Can I Get My Money?

iNeedHoney
iNeedHoney Posts: 13 Forumite
in Employment, jobseeking & training
Hey there guys new here, basically I started doing door supervisor work for an agency long story short the agency was very unprofessional things such as being called last minute and expected to travel across London and not being compensated, having to chase up with the owner for my pay every time etc

I am new to door work so this guy obviously took the biscuit a bit and I knew of this but being new I thought let me rack up some experience, but few weeks ago I spoke with more door men and they directed me to better places the problem however is I'm owed £198, the owner is not picking up his phone or answering any of my texts, it's been 2 weeks since I was meant to be paid but since I told him I'm not working anymore he has lost contact with me...we didn't really finish on bad terms I didn't explain anything to him as I'm self employed and he never gave me a fixed rota so the time I left it wasn't as if I cancelled so many shifts and left him in a pickle

so the main problem is I didn't sign any contract, it was pretty much all word of mouth, the only "proof" I have is text messages and also the sheets we sign in a beginning of a shift which I believe are for the council however I don't have access to that it's something he controls usually, so is there anything I can do to get my money?

Thank you!
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Comments

  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    Small claims court?

    You may be self employed, but it seems more likely you were actually employed. Most likely zero hours.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,199 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    You say he is not answering phone calls or texts - I'd suggest that you write (paper, ink, stamp) set out the dates and hours your worked, the rates agreed and the total !!! owing.

    ask him to ensure that that payment is made without delay as it is 2 weeks overdue. Keep a copy of both the letter and proof of positing.

    Follow up with a small claims court claim if you get no response.
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • iNeedHoney
    iNeedHoney Posts: 13 Forumite
    TBagpuss wrote: »
    You say he is not answering phone calls or texts - I'd suggest that you write (paper, ink, stamp) set out the dates and hours your worked, the rates agreed and the total !!! owing.

    ask him to ensure that that payment is made without delay as it is 2 weeks overdue. Keep a copy of both the letter and proof of positing.

    Follow up with a small claims court claim if you get no response.
    Guest101 wrote: »
    Small claims court?

    You may be self employed, but it seems more likely you were actually employed. Most likely zero hours.

    Thank you so much for the replies, the thing is I have literally zero proof and it sounds like I was employed but no contract nothing it was literally he phones me up and tells me which site I'll be working at so with all this in mind is it still possible for me to do get the money as I have zero proof

    also does small claims court cost money? I'm really clueless about all of this stuff and what should I mention in the letter just the hours and rates we agreed?

    Thank you
  • Samsung_Note2
    Samsung_Note2 Posts: 774 Forumite
    edited 5 September 2017 at 11:27AM
    When you say self employed..you gave him your UTR number im assuming...if not then your national insurance number and P45/p46 which would mean your PAYE.

    Or as with lots of door firms you may have been classed as a subby,sometimes subby to subby and its basicly cash in hand.

    Just to clarify been in the industry since 1992...seen all sorts of mickey taking.

    While its possible to be legit self employed in security industry its very uncommon,mostly its either on the books PAYE for horrendous money (£10 down to £7.50 believe it or not) or as said above the work is sub contracted,seen it subbed up to four times with each taking a small percentage just to fill places.

    Double check the terms you agreed with this "Agency".
  • iNeedHoney
    iNeedHoney Posts: 13 Forumite
    Samsung_Note2 wrote: »
    When you say self employed..you gave him your UTR number im assuming...if not then your national insurance number and P45/p46 which would mean your PAYE.

    Or as with lots of door firms you may have been classed as a subby,sometimes subby to subby and its basicly cash in hand.

    Just to clarify been in the industry since 1992...seen all sorts of mickey taking.

    While its possible to be legit self employed in security industry its very uncommon,mostly its either on the books PAYE for horrendous money (£10 down to £7.50 believe it or not) or as said above the work is sub contracted,seen it subbed up to four times with each taking a small percentage just to fill places.

    Double check the terms you agreed with this "Agency".

    That's the thing there are no terms and I didn't give him anything not NI or UTR as I don't have a UTR because I haven't signed up as self-employed yet officially (was planning to do so asap) but I only worked for him about 1.5 months so this is why I'm concerned if I can even get my money because there's no "official" proof which shows I was working for him...

    The two times he paid me were just bank transfer and that's it, so in this situation is there much I can do~?
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    iNeedHoney wrote: »
    That's the thing there are no terms and I didn't give him anything not NI or UTR as I don't have a UTR because I haven't signed up as self-employed yet officially (was planning to do so asap) but I only worked for him about 1.5 months so this is why I'm concerned if I can even get my money because there's no "official" proof which shows I was working for him...

    The two times he paid me were just bank transfer and that's it, so in this situation is there much I can do~?
    Did you issue any invoices?
  • iNeedHoney
    iNeedHoney Posts: 13 Forumite
    Guest101 wrote: »
    Did you issue any invoices?

    Nope nothing of that sort at all, I asked him about these things but he sort of brushed it off and due to my own stupidity I didn't find out how this works I sort of took his word but obviously he was taking the !!!!...
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    I mean it's worth the cost of a stamp, issue a letter before action, but going forward I'd probably not do much more
  • iNeedHoney
    iNeedHoney Posts: 13 Forumite
    Guest101 wrote: »
    I mean it's worth the cost of a stamp, issue a letter before action, but going forward I'd probably not do much more

    So what options do I really have considering my situation and lack of official documents or anything to indicate I was working for him?

    Also what shall I include in the letter? Thank you once again!
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    iNeedHoney wrote: »
    So what options do I really have considering my situation and lack of official documents or anything to indicate I was working for him?

    Also what shall I include in the letter? Thank you once again!



    Well a LBA is just an outline of your claim, you don't need to prove it at this stage.


    So typically include the amount, why you think it's owed, your payment terms (e.g. transfer within 14 days).


    You can google some templates, I think CAB have a good one
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