I wanted to keep this as subtle as possible so I won't put any terms in here that will trigger any alarm bells. Not sure how to go about this but here it goes! September 2016 I begin working (sorry, I mean, self-employed 'sub-contracting') as a courier for a firm who provided its services to a Fortune 500 company, 12th on the 2017 list to be precise, you know, the one recently famous for its dealings with shoddy courier companies? ....Now your getting the picture After a few months we heard said F500 company was taking "tips" from customers by default via the online checkout, these tips were suppose to be paid to drivers. We of course were never informed about this and never saw a dime. The reason why tips where offered by customers is, we were forced daily to carry up over hundreds of kilo's of shopping purchased to flats with no lifts. Mostly being boxes of water IN THE DOZENS! (like that wasn’t bad enough, all of the weight was put into paper bags. No handles, no trays or trolley's provided to carry them up. All done by hand.) The customers obviously did this on purpose, so they won't have to. And I’m guessing in exchange for their guilt, would tip us a few quid for the back killing pain we where left in. Now I, along with the rest of us working (sorry, ‘contracting’) for this firm where not aware this was happening until one day a driver brought it to our attention that other contracting firms are paying their drivers tips. When we queried this, our firm said that the F500 company did not provide them with any tips. After a few months, we started asking other companies drivers to show us their invoices, and they were all earning over £100 a week in tips alone! (50-70 hour weeks however) This became even more apparent when customers where asking us if we received our tips or not, for which we had to lie and say we did so they won’t get upset. Furious, over 20 drivers mounted pressure on our firm and demanded an explanation. When a few drivers were “dismissed” for doing this, we went and complained to managers at the F500 company directly. We got a straight up “you don’t work for us, you work for them, so deal with them. You are not our problem.” Essentially, the F500 company knew that this firm was taking the tips that was suppose to be for us, and pocketing it for themselves. This went on for almost a year. If the maths is correct, that is £100 x 100 drivers x 52 weeks = thats over HALF A MILLION !!! The point is the F500 company knew the tips would never arrive to the drivers yet took it by default from the customers at checkout. (the customer had to opt-out of paying manually.) This is deceptive and borderline fraud. They turned a blind eye for almost a year. After all the noise we began making, the F500 company knew they were in deep sh!t when the word got out, so they decided to cancel the contract with our firm, and within 24 hours we had all lost our jobs... just like that. Conveniently, our firm dissolved shortly after. Broke, with no income, and nothing else to do a few of us decided to file a Subject Access Request from said F500 company. We followed all procedures down to the letter and also paid the £10 for them to give us details of all the tips that was paid by customers, intended for us. However, even now, after 80 days, we have not heard anything back. The letters where sent recorded delivery to the compliance department, so we know they received them. Question is, where do we go from here? Do we even have a case?

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place to post but need some advice about a reward card from bt. been waiting since last November !

I own a flat (mortgaged) in a large block, so the property is owned by me on a leasehold rather than freehold basis. The flat is rented out to tenants. I pay a monthly fee to a property management company, who have recently started chasing me for an additional fee for "consent to sub-let". This is the first I have heard of such a fee in the near 8 years I've owned this flat. I have explained to them that the property is let to tenants, and is not sub-let. They have responded by saying that because the property is owned by me on a leasehold rather than freehold basis, that legally I am sub-letting the property rather than letting it. I'm interested to know whether this is legally the case (it may well be, I don't claim to be an expert...), so that I can further assess whether this seems like a legitimate fee they are requesting from me, or whether it's more like a speculative invoice similar to what I would expect a private parking firm to try and charge. Any advice appreciated!

Hello everyone , I am in need of some advice please . October last year a roofer asked me if I would work with him to finish a job which I did . I was working there in all weather up to Christmas . The roofer himself was hardly ever there so I almost completed the job for him until the weather got the best of me and I caught pnewmonia and was bed ridden over christmas . I estimated that there was only a few days work left , just the hip leadwork and ridge leadwork as all the slates were laid . I have billed the roofer for my work at the beginning of Jan and again 2 weeks later after not hearing from him . Last friday I met the owner of the property to collect my tools and she said that the roofer did not return and she has since given the work to complete the job to another company ! This company has also taken my tools !!! She is also refusing to pay the roofer because he has not come back to finish ! Where does that leave me as The roofer will not have money to pay me until he is paid himself ? Thank you in advance for any advice

Does anyone have any experience of this? I have a sub-prime mortgage with Accord and since I came off their fixed rate initial special offer my interest rate has gone up three times - this during a period when base rate has been 0.5%. I now pay almost 8% but of course as I have struggled with the repayments, no other lender would touch me. The Financial Conduct Authority have now said they are going to be looking very closely at lenders who do this to 'trapped' borrowers while base rate stays so low. I have long thought how grossly unfair it is to continually put rates up when there is nothing trapped borrowers can do. Has anyone else had this experience? Accord tell me it is because I am a 'risk' but since I have a large amount of equity in my house I don't see how I am any more of a risk than anyone else. They can always get their money if I stop paying -meanwhile they have nearly an 8% return on their money - where else would they get that?? It would be good to compare notes in case the lenders in question don't take the very big hint the FCA are making!!

... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/subprime-lender-swift-group-used-loophole-to-avoid-paying-74m-in-tax-8907683.html[url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/subprime-lender-swift-group-used-loophole-to-avoid-paying-74m-in-tax-8907683.html?origin=internalSearch][/url]

Hi Guys Would it be worth opening up a Lowell Sub Group Forum? Im seeing more and more Threads popping up with them.

My daughter has moved into a private accommodation student house sharing with four others splitting the rent between the four. It now transpires that one of the four has a girlfriend who also lives there all the time (in a full time job) that wasn't mentioned at first and she is not on the lease. They have now asked my daughter never to mention this girl to the managing agents as she is not supposed to be there. She shares a room with her boyfriend and they pay half each of his rent. Our question is - can this void my daughter's lease as she is unhappy there - the girl in question is 'queen bee' calling the shots and generally bullying my daughter and she wants out but has signed a lease with me as guarantor. Any help would be appreciated.

i did 2 weeks work for a company they paid me for the first week late,then they have'nt paid me for the second week. its been 2 weeks now,they are ignorig my calls. what action can i take?

Hi So Im a tenant in a house and recently subletted one of the rooms. I didnt get permission only because my landlady is never around and barely gets back to us as she works away a lot. Shes usually very easygoing so i didnt see it being an issue to be honest. Anyway someone moved in and we agreed 3 months initially with a 2 month notice period. We agreed that they would pay a deposit which would be refundable if they chose to leave at the end of the 3 months and there were no damages or rent arrears. We both signed this agreement. The person told me 4 days ago that they wish to leave and they moved out today! Giving me no notice at all. They did not pay any further rent. I have told them that they will not be receiving their deposit back as they did not give a notice period and obviously as a joint tenant it leaves me in a very difficult position as rent is due in a few days and it will be very hard to find someone to move in so quickly. I have received an email from the subtenant demanding their deposit back and quoting law that says i shouldve put the deposit in a scheme. I appreciate thats what landlords do, but I am not the landlord. Do they have any rights and what are my rights please? Equally i could say we had a signed agreement for 3 months but i have not asked them to pay the full 3 months!

Hello, Need to get to the bottom of this pretty quick. THe company I currently work for have identified my role as at risk due to it not being financially viable. I agree and to be honest will be happier out working for myself. When I start up my own buisiness, the company I will be leaving have a number of commissions that they really could do with me finishing and hence I have suggested the easiest thing would be to sub contract the work back to my limited company. The 'boss' is open to the idea but is not sure if he legally can. Does anyone know if this is correct? My view is: I am in agreement the full time role I am currently in is no longer viable and once my contract ends I can't see why they shouldn't sub the remaining bits of work to me - it gives me a starter for 10 meaning I have some income on day 1, and makes sure they deliver what they committed to for their clients. It seems crackers that the law would force them to give it to some other self employed person! thanks

Can a secured loan ever be Statute barred?

Hi to make it easier I have detailed my issues in the letter below which I have sent to the AA. Any advise? On the 7th October 2012 I drove my vehicle (Mercedes-Benz E270 Cdi) . On my return, I noticed the car doors would not open centrally. I then used the key to open the door manually and managed to open it. I then realised that the car would not also start. At this point I decided to call on your breakdown services to get me back on the road again. I was told the AA patrols are busy in the area however they will send out a sub-contractor to get me roadworthy again. A patrol from a company called FAM Engineering came out and immediately diagnosed my vehicle as “Dead Battery”. He said it’s no problem and that he will start my vehicle with a booster start. I asked him if this was safe to complete on my vehicle due to the complex electronics on board and also when I purchased the car I remember the dealer telling me the car should not be jump started. The battery should be charged and then the car should be started. I questioned the patrol over this to which he replied it is perfectly safe and he does this all the time. To double check this he rang his “friend” who works for Mercedes Ciceley who confirmed how to start it. I suggested that rather than start it this way, why don’t we purchase a new battery and fit it using AA’s service. He was against this as without testing it he said the battery seemed in good condition. He placed his crocodile clips on the battery and then went to start the car using his booster pack and started the car. The cars manual also states that all electrical equipment including the heaters, lights and stereo should be completely switched off. The patrol did not advise us to do this. The car started and he asked me to sign a form to say he had completed his job and drove off. Once I sat in the car, I went to place the car in the “Drive” gear and it would not move out of “Park”. It seemed to be stuck in “Park”. I then called the number on top of the form I signed from FAM Engineering and they arranged for the patrol to come back. He came back swiftly but was not pleased and tried to force the gear to move out of Park quite violently but failed. I was not pleased with this attempt as I felt he could have damaged the lever and made this clear to him. He then went back to his vehicle and rang his friend who works for Mercedes to see what else they can try. His friend said that the car needed to go to the workshop. At this point the car was showing a number of faults on the dashboard system including “ABS Fault”, “ESP Fault”, “Speedtronic Fault” and “Display Fault”. The unhappy patrol proceeded to get the vehicle towed to the nearest workshop and swiftly left. A tow truck from FAM engineering arrived approximately 45-50 minutes to take the vehicle to a workshop/garage. When he arrived he was displeased that the previous patrolman had not used the override switch to put the car into neutral as advised by his contact center. He tried to find out how to do this and then came to the car and violently forced open the leather gaiter and found the switch. Since this incident, I have found out that the gaiter should not have been touched. It should have been the whole panel around the gear lever to reveal the override switch. The second patrol proceeded to lift my vehicle onto the truck. He advised me he will take me and the car home as no garages are open at that time and I will have to ring back in the morning to have the vehicle transported to a workshop. The following morning I arranged for my vehicle to be taken to a workshop. I have extensively researched online regarding my issue and it seems that the vehicle should not have been started as it was. The battery should have been taken off and charged and then the car started with all electronics switched off. As a result of your sub-contractors, my vehicles electronics have now failed. I have been told that it will cost in excess of £1300 for an ESP Module to remedy the issues created. Also I am now going to have to be without the use f my car as I have to wait over a week for this part to arrive from Germany. I am extremely disappointed as I mentioned to the initial patrol about purchasing a new battery and he dismissed this. Had we have done this then there would have been no electrical faults at all. Prior to jump starting the vehicle there were no faults present on the vehicle. I am now writing to you for you to investigate my issue and cover all costs involved in repairing my vehicle as a result of your subcontractors patrol. I look forward to hearing from you.

We get quite quite a lot of posts on here(and other web sites) where the firm contracted to the local authority uses sub-contractors to enforce council tax and PCNs should we be asking the local authority /bailiff firm if there sub-contractor has the authority to collect the debt under The Local Authorities (Contracting Out of Tax Billing, Collection and Enforcement Functions) Order 1996 If there is no authorization has the bailiff firm broken the Data protection act by passing your information on http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/1880/part/VIII/made#f00025 Assignment and sub-contracting 72. A contractor shall not make any arrangement for the exercise, whether in whole or in part, by any other person of any function which he has been authorized to exercise by the authority, unless that person has been authorized to exercise the function concerned under a further authorization given by the authority by virtue of this Order.