Self employed query help needed

[sandra05]

Can someone give us some advice. My friend worked for a door to door loan company until recently. What happens is maybe 2/3 times a year we all get a security check and customers are visited at random to see if there books and payments are up to date and we are not pocketing the money or signing up bogus customers. She has signed up over 200 customers in the last 30 weeks which is fantastic. The security risk manager visited an address and was told the said person that he was looking for did not exist and was never at that address. She was called to the office and asked to explain and basically they accused her of stealing the money and making the customer up. she was told she was suspended pending further investigation unless she wanted to own up to it. She got hold of the customer who said it was her aunt that denied she stayed there and will contact the office and sort it out. My colleague was called in again by security and said they had no such call but the "customer" is going about bragging she has ripped the company off and they cannot prove it but my colleague has lost her job over it. We found out the "customer" used her cousins i.d. as proof of identity for for the loan. My question is what can we do?

 

1) can she take them for defimation of character.

2) can she pursue "customer" for fraud as we do not think the company will

3) they have not paid her for the work she did prior to this can they withhold it.

 

thanks

 

sandra

[Conniff]

Report it and get a crime number, that's the first thing to do.

 

Are there any witnesses to it and is the signature correct, was any id checked?

[sandra05]

Hi Conniff,

 

She followed all the procedures. went to the house and got the name and address, d.o.b, n.i. number, and proof of id. she was shown bank statements with the customers name and address and also a utility bill, customer signed the form. She returned 24 hours later and signed a credit agreement 4 times and handed over the money. The only other person in the house was the aunt but she has denied ever seeing the agent as well. I know she was there as it was a saturday morning and she phoned me for advice. She would never steal. she was given a £600 laptop a week before and on this said week she stole the money she was handed a cheque for £2200 Commission.

[Crapstone]

If she is self-employed then the fraud is against the loan company and up to them to pursue it. It's not wise for her to contact the customer if she no longer works as an agent and isn't covered with the appropriate licence otherwise she could land herself in trouble.

 

She should pursue them for any outstanding payments via an invoice, followed by a late payment letter and then a letter before action.

 

I wouldn't pursue anything else as she is self-employed and is probably better off not being contracted to them if that's the way they have treated her.

[sandra05]

Thanks for your replies. She got a letter in this morning from her ex employer and all it says is your agency agreement with ?????? has been terminated.

 

Anything else she can try to clear her name?

 

thanks