, I'm leaving in October. This has happen before but with sick leave. I was reprimanded for taking too much sick leave after being off for 3 days with the flu. When I asked to see my sickness record they had me off for 8 days. Again I could prove I was in the office on the additional 5 days. They only corrected their records when I threaten to get the union involved. I don't want to do this again, I want to leave peacefully. It's a great company to work for, it's just a shame that the HR side is in a shambles. I'm the only person who carries out the type of work I do. It does create problems when I'm not in the office. Holiday requests are a chore and when I do finally get a holiday my line manager is constantly on the phone and e-mail asking me to do work. Booked holidays are cancelled at the very last minute. Same with sickness. Those 3 days I took off, they were constantly checking on me each day. Even when I was sat in the doctor's reception - every 10 minutes, "have you seen the doctor yet?"!! My theory is the additional sick leave was a ploy to ensure I didn't take anymore sick leave in the fear I would lose my job. Needless to say, this disappearing holiday entitlement does not come as a surprise. Thanks B

Dear CAG team, I have a query regarding what my holiday entitlement is, as my employer is being evasive when questioned and I feel I may not be the only one with issues of this type. I work as a live in PA to a disabled women, who hired me directly and who pays me herself, not via a payroll company. I work 22 hours every day, (2 hours break), 6 days straight, then I have 8 days off. So basically nearly 2 weeks every month. I am paid my the hour, not salary and I am paid every 4 weeks, not calendar month. The problem reared its head when she told me that I am a pro rata employee and as such, I am only entitled to part time holiday. Basically 14 days instead of 28 days. I am not paid extra for bank holidays, even Christmas, and I am expected to work them. I queried the 14 days a year and was told flat that I an pro rata and that holiday entitlement is calculated on days worked not hours. If you add up the hours I work every week and divide this by a 4 week month, I am doing roughly 66 hours a week which qualifies as full time in anyones book. It got a lot worse as she then offered to pay me holiday to make up , my wages as she didn't need me for one day during my shift and did not want me to be short She then told me that in order to pay me a full days pay for that 24 hour shift she would have to use up 2 days of holiday. If she does this every time I book holiday, I will end up with 7 days! I work alone as does the other PA and have no payroll or HR department to look at this on my behalf. The other lady has never even checked to see if her wages are correct and I have also had problems with her paying my tax, which HMRC are dealing with currently. Can you offer me any advice. even knowing for sure what my holiday entitlement is would be a great help...... Thanks for taking the time to read this

we bought a lodge to live in was informed by holiday site this was ok, we spent £82k on this my life savings this was in November 2015. since this happened I have been diagnosed with primary progressive m.s and decided to sell up and return home to Huddersfield. we informed the site and they have said they will buy it back for £37000 clearly we are all in the wrong business, since this happened we have found out how much they do this I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has purchased anything on sand le mere park in tunstall hull and had a bad experience we are taking this down the legal path.

Needing help with regard to which route to go down to get back my refundable damage bond. To cut a very long story short, I booked a short caravan break through a private owner website. Paid the full amount upfront, included in this was a refundable £75 damage bond to be returned within 7 days of leaving the let, if left as found and damage free. I paid for the holiday with my credit card as refused to pay by bank transfer. I contacted the third party by email to book the holiday and paid by card over the phone, she said that the money would be paid into the owners account on the holiday park. Left the van on the Friday, contacted the third party on the Sunday to ask when I would receive my refunded damage bond. Heard nothing until I contacted them again on the Wednesday when I was informed that the owner had claimed that we damaged a piece of furniture in the holiday let. I was stunned to be honest, as left the property as found it, no damage by ourselves. Asked for proof of the damage, was sent two undated photos by the third party that were taken by the owner on the Friday we left (apparently). I asked the third party to contact the owner to ask him to send us dated photographs of the damage, she then said she wasn't getting involved anymore and we were to contact the owner direct. She sent us a name and email address for the owner. I have been in contact with him and again asked for my money to be refunded unless he had sufficient proof that we caused damage in his property and also to send us dated photographs of the damage. He sent a short email saying, because the let was so popular he hasn't been able to get access and he hasn't had time to get quotes to have the furniture repaired or replaced. No mention of the proof I've asked for or the photos. I replied stating that he was in breach of contract and has failed to provide any sufficient evidence that we damaged anything. Needless to say I've heard nothing back. I have been in contact with Citizens Advice and waiting to hear back from Mastercard. Is there any other measures I can take to try and get my money back?? Small Claims, Trading Standards?? All advice welcome.

My family and I travelled back from Orlando to Leeds Bradford last weekend and were delayed as a result of the flight time being changed from Orlando meaning that we could not make a connection at Miami and had to be moved onto a different flight to London Gatwick (we were due to land at Heathrow). This meant that we did not have enough time to make the next flight at Heathrow and ended up getting back into LBA at about 18:00 instead of 13:50 (the plane was a few minutes late) and we also had the added hassle and cost of getting from LGW to LHR with baggage which had to be collected and checked in. Can anyone tell me if I am subject to compensation. For info the details were as follows: Flights booked through an agent (TravelUP) Return flight with Iberia but operated by American Airlines Although the experience was difficult and stressful I must point out that the American Airlines and British Airways staff in Orlando were excellent and did everything they could to help. Thanks in advance for any help.