Old Job demanding money

MrrLucky

Hi all,
I began working for a corporate company on the 1st July 2014.
I quit working for the company on the 27th July 2015.
I received my wages paid to me on the 24th of July of £970.75.

Today I received a threatening letter from a Solicitors claiming that despite 'numerous' requests I owe the company £76.29 for some unknown amount.

I have not received no correspondence relating to this £76.29 sum, not via post and not via recorded mail. It is unethical of the company to instruct solicitors at the first instance surely?

Just a quick question where I stand fighting this?

Kind regards,

McKneff

Why would you fight it at the moment.


write to them, ask them for proof of the overpayment.


If they have over paid you, pay them back. simple as that.

McKneff

It isn't an unknown amount, it is £76.29


Presumably you mean it has not been explained.

MrrLucky

Sorry yes that is what I mean, first I know of this is a letter from solicitors, when the company has not written to me explaining how they have over paid me?

Reason why I want to fight it is that the company does this with every employee that has left, from managers to lower ranked staff - notoriously bad for it.

I'm right in thinking that the company has to make some form of communication - which can be proven before instructing solicitors threatening court action.

I'm aware that they can pass it on to a debt collection agent which are employed to try and get the money and solicitors is the step taken when I would have obviously ignored all letters demanding the money?

McKneff

Ask them to prove that they have overpaid you.
The last thing you want is a default on your credit file, your credit will be trashed for 6 years,


If you actually know that you have been overpaid, I would just pay it to be honest, to save you a lot of hassle


And they can appoint solicitors to write you a letter when ever they want. If indeed they are solicitors.
Ring the number on the letter and see how they answer the phone.

MrrLucky

Hi McKneff,

That is what I am worried about my credit score is extremely good with no CCJ's on my file.

I don't actually know if they have overpaid me that is the problem, I received part wages which I expected for outstanding holiday days that weren't taking and for the time that I had worked.

Only reason I have a problem with paying is that this is a very common problem with every employee that leaves the company they get letters demanding money and threatening solicitor letters - some cases the company has been squashed.

lincroft1710

MrrLucky wrote: »

Just a quick question where I stand fighting this?

If you received a threatening letter from solicitors claiming that despite 'numerous' requests you owed Lincroft 1710 the sum of £xx, what would you do?

Exactly! You would contact either the solicitors or Lincroft 1710 and find out what it is all about. So until you contact your former employer or the "solicitors" you won't know where you stand as you don't know if you rightfully owe the money.

thorsoak

Dear ex-employer

I acknowledge receipt of a letter from Messrs Sue-em & Run regarding your claim that I owe your company the sum of £76.29.

As I am unaware of any such debt, please send me details of this alleged debt.

Please let me have these details within the next 7 days.

Yours faithfully

MrrLucky

DandelionPatrol

thorsoak wrote: »

Dear ex-employer

I acknowledge receipt of a letter from Messrs Sue-em & Run regarding your claim that I owe your company the sum of £**.**.

As I am unaware of any such debt, please send me details of this alleged debt.

Please let me have these details within the next 7 days.

Yours faithfully

MrrLucky

This is what is required, but as they have engaged solicitors, let them run with solicitors. At this stage, which is correspondence, the solicitor will be costing the employer. And there is another good reason to write to the solicitor rather than the ex-employer further down this post. So I would go with

Dear <solicitor>

I refer to your letter of <date> concerning your allegation that I owe <amount> to <ex-employer>.

You refer to 'numerous requests' being made for this money. However, you are advised that no correspondence whatsoever has been received prior to your present letter neither from <ex-employer> nor from yourselves.

So I would request that you provide a full explanation and justification of the amount alleged to be owing at you earliest convenience.

Yours <MrrLucky>

MrrLucky wrote: »

That is what I am worried about my credit score is extremely good with no CCJ's on my file.

As the amount is relatively small, just put it to one side for the event that you lose this.

You should not cave in before a CCJ if you believe you are right, purely to protect your credit rating. The recording of CCJ's is arranged to let you have a genuine dispute resolved in court without affecting your credit rating. If you lose, you just pay up within a month of the judgement and your credit rating will not be affected.

There is a way to go with this before it goes to court. If you send the letter to the solicitor as I suggest, they will need to answer it before sending the matter to court - if you write to the employer instead, they may not send a copy to the solicitor who may just go to court without further reference.

And finally on a matter like this, it is not a good idea to post the exact amount of the claim on this site, because the other side could identify you quite easily. Far better to state an amount in terms like 'between £70 and £90'. Unfortunately, too late to edit your post because other posters have quoted the amount. Perhaps these people would edit the exact amount out of their posts?

tomtontom

Keep in mind that if a CCJ is issued against you, you will be liable for court costs. If they can provide you with a breakdown of the overpayment, it would be most foolish to let it get to that stage. Stick with thorsoak's letter, keep it simple and brief.

DandelionPatrol

tomtontom wrote: »

Keep in mind that if a CCJ is issued against you, you will be liable for court costs.

True. But follow through with the process and don't be intimidated by court being mentioned. When they produce a breakdown, you can decide whether it is correct

tomtontom wrote: »

If they can provide you with a breakdown of the overpayment, it would be most foolish to let it get to that stage.

They must provide a breakdown - otherwise they are in breach of civil procedure rules, which require no ambush in court.

tomtontom wrote: »

If they can provide you with a breakdown of the overpayment, it would be most foolish to let it get to that stage.

If the breakdown is wrong it is far from foolish to let it go to court

tomtontom wrote: »

Stick with thorsoak's letter, keep it simple and brief.

NO! As the ex-employer have engaged with a solicitor, [not to mention that they have form for this sort of claim], OP should write to the solicitor. The reasons are given in my previous post.

If court papers are received, correspondence should be with the court, copied to the solicitor.