Wages mess up!!! Any advice?

SkintInWales

Hi, I'm new to this site so I hope I am not posting in the wrong area.

I have recently changed bank accounts because my old account was over it's overdraft limit by £500. I am presently setting up a DMP to pay this. I rang my wages office and said I wanted to change the acount into which my wages are paid. TBH i left it a bit late but the lady at the end of the phone said that if I could go to the office and give the info that it would be done. I did this.

Guess what ??? !!! Come pay day the wages went into the wrong account - hence I am £500 down this month. This is a very big deal as my wife is not working due to illness (you may have seen her in the News of The World Fabulous magazine on Sunday "I'm addicted to laxatives"). Anyway I rang and explained the situation that I could not pay my bills this month because of their foul up. They apologized and said it was a new system and they forgot to do something. Well, I cant pay the bills with apopogies !!! They said they could do nothing.

I asked to speak to the head of finance who agreed to put £500 into my account as an interest fee loan. I explained that I would only be able to pay it back over a 5 year period (the length of my DMP). He said we would deal with that later.

Yesterday I received a letter saying they would be stopping £50 from my wages per month. I simply cannot afford this. I can only afford £10 per month. Before I ring them has anyone any advice?? Is it legal to take money from me without my consent?

Any help would be much appreciated.

If you've got this far down - well done!!! - I seemed to have rambled on a bit

Blackruby

As far as I can see your work is in fault here for the foul up, so they can't force you in to this pay cut. Other people with more financial know-how will be able to help you with this. But good luck and welcome.

foxwales

You should have taken the time to check over any associated terms or conditions of repayment of this loan before you took it out.

There is nothing much your wages department can do with regards to requesting the money be transfered to the new account.

Your employers are not doing anything illegal for deducting money that they have loaned you from your wages.

I would suggest you contact the department that issued you the loan and explain to them the financial situation your in at the moment; and if there was anyway this repayment could be delayed or re-negotiated until you can get back on your feet.

It might also be worth your while calling the bank and stating what has happend; and due to you being down £500 now; that you are suffering financial hardship; the bank may look kindly upon you and release this money to you; or they may not.

SkintInWales

Thanks to both of you for your speedy response.

With regards to the terms and conditions of the loan - there were none!!! Nothing is written down and there is only a verbal agreement. I did explain at the time to the department that I would not be able to pay back the full amount for 5 years.

This was not an advance on my wages. The department assured me the bank details would be changed but - by their own admission - they made a mistake and paid the wages into the wrong account

Blackruby

I agree with fox that you should ring the bank and see if they will help, most are concerned with customer rentention, so it's worth a shot.

Have they at least got the right bank details now for your next month's wage?

foxwales

SkintInWales wrote: »

Thanks to both of you for your speedy response.

With regards to the terms and conditions of the loan - there were none!!! Nothing is written down and there is only a verbal agreement. I did explain at the time to the department that I would not be able to pay back the full amount for 5 years.

This was not an advance on my wages. The department assured me the bank details would be changed but - by their own admission - they made a mistake and paid the wages into the wrong account

If there are no terms and conditions to the loan and it is a verbal agreement; then you are free to re-negotiate your repayments. Just explain to them your situation; im sure they would be understanding.

CCCS_Sarah

SkintInWales wrote: »

Hi, I'm new to this site so I hope I am not posting in the wrong area.

I have recently changed bank accounts because my old account was over it's overdraft limit by £500. I am presently setting up a DMP to pay this. I rang my wages office and said I wanted to change the acount into which my wages are paid. TBH i left it a bit late but the lady at the end of the phone said that if I could go to the office and give the info that it would be done. I did this.

Guess what ??? !!! Come pay day the wages went into the wrong account - hence I am £500 down this month. This is a very big deal as my wife is not working due to illness (you may have seen her in the News of The World Fabulous magazine on Sunday "I'm addicted to laxatives"). Anyway I rang and explained the situation that I could not pay my bills this month because of their foul up. They apologized and said it was a new system and they forgot to do something. Well, I cant pay the bills with apopogies !!! They said they could do nothing.

I asked to speak to the head of finance who agreed to put £500 into my account as an interest fee loan. I explained that I would only be able to pay it back over a 5 year period (the length of my DMP). He said we would deal with that later.

Yesterday I received a letter saying they would be stopping £50 from my wages per month. I simply cannot afford this. I can only afford £10 per month. Before I ring them has anyone any advice?? Is it legal to take money from me without my consent?

Any help would be much appreciated.

If you've got this far down - well done!!! - I seemed to have rambled on a bit

Who are you on a DMP with? Get in touch with them and ask them to change the budget ASAP and include the £50pcm as a priority – once the amount you owe your work is cleared this then can be built back into your DMP.

SuzySu

Oh I feel for you on this one....a similar thing happened to me this month with my maintenance payments for my children - ex left it too late to change the standing order into my new bank account (set up for exactly the same reasons as you) so £300 disappeared into the black hole of my overdraft. I really needed the money this month and, as a result, have not been able to pay Sky (no broadband at home now), landline (restrictions on outgoing calls), pet insurance (I'll just keep them sedated - joke - honestly) and have not been able put petrol in the car so am cycling to work!

It's poo when you really need the money and you just watch it being swallowed up without any way of getting it back.

Good luck with sorting it out. Keep us posted.

SkintInWales

I am currently trying to sort my own DMP out, as CCCS has messed me around since February.

Initially they said that my wifes wages could be self-certified, then they said that wasnt good enough and they needed employer to confirm. I sent this. Then they said they needed a P60 (after me ringing them because I had heard nothing for 4 weeks). My wife didnt receive any wage slips etc - just working at local pub. It was a case of take it or leave it. Now she has been hassling the owner for payslips - as a result no more work available strangely - so £550 per month worse off now.

CCCS_Sarah

Just thought it would be good to make you all aware of something that can be done if you know the money is going in to your bank and there is no way of stopping it (I know its no good for you guys that its already happened to).

There is something called the first right of appropriation I have attached this link that explains a bit about it. Basically if your wages are getting paid into your account you have the right to say that money is needed for your monthly living costs i.e. mortgage x amount, council tax x amount, food x amount. This Link will take you to a sample letter.


Ideally you would open another bank account at a bank where you have no debts but this could be used as plan B

Hope you find this information useful

CCCS_Sarah

SkintInWales wrote: »

I am currently trying to sort my own DMP out, as CCCS has messed me around since February.

Initially they said that my wifes wages could be self-certified, then they said that wasnt good enough and they needed employer to confirm. I sent this. Then they said they needed a P60 (after me ringing them because I had heard nothing for 4 weeks). My wife didnt receive any wage slips etc - just working at local pub. It was a case of take it or leave it. Now she has been hassling the owner for payslips - as a result no more work available strangely - so £550 per month worse off now.

Sorry to hear about your situation. If you are running your own dmp then I would recommend including the £50 on the main budget and then in 10mths time when the loan from work is cleared add this again to your surplus

Good luck with you DMP and let me know if there is anything I can help you with

Sarah