Hey all, Im currently unemployed but desperate to get back into work. I see a lot of jobs that are under 16 hours and am interested in a job but its only 13 hours. At min. wage it would be £84 p/w (but the max wage is £6.70 p/h which would make it £87 p/w) and Im currently getting £72 p/w in benefits. Travel expenses may leave me with not much extra in my pocket and I struggle like hell now so dont know if its worth my while or not. I was told earlier today that if I work under 16 hours my money may get topped up but I dont know anything about this or indeed if its true or not. Can anyone shed any light on this please? Thanks.

NameThis is my case so far: Jobcentre DWP Accusations, Claimant’s Defence and Claimants Evidence (this was in a table but the format changed here): 14/08/2014 - Failure to attend interview/signing. Claim was closed. I notified the Jobcentre that I had a job interview they will tell my adviser. Was assured it would be sorted after a Rapid Reclaim on recording. Company and person I went to for the interview. Email, Phone call record. Claimant is working. Very low payment put through. Amount changed many times. I supplied payslips and was on a wage top up. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. Wrong calculation/averaging on payslips recorded evidence of adviser admitting this. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Claimant is working. No payments put through. New Claim. I signed statements and provided all details they asked to show I am no longer working several times to many members of staff. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. Wrong calculation/averaging on payslips recorded evidence of adviser admitting this. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Claimant is working. No payments put through. New Claim. I signed statements and provided all details they asked to show I am no longer working several times to many members of staff. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Claimant is working. No payments put through. New Claim. I signed statements and provided all details they asked to show I am no longer working several times to many members of staff. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Claimant is working. No payments put through. New Claim. I signed statements and provided all details they asked to show I am no longer working several times to many members of staff. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Claimant is working. No payments put through. Not entitled to bus fares. Failure to attend Community Service. New Claim. I signed statements and provided all details they asked to show I am no longer working several times to many members of staff. Was assured it would be sorted on recording. I asked for the bus fare for the interview during the interview the XXXXX said she will not give me the bus fair, although she had done previously. She did not give a reason why. I than asked for the bus fair to get to the Community Service interview that was two hours away, they did not let me have any bus fare or travel card. I had no JSA payment and no transport allowance there was no way for me to attend interview. I signed 4 statements and provided the evidence asked to show I was not working. Bank statements, P45. Bus receipt, audio recording of XXXXX refusing to provide bus fair. Recording of XXXXX being informed no JSA payment had been received. Emails informing XXXXX I have not had JSA payment put through and require £6.30 bus fare. Other cases of misconduct towards the claimant: Non receipt of benefits during payslip dispute. According to Part 10, Section 2, (1) I should be receiving my JSA as usual despite any dispute of payslips. ''Sums to be disregarded in the calculation of earnings'' ''2. (1) In the case of a claimant to whom this paragraph applies, any earnings (other than items to which paragraph 1(2) applies) which relate to employment which ceased before the first day of entitlement to a jobseeker’s allowance whether or not that employment has been terminated.'' Non supply of clothing allowance Non supply of travel card. Preventing me from seeing my terminally ill Father that was in William Harvey Hospital. Continued harassment despite my asking to resolve issues. The stress of my fathers illness, my mothers care needs and the constant harassment by the DWP became unbearable. Non adherent to Job Centre Regulations 16, ©, (ii). Circumstances in which requirements must not be imposed – My Fathers Illness and passing away. I was told I must attend interviews or my money will be stopped several times, this is false information which leaves me feeling very distressed. I was told incorrectly by XXXXX that there are never Managers in the building. Interviews on 06/11/14 with the Floor Manager and Advisor I left feeling humiliated and deeply distressed. Avoiding communication with me. Withholding information. Non adherent to Job Centre Regulations Part 2, Section 16, 4b. Not processing two appeals sent to two offices. In my opinion, bullying behaviour Unlawful financial penalties (“disallowances” and “sanctions”) Unnecessary delays in addressing complaints or appeals In my opinion, blatant lies, manipulation and incompetence when corresponding with me and Councillor XXXXX. Breaching your own deadlines on dealing with a complaint. Non adherent to Job Centre Regulations 16, ©, (ii). Circumstances in which requirements must not be imposed – My Grandmothers terminal Illness and battle with cancer. I have 5 years of documents, audio, video, emails, phone call records and 2 Subject Access'. It would be a lot easier for me and my representative to bring along the relevant documents and show them to someone. I have spoken to two managers and they both refused to see any evidence I had. The citizen advice bureau don't know what to do they did not understand basic terminology or practice. My MP took my details but ceased communication. Councillor XXXXX did attend an interview with me and a Job Centre manager but ceased communication after that. I suspect she was using it as her own training and to win votes. The Police online crime report did not respond to my email. My JSA adviser XXXXX ceased communication. The Job Centre say they did not receive my appeals. I have sent an email to the Independent Case Examiner and waiting for response. I would like to speak to someone that is high up enough in the company to resolve these issues. Is this possible?

Royal Mail has failed to forward post from a PO Box (a service we paid for). This is despite being made aware of a problem several months ago. I want to know what recourse we have against them, if any. Firstly, this is a business-business transaction. We have a small company and have a PO Box mailing address which we pay for. This was setup in September 2014. We paid an additional fee to have all mail sent to this PO Box forwarded on to a physical address. In November 2014 we became aware of an issue whereby our clients (other businesses) would attempt to return signed contracts for work to our PO Box address. These never arrived with us despite repeated attempts. We made an enquiry with Royal Mail; there was apparently an issue with the PO Box and this was supposedly resolved in December 2014. We got a couple of letters through shortly after, with the forwarding address handwritten on the envelope. We haven't received any mail from our PO Box address since. We recently had an email from one of our suppliers to say their invoice had been returned to them by Royal Mail with a sticker on it saying "Addressee gone away". Until then we had no solid proof the mail wasn't just going missing in the post. We contacted royal mail again. They have since sent a letter informing us that they had failed to pass on instructions to the delivery office that all mail should be forwarded on. Any mail we have been sent has just been sitting at the delivery office, where presumably after a certain amount of time it is returned or disposed of. No-one even thought to try contacting us. Royal mail merely issued an apology, trusting that's enough to settle the issue. After phoning this morning, I was told they would "put a note on the account" and "someone will be in touch". These mistakes have damaged our company's reputation with our suppliers and probably our clients too. As one of our primary contact methods, we may have missed out on business from prospective clients too (we spent quite a lot of money on a postal marketing campaign). The problem I can forsee is that in the terms and conditions, Royal Mail limit their liability with the following paragraph: Thoughts on this gladly welcomed.

I wonder if I can get some input regarding a situation I am currently dealing with. At the end of December, I sought out a performance coach for assistance and treatment of social anxiety. I had three paid sessions with the practitioner and they were amazing. The fourth session, it wasn't so much a therapy session but more of a sales session whereby we only discussed the possibility of embarking on a full program. During this sales session, the practitioner presented a contract detailing the particulars of the program and there were three separate mentions of guaranteed outcomes as part of the program. The cost £3730. This essentially consists of one 11 hour session and 3 one hour followup session concluding in April. Long story short, I only have 2 one hour sessions remaining on the program and I have seen no resolution to my anxiety. In fact, i am worse off because i now have credit card debts and I was also involved in a car accident on the morning of the main session after the practitioner advised to me to move my car to another parking centre. I have spoken briefly with CAB who have advised the following: Criminal Offence: The trader’s actions could be considered a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Your rights and obligations: On 01/10/2014 amendments were made to the Consumer Protection Regulations. These regulations now state that if a consumer is subject to an aggressive or misleading practice by a trader, they could have the right to ‘unwind’ the contract for a full refund. Under this guidance, I have decided to pursue a claim against the practitioner and I wonder if someone can clarify a few points I have outstanding. 1. Because I have retained a printed contract which outlines the structure of the program and the guaranteed results, I wonder if I am in a good position to pursue a full and complete refund of the program costs and the sales session, or if I would be more likely to win if I pursue a partial refund excluding the session times. 2. Should I mention the car accident as part of my claim as I would not have been in this position had I not been attending the session. 3. Do I need to prove the guaranteed results have not been obtained? If so, how is this possible where psychological concerns are involved? 4. Finally, what action should I take if the practitioner refuses to accept my claim? Can I make a chargeback on my credit card? I have written a mock letter, but just need to know what the likelihood is of claiming compensation in this respect. Thanks in advance.

Hi Everyone, My sister-in-law recently received a phone call from a woman from Cabot (she has a payment plan in place) the woman said that as the last financial update was done last August it was time to do another one. previous to this I had always advised her re' her dealings with these people, but on this occasion she went ahead without talking to me first, during the course of the review my sister-in-law told the woman that her son was paying the council tax and rent, (her son has Aspergers Syndrome, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia and has a statement to that effect) the woman then went on to ask how much he received in benefits and also how much savings he had. My sister-in-law phoned me in a great state of distress, she is a pensioner with no savings and finds it very difficult making ends meet. I phoned Cabot and told them what had happened and that they had no right to probe into the boy's finances and that I am considering contacting the FCA. The person I spoke to put me on hold whilst he spoke to a manager, he came back and said that they were very sorry about the way things had been handled and that they would speak to the employee who made the call. To say that I am angry about this is an understatement, I really would be grateful for some advice as to how I should proceed in this matter on my sister-in-laws behalf.

Hi I am a first time poster and I am looking for some advice Last November I received a letter from Northampton County court relating to a claim from Wright Hassle acting on behalf of Cabot claiming £9k from an original credit card I had with Marbles. I defended the claim and made a CPR request to Wright Hassle, Cabot and Marbles. I received notification from the court that my case has been allocated to the small claims court. Marbles responded to my CPR with a package of statements dating from 2003 to date. They have not supplied my original agreement as requested and cannot find my statements from 2000 (the year I originally took out the credit card) to 2003. According to Marbles my balance on December 2014 is £6k. Running through my statements I have paid £1,500 in PPI. Running through the interest they put on the PPI and the interest owed to me if I made a PPI claim the sum comes to around £3k that should be deducted from the balance. Wright Hassle have sent me a letter that they intend to pursue the case. Do I; Defend the claim in its entirety as they cannot provide my original agreement and cannot find 3 years worth of my statements (although I am not sure of my legal standing on this). Contact Cabot and offer to settle at £3k (The original debt of £6k – the £3k PPI). I would be grateful for any advice.

Hi I am posting with some questions for a friend of mine whom sufffers from mental health issues (anxiety panic attack, nausea, vomiting, depression) background she has just received notification of being placed in the WRAG group- contribution based ( migrated from IB). she is keen to get some support/advise re testing herself out for possible work WHEN she is well enough and is stuggling with coming to terms with admitting how ill she is. I believe she should be in the support group, as her mental health is such that she cannot reliably commit to work related interviews without risking exacerbation of her symptoms. ( i dont think she meets support group "descriptors" for mental health- but exceptional Circumstances Regulations -regulation 35 should apply "a “serious” or “substantial” risk of harm is likely, should the person be found to be capable of work-related activity" she wants support to get better and return to work but it would be better for her to be in the support group and voluntarily attending work related activity would be far more suitable than the pressure of WRAG group with the threat of sanctions hanging over her head when she inevitably is not well enough to attend. she is weighing up if she is well enough emotionally to consider an appeal wrag to support questions IF she was to ask for a mandatory reconsideration ( asking for scoresheet, statement of reasons and sends in letter from doctor and counsellor) and states Reg 35 as reason for consideration of support group) and the reconsideration response was to keep her in the WRAG group :- 1. what is the process now for mandatory recconsideration , and requesting the score sheet and statement of reasons and registering an appeal ....i vaguely recall some change since i went through this 2.would her money be dropped if she decided to appeal? 3. would she have to persue the appeal process or could she stop there? ( with the money at esa wrag contributions rate or would that be dropped) 3. many thanks in advance

Over the past couple of months our company has been sending out a marketing campaign in the form of a box of goodies. Can't specify the exact contents on a public forum, but we send these out to prospective clients (other businesses) to give them an idea of what services we provide. We've sent out 54 of these boxes so far (not including the ones we give to clients face-to-face) and so far only 50 have arrived. Essentially, 7.40% of the parcels we have sent have gone missing. Each one has been sent using Royal Mail 2nd Class Signed-for, at £3.70 a pop. We naturally use a signed-for service to ensure the box has been delivered. Two of the missing boxes have only just gone over their 15 working day window, but the other two had claims submitted back in November. We received a cheque for about £9 for one of the claims, covering the contents of the box and the postage paid. All well and good. However the other (essentially identical) claim has essentially been rejected. Royal Mail acknowledge the tracking number shows no delivery or signature. But they state that, as they have written to the intended recipient requesting confirmation of whether or not the item arrived, and received no reply, they are therefore assuming the item has been delivered and have closed the case. Surely this can't be right, especially for a service specifically purchased to show delivery confirmation?

Hello everyone, I have a question regarding provision of heating in Scotland. I am renting a private accommodation and, as per usual, agent seems not to care, even though has been informed (emailed twice, now I am intending to send them a formal letter) the heating does not work properly. I have no boiler and only electric heating in the whole flat. Problems: 1) the radiator in the living room does not operate, tried all the switches that there are and it will not budge. (There is a small, fixed electric fireplace in the living room but it is only on/off and does not provide enough heat anyway when constantly on). 2) the radiator in a bedroom (smallish for the size of the room), whilst constantly on full power, never provides enough heat - as I am writing, being there, I feel cold, my fingers feel stiff and cannot bend them without minor pain. There is also draft due to improperly insulated windows in the bedroom and the the living room. 3) A heavy, vertical radiator in a bathroom is not properly fixed and is prone to falling of the wall which is a health hazard (apparently, the agent have been made aware about this by previous tenants as well and made no repairs). 4) There is no heating system whatsoever in the kitchen - is the kitchen excluded from provision of heating? My understanding is that the flat does not comply with tolerate and repairing standards and the issues I have mentioned above should have been addressed by the agent. I want to write a properly formatted, detailed letter to the agent but I canno find within the Shelter Scotland website (and others) or Scottish Housing Act precise information about the tolerable and repairing standards in respect of heating, that is: what are the exact minimum celcius temperatures in bedrooms and living rooms that the fixed appliances should provide at all times? I would be thankful if anyone could point me towards relevant legislation and/or guidelines as well as what the next step I need to take, should the agent disregard my formal letter of complaint. Thanks, K.

hiya, been a while since I've been on here. this is a bit complicated and probably not an everyday problem, but hope someone can help. A friend of mine, a couple of years ago, was investigated for fraud, the DSS were saying she had her boyfriend living with her at the time, when she was claiming as a single parent. They had bits of circumstantial evidence, like, his car was parked there overnight then all the next day. He paid the sky bill. There were reasons for all that, which wer explained at the interview, but she was prosecuted. The court actually stopped the proceedings as they felt there wasn't any case to answer. So, it was not a 'not guilty' verdict, it didn't get that far, although she was attended court and plead not guilty. Anyway, that was around 15 months ago, she thought that was the end of it. However she has just told me today, they are taking £10 a week from her, and have been for the past 15 months, due to the overpayment created by the claim during this period. She has always denied any fraud, the court stopped the case due to there being no evidence. Surely it can't be right she has to pay this money back when the DSS's own court case failed against her? At the time she never queried it or asked for help as she was just so relieved not to be going to jail, she didn't want to argue. Anyone any idea if she should be paying this back, and if not, what she should do? thanks in advance for your help

Please help have till Monday to file defence for egg debt have sent cpr31.14 and have attached reply

Could someone give me some advice regarding the below please? I've also attached the letter I received from the Ombudsman. I've tried to be as detailed as possible but please let me know if I can provide any further information. I started pursuing my PPI claims a couple of years ago by writing to the bank. When the bank rejected my claim, I went to the ombudsman to further my claim . I told the ombudsman that I felt that I had been pressured into taking up the PPI to ensure that I was accepted for the loan, I was under considerable financial pressure, and had I not been able to borrow the money, things looked like they would have unravelled fairly rapidly. In the meeting at the bank I was in an environment I am not comfortable in and I am dyslexic which puts me at a disadvantage when reading forms etc. During the meeting the subject of PPI was brought up repeatedly, and I felt that to turn it down would be to prejudice my application, at no time was it made clear that there was no link between a loan being offered and my taking up PPI. In fact to my mind, securing my payments reduces the banks risk and therefore makes me a better candidate to lend money to. None of this is reflected in the notes of the bank, and the letter from the ombudsman dated 5/12/14 makes much of the fact that at the bottom of the form PPI is listed as optional, now in a situation where I am in an environment in which I am uncomfortable an having difficulty rapidly absorbing written information, and not unusually for someone applying for a loan needing the money sooner rather than later, I signed. The ombudsman's letter says that my pre existing joint problems are not of any consequence as I had only had 5 days off in the previous few years, and that my claim that my family would assist if push came to shove was uncertain, and therefore the insurance was appropriate . I would suggest that as the insurance only covered the interest ,and I believe was for a limited period , that it would be of limited value as the type of work which I do is physical, the potential of a bad joint problem is that I am no longer able to continue my occupation at all,in fact the condition of my Knees at present is making this look like a distinct possibility.This would not be helped a great deal by the PPI. The statement that my family was not certain to help me is philosophically true, but statistically far more probable than being able to successfully make a claim on the insurance. In terms of the history of my claim with the ombudsman, it is coming on for two years now, there was an initial phone call in which I laid out my case as I have here, it was intimated then that this was the type of case which they would support . I filled in the forms received a letter sometime later saying again that this indeed was a case they felt they would be able to uphold, sometime elapsed I received letters saying how busy they were but I was not forgotten .I wrote to them to notify them of a change of address, they wrote back immediately acknowledging my letter, but sent it to the old address. Eventually I received a letter from the adjudicator saying that they would be writing to HSBC recommending that they settle with me, some time later the adjudicator wrote back to say that HSBC had declined and it would go to the ombudsman , and could I send any further information I thought relevant, I wrote back reiterating my case. At some point I wrote to the ombudsman to say I had again changed address, they wrote strait back to the old address, I rang them to see why they had sent the letter to the old address, and was informed by a very pleasant member of staff that although they acknowledge the letters immediately they don't actually read them for a number of weeks... Finally I receive the letter dated 5/12/14 , so after nearly two years, and every indication from the offices of the ombudsman that my claim was going to be upheld , I receive a letter completely to the contrary, which if they had said in the first place would have been acceptable, but not after two years and a lot of positive indications. None of this helped by the fact that my job is looking very insecure and my knees are in big trouble I feel the treatment of my case is rather poor, if not cruel.

Hi Was wondering if anyone could give any advice please for a friend of mine who was off work for 5 months from Nov last year till March this year, he gets full pay for 6 months sick then half pay if off after 6 months, in Nov this year he has been off sick for 3 weeks and the doctor has just given him a sick note for another 2 weeks and he has been informed at work that as it is within a twelve month period he will go onto half pay after another week as his 6 months full pay will be up. Question is if he does not go back to work after another week he will need to let the child tax credit people know as it states on their website: to let them know if Ill or in hospital for more than 28 weeks (adults only) Within 1 month But does that mean 28 weeks continuous,or a build up of 28 weeks within a specific period of time, how is it worked out, would the child tax credit dept work it out the same as his company from Nov last year to Nov this year or is it worked out different, plus is he entitled to claim ESA if he goes onto half pay and will he lose his child tax credits. Any thoughts please Tinks

When hubby and I met almost 10 years ago I knew he came with a little baggage which was in the shape of some outstanding debt he had relating to a property he'd had repossessed. This included a £7k shortfall following the sale and an outstanding secured (against the house) loan with WFS (from memory he seems to think it was around £8k) We've had a few letters on and off over the time then a couple of CCJs during what was a very difficult time. I know an attachment of earning order was set up and he was paying direct from his wages for about a year during 2012/2013 maybe (I can't remember exactly) then he changed job and we failed to notify and have never heard anything since. We are currently working with StepChange to get things resolved and upon checking the credit report TWO CCJs appear - one for £46k issued March 2009 and one for £35k issued February 2009 both for WFS. I've initially requested copies of the CCJs but don't have any clue what to do from here. Thank you in advance

Hi. Just need some information regarding hire or rental purchase, is there a difference ?? Reason I ask is, 10 month ago I got a computer on hire purchase from Perfect Homes, I went here because the cost compared to brighthouse was almost half and a better spec and also was only £20 more expensive than the well known computer shops. Don't get me wrong, I was and I am happy with my purchase but unfortunately I have hit some serious financial difficulty and costs have got to be cut in my household, I am cancelling my ties with virgin media so internet will have to go, my mobile phone has gone and also the car, I rang the store to explain that there is no way that I can now afford the payments and is there a possibility you can collect and take it back, they said no because I didn't take any insurance out with then. When I made the purchase we had our own home insurance so declined there's as this would have cost a extra £4 a week (maybe a little more) but apparently this also covers you incase you want to return the item with no adverse affect, don't get me wrong even if I knew this I wouldn't have took it out anyway and I am not sure if it was mentioned in the purchase procedure. Any way, back to my point. I want them to come and get it back as its a hire agreement, do I have any rights or am I stuck with trying to find the money every month for something I no longer want to hire.

I wonder if the learned amongst you can help me with the following. It is regarding a credit card I took out with MBNA in August 2000. It was assigned to a DCA and the DCA has issued a claim against me. For as back as I can remember whenever I have asked MBNA for a copy of the executed agreement they have supplied the following documents, copies of which I have attached. 1. 1. Signature form 2. 2. T&Cs of credit agreement 3. 3. Financial and related conditions 4. 4. Latest T&Cs When I took out the card, I called MBNA, my details were taken over the phone and a pre-populated application form was then sent to me in the post. I signed it and returned it. I don’t ever remember receiving the two documents (2 & 3) above - T&Cs of credit agreement and Financial and related conditions. Both MBNA and the DCA have insisted they relate to the same credit card and that the document (4) Latest T&Cs were the current ones for the same credit card. A few months ago I applied to have the claim struck out on the basis that the prescribed terms were missing and that the default notice was invalid as it made reference to a non-existent condition. This is really obvious when the documents are checked and cross referenced. I pointed out the following and mentioned Wilson and another v Hurstanger Ltd (1) Condition 3 refers to non-existent condition 2.4. (2) Condition 4B refers to non-existent conditions 2.4, 3.5 and 3.6. (3) Condition 5 refers to non-existent condition 2.1 (4) Condition 5a refers to non-existent condition 2.1 (5) Condition 5c refers to non-existent condition 13.1 (6) Condition 8 (APR) refers to non-existent condition 1.11 (7) Condition 9 refers to non-existent condition 1.8 (4) Condition 13a refers to non-existent condition 2.1 (5) Condition 13b refers to non-existent condition 13.1 (6) Condition 15 is misleading I also pointed out that in the document I signed there isn’t a term stating the credit limit or the manner in which it will be determined or that there is no credit limit. The judge didn’t strike out the claim as she claimed I hadn’t convinced her enough!! Now as the matter stands, the claim will be heard sometime next year. In the mean time, I have successfully claimed back PPI on the account. I am now disputing the default notice on the basis that as MBNA debited PPI premiums without my authority the figure quoted in the default notice is incorrect and invalidates the default notice. The fact that they refunded the premiums without much of a fight is confirmation of this. For this I will be relying on the WOODCHESTER LEASE MANAGEMENT V SWAIN judgement. However a couple of days ago the DCA sent me a new set of T&Cs (headed t&cs just supplied) in the attachments. They now claim that these are the T&Cs that were applicable to my credit card when I first took it out. As you can it is illegible but all the missing prescribed terms seem to be there. Where do I stand with this? If they were T&Cs should they be headed Credit Agreement regulated by the CCA 1974? It just seems a little too convenient that after I raised the above points in court, they are able to produce a document addressing all the missing prescribed terms. Can anyone help me with and offer some advise as to how to challenge them on this. Many Thanks

My contract is an AST. The tenancy started on 30/09/2013 and ended on 29/09/2014 as per contract. 2160 pounds paid as deposit at the beginning. An inventory report was apparently taken at the beginning of the tenancy, however it was not signed by me and was not provided to me until 25 days after my move in date. The deposit is held on a TDS. Now to my problems: The contract specifies that " The agent must tell the tenants within 10 working days of the end of the tenancy if they propose to make any deductions from the deposit". The 10 working days deadline has obviously passed but I have not heard back from the agent nor the landlord. I finally managed to get in touch with the agent on Friday 24th of October and was only told that he is waiting for instructions from the landlord and he neglected to answer my question regarding them being in breach of contract. 1) Are they legally still allowed to make any deductions to my deposit considering the deadline for doing so is passed? 2) My communications are through scanned letters emailed to the agent and phone calls to their office. Are these sufficient enough should the issue come to any legal actions? 3) What is the penalty for breaching this term of the agreement? Another point here is that according to the contract " if the tenant intends to dispute any of the deductions, should inform the agent in writing within 30 days after the termination of the tenancy. Failure to comply with this time limit is a breach as rule of TDS". 4) What action should I take now considering how they are not giving me any sufficient information, time frames etc? Deadline for my possible dispute is on 29th of October. And the last point of my inquiry is regarding the inventory check in/check out reports. As I mentioned an Inventory check in report was provided to me 25 days after the start of my tenancy and I was never asked to sign it. Per contract, a check out report was also taken that was paid by me and was arranged through the agency. The quality of these two reports are incomparable! The check in report rarely mentions any details and does not include any photos while the check out report is stating every single bit of deficiency and includes loads of photos and the smallest details. 5) Is this a valid basis of argument for any possible dispute? 6) Can I deny the applicability of the check in report considering everything I just mentioned? Your input is very much appreciated. I apologies if this is too wordy.

I have used other's student oyster card in June and now got a second letter from TFL saying that will take me to Magistrates' court in about 10 days. There was a letter in July which asked for explanation and I replied and asked for settle out of court but it seemed not to be used at all. I have 3 actions to take: 1) plead guity and not to court 2) go to court 3) plead not guilty and reset new dates. What should I choose? If I choose 3), what will be the new date? Is it possible to be after Feb next year? and will it make things worse? I mainly worry that it will affect my visa application next Feb. I can apply for IFR normally. But if I get criminal record, I don't think I can apply IFR Can I apply for extending my current tier 1 general visa in such case? Really appreciate anyone's help!

Hi there, I am currently on ESA (the work related group which I protest but nothing changes) and on Avanta's work programme, which is a waste of time (I've been telling them for over a year I want to go back into education and each month they say "hey how about self employment", etc..). Basically, I'm currently in Newcastle staying with family and must attend the monthly appointment which is in Bolton. That's a £50 rail fee away (with my railcard), just for me to walk in and say hi, tell them I don't want self employment I want to go back to education, and yes I am still seeing a therapist. It is a complete and utter waste of time. My question is are they required to reimburse that £50 rail fee even though I'm travelling from Newcastle, and not my registered home address? Because quite frankly it is a waste of time and money (that's a large portion of my ESA gone) to do something that terrifies me (I have severe social anxiety), but I've missed one or two appointments already and my advisor has been sending angry voicemails telling me I must come or they'll sanction me. It's bad enough that I'm being forced on the train journey which is a horrifying prospect, but hopefully I can regain the money spent? Thanks for your help!

Hi guys i have a question regarding overtime in my workplace. I have been employed with this company to a 40 hour a week contract since 2008 and at the start of my employment i was expected to do overtime as it did state in my contract that overtime is required for new depots. Fair enough. After everything settled down i was always asked by my manager if i wanted to do some overtime, sometimes i would, sometimes i declined. Now i don't mind doing overtime and its not all the time, but my problem is i need to leave some nights on my finish time (5pm) as i have evening events 2 days a week. Now we have a new manager and i made sure i told him before my shift started the other week that i would be leaving at 5pm on that day. His reply was, "I can't let you go if we are to busy" Luckily we managed to get out roughly on time. So my question is, can they force overtime on me? i have now been told its compulsory but i have never been aware of this. All i can see in my contract is that overtime is only compulsory for new depots and during stocktaking and that my manager will notify me, and will also state my starting and finishing times. Also if they introduced this a few years later after i had got issued my contract, would that require notice and for me to sign anything to say that I'm aware that overtime is compulsory? Many Thanks.

I was in Court today as an observer. This was in the fines Courts, This is where many defendants had defaulted with the repayments that were due to the Courts in the way of fines. I do not normally attend these as a matter of course, but had decided to on this occasion, this is due the new TCG regulations, the Bench was minded to impose an amount of variable orders to recover the amounts that was owed, instead of issuing plenty of Warrants of Control, this Bench had decided to use the AoE method of recovery. Not only that but they insisted in making the AoE order to be made a "Priority" debt. (see attachment) This method was used on every defaulter that was in work or had an income, those that were on Benefits had the same order imposed at a lower level. Those of them that did not pay or offer an valid reason had their cases adjourned to the afternoon sitting, this in its self was unusual, but all were informed that they may face a custodial sentence in lieu of payment that was due. This seems the be the preferred method for those that wilfully refuse to pay in this area, setting an example for those to follow. The bench made it abundantly clear pay up or go to jail. Three were jailed before the Bench retired for lunch. Those who had an AoE will now have the salary docked for the amount due, whether or not they are paid weekly or monthly. Plus the employer will be allowed to deduct a fee of £1-00 for their administrative costs, I will attach the PDF from the HMCS website so you can see how the fees and amounts that can be deducted, also there is shown that the employee will have a "protected" amount that they must be paid, if there is not enough money the balance of what was due will be carried over to the next pay day until it is recovered. For those in the know you will remember that a priority AoE from the Magistrates Court has priority over civil debts and according to the Clerk even those from a County Court? Is this method going to take some work away from the EA because of the pro-rata that currently exists? The reason behind this is the question that should now be looked into are the HMCS going to try to do the work via this method instead of farming it out to the EA's that get money that should go to the Courts instead of the EA? If HMCS decide to use this method instead of using the EA how many Courts will follow this example and get the money that is due faster and more reliably? This method is also a much cheaper option than having an EA dealing with it as the employer will deduct £1-00 instead of £75 and other fees (£225.00) (£335.00) I for one would choose an AoE for £1-00 Your thoughts please

Hi My husband is step dad to my eldest boy and his biological dad has parental responsibility. We meaning my eldest son and my 6month old son and husband all live in Southport UK and my eldest sons dad lives in Bootle Liverpool but we as a family are looking at moving to Cumbernauld Scotland. Can my sons dad stop us if he has parental responsibility. Especially if we are saying we will bring him to him during school holidays and pick him up during school holidays this meaning he has no travel cost at all and would see him for 52 days during any of the scottish school holidays which is the equivalant of what he has him now he has him every saturday now. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Hi, I'm new to this and hope I have posted in the correct place I need some advice regarding some old debts I have if anyone can advise me please. Recently I had a break down in a long term relationship and now have got myself in trouble with several recent debts as I've been left a single father who has sole custody of my child. I am only able to work part time and have been in contact with pay plan to try and get my new debts sorted. I was silly in my younger years and managed to obtain 2 defaults on my credit file. I have 1 debt with capital one Balance £371 Default balance £506 Account start date 02/05/2008 Default date 27/11/2009. Credit limit £200 and another with Cabot financial services Opening balance £548 Default balance £548 todays balance £657 account start date 22/09/2008 Default date 31/03/2010 Original lender Vanquish credit card limit £250 I have not spoken to any of the default creditors in the last 4/5 years admitting to no debt. Pay plan have advised me that I should add these debts into a payment plan however I'm not so sure this is a wise idea as I will be admitting the debt and the 6 years can restart as they are close to being statue barred. What should I do regarding these debts ? Cabot have added fees on there for which I have no idea what for and also capital one. I receive no letters from capital one regarding this debt and receive letters threatening letters from Cabot. I'm not looking for a way out but don't know if it's wise adding them into a payment plan at this stage the debts are so old. Thanks for your time

Unfortunately my business came to a pretty sudden ending, 2 dead months and things effectively stopped dead. The only real debt I had was £1150 to a Postage Franking provider for postage. I did agree to pay them £50 a week but in honestly it was too much and after a couple of weeks I stopped. I was just a sole trader so the debt is in my name. This morning I've received a default notice off them, its dated 29th May 2014 in an envelope dated 03/06/14 giving me 5 working days from the date on the letter to make payment via a cleared method. By my maths the entire thing is totally impossible and the date to settle has long passed. The letter states that they will now be adding interest and pursuing legal action, court etc. They also state that they will be be claiming damages. Can anyone advise the best way to go from here?, I am willing to pay via instalments more realistically i.e. £20-25 a week which I can afford but is there a way of going about this?. Should I keep the mess that is the default notice to myself?, its pretty much catch 22, even if you got it the day after the letter date to pay within within the 5 working days would be tight as cleared payment would take 3 days anyway. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

We are currently in the process of claiming PIP to replace the DLA my wife used to have. This process is already over 4 months in length and only a few days ago we had a home based assessment carried out by Captia. The assessor could not tell us anything concerning how the assessment went or how long we have now got to wait for the decision to be made. Given that they have already taken my wife's DLA off her and they are coming to collect the motability vehicle we have before end of June we were wondering just how long we could be expected to wait before we are likely to get a decision from them. We initially made the claim on 18th December 2013 but the forms did not reach us until the 31st December due to the Christmas post. We then had to get relevant documentation form our Doctors concerning my wife's conditions and medication she is taking for it. So the forms did not get back within the stated 30 day period. Next thing we get is a letter towards the end of January stating she will lose her DLA from 18th February. We got on the phone as soon as that came and they said they would reinstate the DLA. Nothing more happened after that other than a letter from Capita saying we were going to have a home visit. That was about a week ago. On the very same day, we get a letter from Motability saying the car was going to be taken back because the DLA was cancelled and they still quoted the February date as the date it was removed. I was on the phone to 3 different places trying to sort this out but as yet have had no luck with getting it sorted. They just keep trying to pass you to another department to deal with it. So, is it likely that we would get a decision from Capita before the car has to be handed back in 3 weeks time? Thanks for any help.