Hi there I recently screwed up at work, and ended up with a disciplinary from a manager who has been waiting for this I made a change to a live system without an appropriate Change Control in place (That being said, I wrote the Change Control Process and its been completely ignored since January this year). We never lost any data, and everything was back to normal in the morning. I got hauled to a meeting where I was told that "this will go on your permanent record", at which point I asked "will I lose my job", and the response was "no, but you will get a written warning".... fast forward to 16 days later, and the post arrives to tell me that I have a meeting this week. I already have evidence to prove that the disciplinary process isnt being applied fairly (someone else made a change recently and whilst it screwed with some systems it was completely ignored, and the manager that has raised the disciplinary has already managed to down some systems when he was upgrading things during the day without telling anyone), how do I proceed? Recently the manager thats raised the Disciplinary has been *really* and I mean extremely micromanaging me, and has also tagged on a complaint about a completely unrelated item which was only added right at the last second in the "investigatory" meeting - which I was not told was an investigatory meeting at all. I have the relevant parts of the ACAS Guidelines which state everything should be fair. Thanks in advance...... JA

A process server was looking down the wrong end of a gun and machete for giving papers to a person whilst on Court business.. This could easily have been an EA in this situation... "An enforcement officer was shot at twice through a letter box after trying to deliver a court order. The court officer escaped unhurt in the incident in Adswood, Stockport today. Armed police then swooped on the address in Newsham Road but a man later walked into a police station and was arrested in connection with the incident." For the full story see here http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/court-officer-shot-twice-gunman-9859309#ICID=sharebar_twitter

Can somebody advise? I submitted a complaint to the FOS online regarding wageme.com. I received a letter today, advising me that the FOS had written to them, but also asking me to get their final response in writing.. I have this and attached it to the complaint when submitted... do i really need to do it again?

hi Our child was involved in an accident and the case has got a date in the county court.the other driver crashed into our car when he was drunk,then got out and seen the damage he had caused,jumped back in his car and drove off. Now the drunk was never charged for been drunk or leaving the scene,even though the police were called.the drunk river now says it was only 2mph crash,even though damage to our car was £3000. Will our child have to give evidence or what actually happens in the county court??? will the judge look t the evidence himself and make a decision? is the court room going to be full of people or just the parties involved?

Hi, I hope this is coherent and someone will be able to help with some advice that I can pass on. Sorry if it gets complicated! my aunt has a mortgage with the infamous Kensington mortgage company, but fell into arrears whilst seriously ill abroad with Breast Cancer and then secondary complication of Tuberculosis, Kensington were aware of her illness. Long story short an Eviction was scheduled. A month before the pending eviction when aunt was informed, she made contact with kensington and sent Income and expenditure form, a proposed repayment plan, and proof that she was indeed ill abroad in hospital (2 medical certificates). This group of documentation was sent on 3 separate occasions, when she called Kensington from her hospital to confirm their receivership, they would ask her to send it again, claiming they didn't receive one of the documents. During this time she made 3 separate payments to pay the arrears of about £3000, clearing half of the arrears. After continuous phone conversations with Kensington, they had finally confirmed that they had received the documents after she complained that she had sent them multiple times and had proof of this, they informed her that they were satisfied with the documents, and proposed repayment plan and would meet with the management team to discuss and come to a decision and inform her of this. Aunt phoned Kensington the day before the eviction and they still hadn't come to a decision, so asked her to call the next day. (Eviction scheduled for 11am) Now on the next day, she called as soon as the call centre opened and finally got through to an adviser around 10am who informed her that they had decided the only way to cancel the scheduled eviction was for her to pay one monthly instalment + the proposed monthly £100 to clear the arrears before 11 from her own UK bank account. (Previous payments whilst she was ill were either from her daughters account, which she informed Kensington of, or paid into Kensington's account through the bank counter). So aunt's bank account has to reactivate her bank account which was dormant due to her being ill out of the country for so long, transfer her funds into that account, and money was paid into Kensington's account at 10:40am. They claim that it reached their account at 20 past 11. Now her son drove to the property around 10:55 and saw that the bailiffs were already there before 11am and front door was open. Kensington released the telephone attendance note from their solicitor to the bailiff, which is timed at 10:45 AM, and says- "He said they are already there and they have looked at the property and there doesn't seem to be any response from anyone inside. He said they have looked inside and borrower may be a hoarder. He said they went to the back of the property and it is filled with rubbish from top to bottom. He said they will go inside and see what happens but said it might be difficult to get inside as he suspects the door may be blocked (due to hoarding) but will let us know what happens" A few notes about the house, it's fitted with curtains curtains at every window, so anything on the inside is not visible from the outside. Property has a garden gate, with back entrance to house (conservatory), Conservatory is used as a storage room so contains multiple boxes and bags, however has floor to ceiling windows so anything inside couldn't be seen from outside. you'd have to be inside the house to see what was inside. Is there anything that can be done with regard to the bailiffs entering the property earlier than 11am, or even breaking open the gate and entering the garden before 11am (i.e. trespassing?) Also in regard to Kensington only deciding to inform my aunt of the payment to cancel the eviction 1 hour before the scheduled eviction, can anything be done about that? Is that an oppressive act? She is planning to apply to the court for a re-entry Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. If anyone has any advice please help, I feel terrible for her as she has been so severely sick and we're trying to assist her as best we can, so would be very grateful for any advice anyone can give.

Hi, From April 2014 to April 2015 I earnt around about £2000-£2500 through Youtube and I'm wondering what I must do on the tax front for that entire year? How would I actually go about declaring it? The network is US ran and I never received any forms to fill out to send to HMRC so I sort of left it until now, been made aware that it comes under self employment and I must declare the earnings, yet I have absolutely no idea how to do so. I think the network tax your earnings if you are based in the US and are in touch with the relevant parties, however as I'm in the UK it seems to be up to me to sort it out. Between April 2014 and April 2015 I also had two other jobs on the correct tax code, yet the second one kept emergency taxing me indespite being on the correct tax code for some odd reason. The reason I mentioned this is because the Tax Office actually know about these two jobs with the National Insurance and P45's attached as they were legitimate companies and not cash in hand work. The Youtube earnings were also sent in Dollars through Paypal and then currency exchanged when it entered my bank account and the exchange rates fluctuate all the time so I can't be precise with the numbers when calculating. Anybody know what I need to do?

Heres a strange one, that other site that promotes debt avoidance has made me think. I know the 3 letter process doesnt work, but for a debt from Oz, does any British Jurisdiction apply? I was just wondering because wouldnt a DCA throw it out saying UK Copyright laws etc dont apply? Im interested in this because I know we had a thread about DCAs from Oz trying to enforce in court.

My professional body has written today to say they no longer support me. I an self employed. This is because in December I challenged many ways where I believed they were no adhering to their code of behaviour. The result of their ban means I cannot get letters of support needed to be able to carry out my work. They have applied these sanctions without advising me as to why and offering me a right to appeal. The Chair of Trustees also went behind my back to ask others whether I was mentally ill or not. Any thoughts on how to move forward. They have refused to answer e-mails for the past three weeks.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) could consider a time limit on Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints as part of a wider review to decide if the scheme has been a success. The FCA said it will use this evidence to assess whether the current approach is securing appropriate protection for consumers and enhancing the integrity of the UK’s financial system. It will look at how banks are handling complaints and how PPI complaints are being made. The regulator will then consider whether further action is needed such as a time limit on complaints or whether to continue the PPI scheme in its current form. The FCA will publish its conclusions in the summer. Since January 2011, firms have handled over 14 million PPI consumer complaints about the sale of PPI, upholding over 70% and paying £17.3 billion compensation. http://citywire.co.uk/new-model-adviser/news/fca-to-review-success-of-ppi-complaints-process/a795761

I recently have SORN my old car. I didn't have a V5C form so I used a V890 form, which only asks you for the car REG and address. Sent off in the post and couple of days later it's sorn. Does this mean I could sorn any car as long as I know the address? Couldn't this be used by ticked off neighbors that don't like you parking in the bay outside their house, in hopes that they recieve fines down the line by AMPRs?

Hi, The flat which I am currently sharing (with a friend who is a serving officer in the army and I am sort of house sitting for him) recently started receiving letters from the TV license folk. They first sent one letter in August to say that they have been writing to the 'Legal Occupier' and have had no reply so the property was being investigated. I ignored this letter as it was nonsense, it was the first time they'd written to us and besides I do not watch or record live tv despite owning a tv set which is used just for netflix and games from my ps3. They wrote to us again this October, this time saying as we've not yet replied they are moving to the final stages of their investigation and the matter has been handed to the local enforcement division. Apparently, they can apply for a search warrant from the court to gain access to the property (which would be very difficult as I live in a huge block of apartments and am currently the only person staying in the flat but also work 8-6 and am away most weekends so would be unable to let anyone in anyway). I'm now both concerned and annoyed, as I don't want some random bloke knocking on my door asking to look inside my living room nor do I want to be taken to court. Can someone please advise on what to do? Thanks

Hi, I have done some research and have previously reclaimed charges and PPI i just wanted to confirm with others the process should follow. I wanted to avoid admitting tyne debt as 2 are just 12 months from being statute barred, so can i address letters "without predjudice"??? so as to not restart the period for the debts becoming statute barred? And any tips anyone may have for settling debts at a reduced rate. So my process i am think i should follow: 1 write to CRA(experian, equiFax) to find any company claiming debt 2 write to companies asking for true original of credit agreement 3 if provided Agreement, make offer of 10p per pound for Full and final settlement including marking debt as settled in full. 4 await letter confirming settlement 5 pay debts. I do worry about making these debts enforceable for the next 6 years by doing this so is there anything i can do to mitigate this risk? thank you in advance nak

Hi Forum. I am currently a BG customer, for three years, prior to that EON for a additionalr three years. Myself and my better half live in a tiny two beds (chocolate box) cottage, single fuel (electricity), No gas main, multi fuel stove burner which keeps the house reasonably warm in colder months. For many years we have always disputed and questioned the high costs with both Utility companies. After many years of being made to feel like we are going mad, and with the suggestion from both companies "are you sure you want to go-ahead with the meter check, it will cost you if you are proven wrong" attitude by both EON & BG we finally decided to proceed with a meter check, we were advised that this check would be via an independent! It was actually carried out BG themselves. Results - The engineer who attended professionally used the phrased "goosed" to confirm that as we had suspected over many years, the box is fast running. BG took over a week to acknowledge this and the reaction to resolving the faulty equipment has been disappointing, enough for me to ask for senior member of staff to deal with the matter. BG have now offered a monetary value, zero interest applied, no additional compensation applied, just what seems to be monetary payment with regards to over payment (I do not know the formula used to calculate their offer?) EON initial response was very professional to begin with, but now the worm has turned and they have become some may say, quiet bullish in their opinion. I am aware of the complaints procedures that I have to follow, I have logged a case reference with CAB, I will use the 14 days period of notice, followed by an additional 8 weeks if I am not satisfied with conclusion. Thereafter the ombudsman directly. I have been advised not to let the faulty meter be taken away, this advise actually came from the regulatory body who will determine further checks on the meter if we fall further into dispute with our current suppliers, I understand that meter examiners are employed by SGS and a point of contact here advised at no costs let them take the meter until we are satisfied fully with the outcome of dispute. The same kind contact advised me that beware that on the day, if the meter happens to perform correctly then it may not work in your favour!!! So right now I am confused about how best to approach this case! once I have exhausted the official process of complaint with the energy companies; Q can I claim compensation in excess of what would be the standard overpayment due to the fast running meter? Q are we entitled for interest to be applied to any overpayments made? Q should I allow the meter to be replaced? Q should I request a checking meter sit side saddled to my current meter? Q is their a maximum claim applicable to this kind of case and can I use effect on lifestyle (true) etc etc to make my claim for compensation stronger? Sorry for so many questions but I am now feeling a little bogged down with different opinions, at least BG by offering a figure is acknowledging the faulty meter. I look forward to the forums responses. Kindest regards

Hello, I was hoping for some guidance please, I have been off work long term due to work related stress. The employer wants to hold a return to work interview and a consultation about the proposed reduction in my hours at the same time. I refused to go to the first consultation as they said they had asked for details from occupational health on how to do any risk assessments but they did not have the details yet. So I thought there's no point going to a consultation if they don't know how to handle the situation yet. They say I'm in breach of contract by refusing to consult, and they are giving me a second chance which is fine, but they said in the letter that even if I didn't come to the meeting or refused to comment they would terminate my current contract anyway and start me on the new reduced hours one. Do you think I've been reasonable in refusing to attend the first consultation meeting beacause they didn't carry out the risk assessment, am I right in thinking the return to work interview should be held before the consultation and are they entitled to just reduce my hours without my agreement (the reduction is about 43% and they will not budge on this so it's more like a dictation rather than a consultation)? Thank you for your time

Hi all, Delighted to be here. I have been involved with credit card and loan companies totalling about £80K, numerous DCA's etc for over a decade now and not been collected on yet, and will be happy to contribute here in future with my experiences etc. I do have another situation for which I would appreciate advice. Myself and my son jointly just got a CCJ against us for what the claimant claimed were fake goods but in fact were genuine - we were basically ripped off to the tune of a total of nearly £9K including expenses. The judge ordered full payment in 14 days. I have zero capital and a very meagre income of a few hundred pounds per month to live on - my daily food budget is just £1 for example. My son has zero income and zero savings. I am filing N245 forms for each of us offering a very minimal monthly payment for me - which I cannot afford, and zero for my son as he has no income. Questions: 1. How long does the entire N245 process usually take? 2. Can the claimant pursue enforcement while the N245 are being processed? I am assuming that the claimant will refuse my offer, it will go back to the court who will presumably set an affordable monthly payment which they claimant will probably reject and file for a redetermination. If it is too much I would file for a redetermination. My concern is that I am shortly going to be abroad for 2 months and not in a position to process any paperwork, although my son will receive it. I am particularly concerned that the claimant might use an HCEO while I am away. The only asset of value is my car and that does not have much value, but I still need it. Any insight in to time scales for this process to grind through the court system would be much appreciated so I am aware of what I am up against. Thanks very much.

Hi and thanks for any who can help. I raised grievance for bullying, and periodic aggressive attacks on me by secretary (relation to owner). last straw was when the owners "secretary" said she was giving my admin work of home office stuff and staff files to senior care assistant. she is studying her NVQ sorry now QCF level 5. my roles are admin and Activities as per my contact. I have had attacks on me since 2011 but was unable to do grievance until now as 1. did not have employee handbook until 2012. 2. because of aggression 3. changed of matrons' who did not want to deal with my concerns or who were being bullied their selves. The care assistant has been gradually taking over most of my admin work , i have had all good feed back in the past and now, so apart from care assistant just starting her QCF, i dont know why, she relabeling, she's auditing "my" staff files' and even tried to publicly critise.even nurses are asking care staff member to do forms for them, so am unsure what they have been told too. Anyway i raised grievance, yesterday the owner asked to speak to me, she said it;s informal chat , then started asking me questions which relate to the grievance, said i would like you to focus more on activities and anyone can do admin, then said she did not know anything about the grievance/ meeting due next day today... the person who wanted to take the notes is also related but yesterday denied any knowledge of the arranged grievance hearing* when last week he called me over and said the grievance letter it.s no biggee we can sort out, perhaps we can have meeting next thursday or friday i will do a letter I said next friday would be better for me, whilst he walked passed meyesterday he told a staff member that he would not be in tomorrow. So in the end the owner said she would be coming in to the initial hearing. Today 1 hour at 1pm ish before hearing she had bad head and headed off to hospital, i was asked to put meeting back later to 3pm. at 2.46pm she rang , said she was at hospital having blood tests, i asked about our grievance hearing as the home manager who was to take the meeting was on annual leave after today. she said are you in on monday i said yes, she said it's only a grievance , i can do it on monday without the home manager.. so now im worried. firstly she tried to have informal chat in the middle of process, she is the owner and she would be the person who i would need to appeal to after the home manager has done his investigation. Now she wants to hold herself without the home manager being present..she's broke our own employee handbook policies and procedures with regard to grievances. she did ask me if i wanted to do an NVQ, i feel she's trying to sweep under the carpet. what do i do when she calls for an informal chat to deal with a formal grievance monday. grateful for advice, thanks so very much all.

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-fines-rbs-and-natwest-for-failures-in-mortgage-advice-process

My wife was caught using a student oyster (from my son) instead of her one. TFL will prosecute her, and once she pleads guilty, she will get a criminal record. Will this affect our immigration process to the UK? I am using the tier 1 (investor) visa to stay in UK, this is my first year staying here.

Hi all, I recently applied for a job with a company and got the message from the recruiter asking me a couple of questions and afterwards, he sent me an email that everything seems fine and would like me to attend a telephone interview. We agreed on the time that was friday and I skipped my other interview as this job looked more promising, however, friday morning he emailed me that he is very busy with other stuff and would like to reschedule the telephone meeting/ interview next week. I agreed and then on monday, I received an email that they had telephone interviews on friday and somebody was hired and that they no longer have any jobs. I have the emails and I believe that they lied to me and this was totally unfair as they could have told me the truth and I would have attended my other interview. I would like to know if I could sue the company or take any legal action against them. Many thanks in advance Dinesh

Hi I wonder if you can help, I think this forum is amazing and I would appreciate some advice please. Can a Respondent use the Henderson and Henderson argument of abuse of process (ie: you can't get a second bite of the cherry) if the claim was referred to before but only at a preliminary hearing and not in the ET1 but as a head of loss on the Schedule of Loss and was dismissed during the case management orders? (That claim went to a full hearing and I won the right to receive occupational sick pay instead of SSP.) At that first preliminary hearing the Judge told me to "put a claim in" when he heard that holiday pay was previously underpaid and this was a continuing occurence. However, the Respondent is relying on the word "dismissed" in their argument for getting the claim thrown out, even though the claim had not been advanced as it was during a preliminary hearing. (Something in my daze prevented me from telling that to the different Judge at the new preliminary hearing for holiday pay, as their barrister certainly didn't!) Also, the old schedule of loss only referred to statutory holiday pay, but I found that I was entitled to contractual holiday pay out of time to amend the ET1 (this entitlement was in my contract which I had not seen since 2002 but they disclosed it 2 days before the hearing) so I put in my new calculations in the new claim. So it is a new claim with different particulars and a different starting date and I only knew about the contractual benefits when I saw my whole contract 2 days before the first hearing during a late disclosure from the Respondent - which outlined the benefit that they had withheld since 2002. (I only got the occupational sick pay during the first hearing since it was on the ET1 as "unpaid sick pay" but at the time of filing I had only ever received SSP for some of the time I was off sick). Also, to explain why I had not seen my contract since 2002, I didn't have the need to as I liked my job, but they cut my hours recently - calling me a casual worker, which I disputed since I had regular hours for years. I hope this makes sense! Any advice (or reassurance would be great as I am representing myself). Many thanks in advance! PS: Extra information: At the first preliminary hearing the respondent pleaded” ”The Claimant's ET1 does not disclose any claim for holiday pay, whether by way of a wages claim or under the Working Times Regulations 1998. According such a claim is not before the Tribunal for determination". In response the Judge made the following Case Management order: "The claim for holiday pay appears only in the Schedule of Loss and is also unquantified. It was not included or referred to in her ET1 and is accordingly dismissed".

Hi, hope someone can clarify this for me. A DCA has made a claim against me in the County Court that was served to my last UK address (and then forwarded via Royal Mail to my USA address). At this point, no CCJ has been issued, but the claim was served at my last UK address. I opted to return to the court, via Email, the acknowledgement and defence forms, contesting jurisdiction. I supplied with this evidence of my having moved to the USA (in the form of my immigration stamp from my passport, my US home lease agreement and a recent USA utility bill at the same address). Does anyone think this was the best course of action to take, or should I have waited for a CCJ to have been issued, and then applied for it to be set aside? As I see it, by contesting the initial claim with proof that I am not UK resident, they cannot issue a judgement at all as I am not UK resident. Many thanks in advance!

Hi everyone. I work for a large telecommunications company and speak to customers on the phone. I have never been rude and regularly get complimented from customers for going out of my way to help them. However there was one performance target I was struggling with and 2 years ago was put on a Personal Improvement Plan to help meet this target. Despite making a massive improvement it still wasn't meeting the actual target so began the disciplinary procedure. Back then the scores I got for that target were worse than the company average so I understand and accept that I ended up with a Final Formal Warning. However, that was 2 years ago and since then I have been constantly dragged in and out of disciplinary meetings and the outcome is always that they will "extend the monitoring period" because I am still improving. The stress from this and from my dad's sudden death made me extremely ill last year and I was signed off with depression and anxiety for 4 months and my employer knew that this was in part due to their continual pressure and threats of dismissal. As soon as I returned to work I got another formal letter for yet another meeting and yet again the monitoring period was extended and I was told that over a 5 week period I must meet or better the company average on 2 specific performance targets and if i did not then there would be another meeting with senior management. Over those 5 week I worked extremely hard and succeeded to get better than the company average in both targets so I was relieved and went off on a week's annual leave happy that this was finally over. So I was devastated on my return to be handed a letter straight away saying performance had not improved and the meeting was set for a week later. I prepared for the meeting by working out my averages for the 5 week period and the company average for the same time and showed they were better so I had done exactly what was asked of me. That was 2 weeks ago and I have had no decision. The signals I'm getting though is that I will be dismissed. I don't understand though because their own figures prove I did what was asked. The disciplinary process says outcomes are provided within 5 working days. They know that the ridiculous pressure almost destroyed me and they don't seem to care at all and honestly appear to be TRYING to get me to break down and just quit. Every day I go in to work and am expected to be at 100% in what is already a stressful job despite being terrified and anxious every second that I'm just about to be taken away and sacked at any moment. Any advice? (sorry about the length, just trying to make things clear)

hi, my wife had a debt from a joint mortgage registered against her at county court for £14k in march 05, paid first payment of £6 on 8,4,05 she made 5 further payments totalling £50 last payment date 27-3-07. I must add the house was repossessed in 1991 yes 1991. since march 07 she hadn't heard anything then, today she received this letter from a,s,h saying they are going to serve some bankruptcy papers on her, any advice would be appreciated

Hi Received a NCC Claim Form today for a Credit Card Debt, over 5k. I have my arguement pretty much laid out but would really like to go through it with someone on here please. Very Very Briefly- It is 3yrs into the dispute so the letters and information I have are considerable but I have kept extremely detailed records of all correspondence. I have a copy of the actual application form which I signed and I have challenged the validity of the terms and conditions from day one. I have been supplied with 3 seperate terms and conditions which change everytime I have pointed out a legal flaw. I believed the new owner was simply changing the terms everytime I made a challenge, so I went back to the original owner who has confirmed in writing 'twice' a set of terms which are non compliant were the terms in place at the time of signing which is contrary to what the new owner is stating. Could I also have some guidance on the court process please. I will be acknowledging the service on Monday and also filling in the Defence form shortly after. I presume the section entitled Defence on the defence form is for a brief overview of my defence? If so, when non compliant terms and conditions in respect of CCA74 are the dispute how is it best to word it breifly? Also what is the form I should send my detailed defence on please? How do you apply for the extension to 28 days, or that automatic when you send the Acknowledgement of service back? Should I be asking the claimant for any information they will rely on in court at this stage? If so what is the best process for this please? I am going to have a look around to get myslef up to speed on current rulings and the like including processes etc so won't be expecting others to do the leg work, but I would really appreciate any feedback, advice etc. Many thanks Alloyz

Hi, first post, so go easy . To cut a long story short I bought a car from a trader. I found out afterwards it had had some crash damage. He's partially repaired it (he accidentally left receipts to that effect in the paperwork) but left about 3 grand's work of further work (that was out of sight, so I guess he thought he could get away with it) not done. Once discovered (about a week after bought the car) I called him and confronted him. He flat out refused to do anything and suggested I take him to court. I've written a letter before action and will start proceedings ASAP. What I'm hoping you can help me with is to decide what to do with the car in the meantime. I obviously bought it because I needed it, but I've not been able to use it since we discovered the problems (the garage we took it to said it was potentially dangerous) and so it's just sitting there. I don't even really want a refund as that means this toerag will take the car back and sell it to some other poor sap. What I'd like is for him to pay for the repairs. Presuming that he doesn't have a change of heart before the date on the letter before action passes, should I pay for repairs myself and ask the court to make him pay the bill, or will this potentially prejudice my case? I just don't want to be further weeks without transport if I can avoid it, but equally I don't want to shell out thousands to repair the car and have the judge either make me give back a repaired car to the dealer, or tell me to go away since I've repaired the car already. Help!