Hi guy's and girls, been a while since I last used the forum I see it is a great as ever! I am looking for a little bit of business advice on a really tricky situation I am in at the moment. I own a relativley small company (I can not tell you what doing at this moment for good reason), A friend of mine in the same industry is looking at possibly being sent to prison for a very long time (again I can not say why, who or what industry because of this nature). He wanted to sell his company assetts urgently however he was arrested yesterday and put on remand, from what I understand he will not be let out until the case is concluded and the outlook is not good to say the least. I wasnt aware of the serverity until his wife put me in the picture. He and his wife have split (not divorced), they can not and will not speak (Police have told her that no contact can be made). His wife now wishes to sell the company assetts, the company is a sole trader business type, not a LTD company. I have the opportunity to buy everything, however I am a little concerned on a couple of points in which I would like some guidance. 1- Can his wife legally sell off his/his companies assetts? without his permission? Alledgedly it is half her business as well. 2- If she can not and did do so, what action can her husband take when he gets out of prison years down the line? 3- If we did buy it all, had a reciept from his wife and later in time he tried to claim against me can he do so or would it fall on his wife as she has sold it? Would I be essentially handling stolen goods? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Scoobs

Last week my wife purchased a second hand car that was advertised on a local site. The car was sold with 11 months Mot and when the money was handed over , the seller put six months tax on it. Less than a week later we have been told that the head gasket has gone and to replace it would cost almost as much as we paid for the car. We are on benefits so are severely limited on what we can pay. Now for the tricky part. The advert was a trade advert at a local garage. However , when he signed the receipt , he signed it in the previous owners name and address . But when he taxed it , he put the trade name on the new keepers part of the log book in order to tax it. When we contact this person and he says something like "hard luck....bought as seen", then is there anything we can throw at him jargon wise to try to sort this out?. If what he has done is not normal then it would be nice to say to him , " you can't do this or that because of this bit of the law" ?? Thank you

Hi I was fortunate enough to secure a job offer roughly 2 weeks ago. I started the job Monday, and I like the workplace and people so far. Last week I had an interview for another job (a job with arguably better prospects and pays better wages), this interview had been arranged 2 or 3 weeks ago. On Monday of this week I had an answer phone message and checked it during my lunch break and it was regarding the interview last week. They have now also offered me a job, start next Tuesday, I was so happy I accepted on the spot. So the problem is that I started a job on Monday, was then offered a better job later on that same Monday morning. I am definitely going to take this 2nd job offer as IMO it's a better job. I haven't yet told my "current employer" albeit I've only worked for them for 2 days. My friends and family say I am right not to tell them as "what if the 2nd job offer is withdrawn later this week and you've already resigned" So in theory could lose 2 jobs in a matter of days. What do you think, I 110% will be taking this 2nd job offer. I've worked 2 days for this first company now so certainly want to be paid for them. I am, however, scaed about telling them as I have yet to start at this 2nd job and that job could disappear if a random boss decided to cutback staff! In this current job I am only being trained, for next 3 weeks, so I certainly do not see any issue of me working a notice period. They would simply be incurring a bills of my wages when, at present, I am very little use to them. Your thoughts? Will I definitely get paid for days I've worked this week? I wasn't going to go in to work today as I feel a bit sneaky doing it but my father said something like "you must be mad, you've got a job, do it for rest of week until you start this next one. It's dog eat dog. If you resign you risk ending up with nothing" my mates say pretty much the same. I'm sorry that my current employer has got an employee that is leaving after just a week, having started to train me, but surely 99.9% of people are going to take a much better job that comes up so quickly? I'm sympathetic to this 1st company but my priority is my future. Hope I've explained it clearly.

I am new to the forum and so apologies if this has been covered before. When I left my employer in 1986 the company put me on to Sedgwicks, (now Mercer) who advised me to transfer out of the company final salary scheme and into a section 32 buyout. My final salary pension was planned to provide a pension of £14000 and I was told I could reasonably expect to receive a pension of £28000 by transferring and so I did. The section 32 buyout had a GMP of £2907 which I wasn't aware of at the time. In 1999 I claimed for mis-selling and there was no argument and Sedgwick proposed to add a further £3500 to the fund to compensate me. My former employer would not allow me to re-enter their scheme. I challenged the amount proposed but was told that the calculations were made in accordance with PIA rules and that with several years before my pension was due it was considered sufficient to ensure that the sum available at retirement age would be equivalent to what I would have received had I not transferred out. I had no choice but to accept the amount offered. As I approach retirement age and without any communication from Sedgwick or Mercer since I have now discovered that not only was the amount woefully inadequate but it hasn't even increased the value of my pension beyond the original GMP - in effect I have not been compensated one penny. I have written to Mercer who have told me they have no case to answer and if I am unsatisfied to take it up with the Ombudsman which I am in the process of doing. But, I wonder if anyone else has had similar experience and if they have escalated and what the outcome was. It seems terribly unfair to me. The objective of the original compensation will by no means be achieved and I am severely disadvantaged. I suspect the Ombudsman will not find in my favour and I feel I want to take the matter further but do not know where but it sounds like something which could become terribly expensive and I don't have the means to pursue which in itself feels terribly unfair. Thanks

I've made a mistake!! I wrote to a creditor last week, assuming that the assumed debt was statute bared, however, this seems not to be the case... I received a response from the creditor saying that the statute bared hasn't come to pass as yet. It doesn't until September 2012!! Four months time...sheeesh The original debt is from 2001, however, it seems that a payment had been made in sept 2006. Which means it's still active. I received a print out of three previous payments made around that time, September 2006 being the last one. My question is, what might be the best way forward with this situation, and as I have now contacted them, does that mean that it's another 6 years? I was considering asking them to prove that this debt is actually mine? I have pasted a copy of the letter I have sent, along with some details of their response...HELP I don't want to mess this up! this is the letter i have sent... Dear Sir/Madam, You have contacted me regarding the account with the above reference number, which you claim is owed by myself. I would point out that under the limitations act 1980 Section 5 “an action founded on simple contract shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the cause of action accrued.” I would also point out that the OFT say under their debt collection guidance on statute barred debt that “it is unfair to pursue the debt if the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period”. The last payment of this alleged debt was made over six years ago and no further acknowledgement or payment has been made since that time. Unless you can provide evidence of payment or written contact from me in the relevant period under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, I suggest that you are no longer able to take any court action against me to recover the alleged amount claimed. The OFT Debt Collection Guidance states further that “continuing to press for payment after a debtor has stated that they will not be paying a debt because it is statute barred could amount to harassment contrary to CPUTR 2008” I await your written confirmation that this matter is now closed and that no further contact will be made concerning the above account after that last letter. I look forward to your reply. Yours faithfully, This is a brief of the reply they have sent... Upon our own investigations, we have confirmed this not to be the case. The last payment made on the account was 19th September 2006 or the sum of £10.00, please find enclosed statement confirming this. the original default was registered on the 20th November 2003 with the original credit grantor **** and the account was opened on the 14th January 2001 As the sis year time limit as dictated by the Limitation Act 1980 has never expired, the matter is not considered statute barred.The current balance is therefore due and payable. Any constructive advice would be greatly welcomed!