Trying to sort out my daughter's financial mess

QueenBeruthiel

Hootie19 wrote: »

She is 22 years old, lives at home, has no assets other than her car, which she bought in June 2009 and which she needs in order to do her job (ok, she doesn't need *that* car, but she does need *a* car), and has worked for her employer since November last year. She thought the job was full time, but it has since transpired that it is anything but. Her job is family care worker, and involves, amongst other things, driving children with special needs to and from various locations in the town, so a car is essential.

I can't understand this. Hasn't she got a contract of employment? Is it in the terms and conditions that she have a car, and drive children with special needs about?

She can easily switch to online banking and access her statements on line - that would make everything easier.

Hootie19

I have come across some papers from when she joined the company but no contract of employment unfortunately. There's training manuals, and various information sheets but nothing about her employment. The contract must still be at the flat she shared with the boyfriend (to which she didn't have a key, so can't get back there to get the rest of her stuff until he's "back in town").

I probably didn't make it clear in my OP. When she went for the interview (it's an agency) she was under the impression that she would be given full time employment. In the event, she has very few calls a day. Usually one from 7.30 to 8.30am, then nothing until 4pm to 5pm, and then finally (but not every day) a call from 7pm to 8.30pm

There are occasionally other calls given to her, but that's generally her working pattern.

She applied this week for a job in a local day nursery which was from 11am to 3pm which would have fitted in beautifully with the family care worker role (which she really enjoys), but unfortunately didn't get it.

She's searching the local council website and local papers for lunchtime supervisor type roles, but there seems to be very little listed at the moment.

Thank you for your kind responses. I will make a more coherent response soon, but at the moment I'm just posting as things come to light or I remember something.

Ames

I'm in the middle of employing a carer through social services. Your daughter could call her local adult social care and ask them if there's any work going. For instance, I get 5 hours a week so if she could pick something like that up it'd help her a lot, the wage is £6.74 an hour. Or I've heard that the jobcentre is full of adverts for carers.

Is it really worth her doing this job considering how much it bumps up her insurance.

Oneday77

Hootie take your time, there is no rush to post here. Helping your daughter takes priority.

I do agree with others that it is best to guide her through this rather than take full control though. She will learn more and it may stop her hiding things in future.
In terms of the car, the paperwork will highlight 2 terms for you halves and thirds. Halves is the bit about handingthe car back and thirds is where if 1/3 of the car has been paid for, including initial deposit then they have to go through a court to reposess. Call them tomorrow and see what can be arranged with the arrears there is no harm in trying.

heatherykins

Hootie, I work in Social Care as I said earlier. Several years ago, I worked for a couple of agencies and my mum (who's into Tax and stuff) arranged for my tax code to be split between the 2 employers, which she said would be better at that time with my circumstances.

There's a horrific amount of 'dead time' for your daughter during the day, which is possibly when she should be the busiest - think about it, working families who have an elderly parent who needs care or has a child who is now an adult with a learning disability who needs support.

She might love working with children with learning disabilities, but if she widens the net to older people and adults with disabilities, she will open up potential for more hours in home care, nursing care, day care, people who wish to employ staff for a direct payment - and this can fill the dead time.

I see ads on free internet classifieds for my area like gumtree, where families advertise for care staff to look after a loved one for time during the day - also, people advertise themselves and their skills, looking for care work - maybe try this?

But her current working pattern is unproductive, coupled with the expense of fuel and wear & tear on the car - a job you love is a bonus, but maybe she needs to focus more on income just now to get her to a better place and she will be picking up experience as she goes.

Good luck x

firesidemaid

i take it she has already had her CRB check. do i also take it she is considered self-employed, hence the need for business insurance etc?

Blackpool_Saver

I hope the car is insured for business too...........

niccatw

Hi Hootie

Forstly I have to say, in your positon, I wouldn't hesitate to do as you are doing. Not having children, that won't happen, but even if one of my friend's or other family member came to me, of course I'd help in whatever way I could.

I just wanted to say, having done a similar jobs to your daughter in the past, they tend to be "as and when required" or temporary contracts, this means they don't need to give you set hours or sick pay and that holiday pay depends on the hours you accrue. In my experience you needed to have a car and needed business insurance but only got paid the minimum amount in fuel costs - and very little towards depreciation or wear and tear.

Many of the people I then worked with also indepedently hired staff from the company outwith the hours social services hired the company to cover (if this makes sense). It may be worth her asking those she currently calls of if they are looking for any-one?

My current second job I got throught the job centre, advertised by the DWP. I am a "personal assistant" for a person who receives direct payments from social work. This way, the person has the freedom to employ whomever suits and give set hours. (I'm a weekend employee, working every other weekend from 9pm to 8am, with an on-call sleep-over. This clears me an extra £200 pm) It might be an idea to see if she can supplement her current income this way too.

Good luck. I'm sure both you and your daughter will come through it much stronger

kingfisherblue

Hootie19 wrote: »

When she went for the interview (it's an agency) she was under the impression that she would be given full time employment. In the event, she has very few calls a day. Usually one from 7.30 to 8.30am, then nothing until 4pm to 5pm, and then finally (but not every day) a call from 7pm to 8.30pm

There are occasionally other calls given to her, but that's generally her working pattern.

As I said on your other thread, children with special needs tend to be in school during the day. My daughter also works for an agency and doesn't get enough hours, so she is looking for more work (so far without success) - but this is something that I warned her about, and her agency isn't specifically for children.

Can she request more hours during the holidays, or will some of the hours dry up then? My daughter works 7.30-8.30am, but the family doesn't get up as early in the school holidays, so my daughter loses five hours a week each time the children are off school.

As well as the JC+ website, she should regularly check the local council website, not just for your town, but for others close enough to travel to.

Just one question - why did she give up a relatively well paid job? If that's too nosy of me, just ignore it. I'm just curious, as it would have meant your daughter could pay her expenses and agency work can be so unreliable.

Hootie19

[FONT=&quot]Well thank you all for your input so far. I’ve now got things into a coherent state, and have been able to look fully into how bad things are. And they are bad!


[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]GeorgeUK[FONT=&quot] – it is an HP loan. I’m not sure handing the car back is an option, as she would still have to have *a* car in order to do the job. My husband has telephoned the company this lunchtime and paid the arrears (which I think may not have been such a good move). Thank you for the link to the SOA calculator. There’s so little to put in, there would be more gaps than figures![/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Bugbabe1970[FONT=&quot] – thank you for that. I have a phone on contract, but I don’t ever go over the limit, so I’ve never had to sit and work it out. I’m slowing going through the most recent bills so I can highlight to her where she’s going outside the contract limits.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]MissPop[FONT=&quot] – really! Not helpful. I would have thought it was obvious why I’m helping her. She’s my daughter, I love her and don’t want her to get into further difficulties. We will go through her expenditure each month with a fine toothcomb (if we can get out of the current problems) and get her to budget more responsibly. Yes, she’s been foolish but can anyone on this forum hold their hand up and say they’ve acted responsibly all their lives? I don’t think so – I know I certainly can’t.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Oneday77[FONT=&quot] – thank you. She has telephoned her employer this morning and asked for a copy of her contract of employment. Can’t remember if I mentioned in my OP, but her ex is being a bit awkward about letting her back into the flat to get the rest of her stuff, and she thinks her contract is there. It seems easier just to ask for another copy, so we can see exactly what it says.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]She is looking for another job, but there is very little around here. I’m looking for work myself and finding it a real struggle. However, she has applied for a job in a nursery this morning, so fingers crossed. She did ask her boss today for more hours but was told there was nothing else available. Unfortunately the local paper went into the recycling bin, which was emptied this morning, so we’ll have to wait until Wednesday for the next one to come out.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]I am going through her Orange bill and highlighting the items that are charged extra to the contract limits, so she can see where she’s gone wrong. Oh my!! I’m going cross eyed with it, so am doing it in small sections!

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]She said she went through the comparison sites for car insurance, and her current insurer was the cheapest. It’s actually £130, not £140 as I thought, but I still think it’s extortionate! But I suppose she’s stuck with it until her renewal date now.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Joeblack066 [FONT=&quot]– thank you. You are correct with her car loan payments, but her insurance is £130, not the £140 I originally thought. Still ruinously expensive, but less than I thought. Her mobile contract is actually for £25 per month. As I said above to Oneday77, I am going through the itemised bills (I’ll get her to cancel the paper bills as I believe they charge for those) and highlighting the “extras”, so she can see where she has to cut back. [/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]The petrol is a problem. I put £25 in her car for her yesterday and that half filled the tank. I have done her a sheet that I’m getting her to complete for every journey she makes, showing the miles she covers each time – even if it’s only over the road to Tesco to get more petrol (about a mile round trip). Hopefully we’ll be able to see where any unnecessary miles are being driven and cut back on that. I’m also hoping that if I’m breathing down her neck about filling this sheet in, she will also make sure she’s claiming back enough from her employer for petrol costs.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]She currently works for an agency of the type you suggest (Medico). She is sure she was told at the interview that her rates of pay would be similar to those you mention in your post, but in fact, she is on NMW. Fortunately she has just had her 22nd birthday in January, so her money has gone up slightly. Hopefully her next pay advice will be higher. She has a lot of calls (relatively speaking – still not a full day’s work though) today, but of course the downside to that is that it’s eating into her petrol. Catch 22!

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]She has applied for another job this morning, in a local nursery, so we are hopeful of at least an interview. She really loves the work she is doing, but I think she has finally accepted that she really cannot afford to keep doing the job. I will suggest that she looks at another couple of agencies doing similar work, in the hopes that she may be able to pick up extra calls that will merge with what she’s doing now.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Niksyg [FONT=&quot] - I have been through her bank statements this morning, and in the last six months, she has had bank charges amounting to £410 applied to the account. That is roughly equivalent to her current overdraft. (I have asked her to stop at a cash machine on her way home from her call and get either a current full statement, or at least a mini statement, so we can see exactly where we’re at.) I understand that financial hardship cases can still go ahead on the Reclaiming Bank Charges front, and from what I’ve read on that thread, she seems to me to fall into that category for sure. I have drafted a letter for her to send to them (Nationwide) asking for a refund. Even if they only offer a partial refund, it’ll go some way towards paying the overdraft back. (She has now switched to NatWest bank – I don’t really know why)[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]SkintGypsy [FONT=&quot] - thank you. My intention is not to take all responsibility away from her, but I am going to have full control of her bank account, and only give her essential money (petrol, mainly) and if there’s any extra, then a small amount of “pocket money” each week. We will sit down together each month and go through her expenditure with a fine toothcomb, so she can see where she’s going wrong. [/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]MyRubyRed [FONT=&quot] - They are certainly able to grey our hairs, aren’t they!! Well done to your daughter for making arrangements and sticking to them. I’m hoping that my daughter will learn the same valuable lessons. My husband has paid off the arrears on her car loan today, but I fear this will in fact turn out to be a bad move.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Heatherykins [FONT=&quot]– She is working for an agency now (Medico). I don’t know how good their reputation is, but I have to be honest and say that I’m not all that impressed with them. She has asked them for a copy of her contract of employment, so I will be interested to have a read and see what she actually is contracted for. She was under the impression that her rate of pay would be a lot higher than she’s on now – she’s only on NMW.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Blackpool!_Saver [FONT=&quot]– oh my goodness, hindsight is a wonderful thing. We obviously didn’t spend enough time with our daughter on budgeting, so I think part of the reason I’m going all out to help her is that I feel partially responsible for her situation. Our middle child is brilliant with his money. He only works part time, but has very clear ideas about how to work his money. I too hope she learns from this experience.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]And yes, her car is insurance for business use.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Lottebear [FONT=&quot]– you’d think, wouldn’t you! I haven’t seen her contract of employment yet (copy has been requested from her boss this morning) so I don’t know what arrangements were made. It doesn’t seem as though they are reimbursing her more than petrol costs though (I may be wrong on that).[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]QueenBeruthiel [FONT=&quot]– She does have a contract of employment, but it is still at her ex’s place and he’s being a bit awkward about letting her go back and get the rest of her stuff. He’s apparently “out of town” for a few days and has told her she’ll just have to wait until he’s back. She has asked her employer to send her a copy of her contract in the meantime. She has just switched bank accounts, and has registered for online banking, so it should make things easier.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Ames [FONT=&quot] - unfortunately, it’s looking more and more as though she can’t afford to continue working at this job, even though she really enjoys the work, which is a real shame. There’s been nothing so far on our local jobcentre pages, but we will keep looking.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Firesidemaid – [FONT=&quot]yes she has her CRB check in place (had to pay for it herself) – it’s just that her certificates, including this one, are at her ex’s place, so when she goes for interviews, she can’t show them to prospective employers. She isn’t self employed, no. She’s employed by an agency, but has to use her own car, and as she is using it for work, needed business insurance.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Niccatw [FONT=&quot]– thank you. I will get to her look into working directly for families. Every little will help![/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Kingfisherblue [FONT=&quot]– she was definitely misled by the agency when she went for the interview with them. This was her first ever job of that type, and just accepted what they said. Of course, she won’t make that mistake again!.[/FONT]

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]However, she has asked for more calls, but has been told there is nothing else they can give her. They also told her at her interview, that they were getting “a lot more clients” after Christmas and she would be kept busy. That’s been rubbish! That said, she does have more calls that normal today, but the downside, of course, is that’s eating into her petrol. Catch22 situation. We will keep checking on the DWP website to see what, if anything, is available.

[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]She gave up her job at the nursery, as she heard from her friend about the work at this agency, and really liked the sound of it. She does enjoy the work, it’s just a shame that they aren’t giving her the amount of hours they implied she would have.
[/FONT]