ETS:
Obviously they’re playing dumb, so I won’t waste any more time - I’ll go ahead and state my claim to them in writing via post and see where that goes.
DING DING DING…
We have a winner!
They’ve played you right from the start. I wouldn’t trust this lot as far as I could kick them across a truck park. If you need any help PM me, I’d be delighted to ■■■■ this lot over.
ETS:
Right, I called today stating my issue all over again - as I was advised yesterday, only to be told by a different person (not the one I spoke to y’day) that their accountant doesn’t work Thursdays; would I want to give them a call Monday?Obviously they’re playing dumb, so I won’t waste any more time - I’ll go ahead and state my claim to them in writing via post and see where that goes.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
sound like your just getting fobbed off as its always the same story with someone being off ect and not being able to get the same person twice running.
if you start proceedings against them on mon,then they will know your not gong away and wil have to deal with it.
just make sure everythings recorded delivery with proof ect otherwise itl just be stall stall stall. goodluck
I’ve submitted an “Early concilliation notice” through the acas; problem is - I have no actual proof for work done, no contract for work either. I might have to obtain copies of the client’s records for my work done and who it was done for but I doubt they would cooperate since they were the ones who didn’t want me to work for them anymore in the first place.
All I have is texts on my phone about my shifts start times, rates of pay and other back-and-forth correspondence; most texts received are “signed” by a person’s name and the agency’s name. The phone number however is a mobile, so they could easily claim it’s not one of theirs?
Should I find some way to download my driver’s card record and get a full print-out for this period of 8 days I was with them? It should have the vehicle regs (easily checkable who they belong to/belonged to at the time), distance traveled each night and other work + daily rest, correct? The “driver card readers” cost about £30-40 on ebay/amazon whereas the “standard” card readers are about £9…do I need a dedicated drivers card reader or will a normal one do assuming I get the software to read the card separately?
Sounds like proof enough to me.
Likely they will cave before it comes to that anyway, when they see you are not lying down.
Shame that they couldn’t somehow be directed to this thread. I think they might have a sudden change of heart if they saw this
ETS:
Should I find some way to download my driver’s card record and get a full print-out for this period of 8 days I was with them? It should have the vehicle regs (easily checkable who they belong to/belonged to at the time), distance traveled each night and other work + daily rest, correct?
I would say yes because the driver card records are proof that you drove for the company on certain dates.
ETS:
The “driver card readers” cost about £30-40 on ebay/amazon whereas the “standard” card readers are about £9…do I need a dedicated drivers card reader or will a normal one do assuming I get the software to read the card separately?
Not all card readers are the same and some will not read driver cards, you can get a Omnikey 3121 quite cheap on ebay (An Omnikey 3121 will read driver cards).
The software to show what’s on the card can be quite expensive, however you can sign up to Tachomaster for a free 28 day trial, It’s years since I used Tachomaster but I believe you will be able to print off the card records.
Good luck 
ETS:
Should I find some way to download my driver’s card record and get a full print-out for this period of 8 days I was with them?
Maybe…
A friendly happy Tnet driver happens to be passing close where you live and lets you do a printout while they are parked on 45?
tachograph:
The software to show what’s on the card can be quite expensive, however you can sign up to Tachomaster for a free 28 day trial, It’s years since I used Tachomaster but I believe you will be able to print off the card records.Good luck
Thanks a lot, much appreciated. I’ll order one of these today because I need a document in support of my claim, apparently, so I can send them an official “Letter before small claims court claim”. I’ve calculated they owe me ~£665 (gross figure, I would have to pay tax + NI on these later) so no way I’m backing down; I’d sooner spend £500 on a lawyer and walk away with nothing than leave them scam any more people - most of their reviews on google are 1 star from people claiming they didn’t get paid after working for them.
Right, I’m running into some problems trying to figure out the exact amount I should claim from the agency. Apparently they’re using a 2nd company to “pay” me - as a reminder, I did receive a payslip by post from a company I never head of, addressed to me, with my NIN on it, with a “Pay Date” 21 Sept. 2018 via BACS which has some of the hours worked, a certain amount of money “paid”, deductions for Income tax, NI etc. Indeed, on my Personal Tax Account at gov.co.uk I was able to see that this 2nd company has submitted the same details from the payslip - NIC, PAYE tax, total gross amount etc.
If they have paid my PAYE and NIC, how can I verify they did or just claimed they did or promised that they will? Should I deduct the employer’s NIC from the total amount I’m about to claim? What about the rest of the money, should I claim the total (number of hours worked x agreed rate of pay) then figure out how much I need to pay in myself as PAYE/NIC - if I did that how do I work out the employer’s NIC on the remaining amount and can I pay it in on their behalf or should I submit a secondary claim asking them to figure out what they owe the HMRC on their part of the NIC…
Dang it, all I wanted to do is drive trucks and now I’m neck deep researching financial law and small claims filing procedures 
EDIT: Here’s what I mean:
I can’t remove/edit them because it says I’m still working for them…
ETS:
How can I prove the exact amount? The way it worked was (this is what I was told by other drivers who worked for the same client) that they had different pre-calculated routes with a certain number of hours allocated to each route - so if you took longer to complete the route you’d still get paid the original number of hours that the company planners deemed enough for the particular run to be completed
In the name…
Nope, wouldnt be me. I get paid for every hour I work. The FTE’s can work like that but as agency, you should get paid for every hour, regardless of if some ■■■■ in the office tells you the computer says it can be done in 8 so you dont get paid extra if you take longer.
Sod that. I dont care if the regular guy can do it in 9 hours. If it takes me 12, theyre paying me for 12. Whether I got held up for traffic or just because I went “too slow” I dont give a ■■■■. Theyre paying me what I worked, not what theyve decided it should cost them
TBH, theyve told you youre not getting paid if you take “too long” then holding back money because the client got fined so you could argue you felt rushed as you had been told “it shouldnt take you this long” and thats why the taillift was left down by mistake in the first place
Ignore this rant if ive misread what the circumstances were!
With regards to how much you claim, dont worry about deductions for paye or anything. Get the hourly rate, work out how much based on the hours worked and thats how much you claim. Let the office prove they paid the paye etc and its been deducted and claim they only owe you X amount instead.
The-Snowman:
With regards to how much you claim, dont worry about deductions for paye or anything. Get the hourly rate, work out how much based on the hours worked and thats how much you claim. Let the office prove they paid the paye etc and its been deducted and claim they only owe you X amount instead.
Yeah, this sounds fairly reasonable. Thanks, I’ll try it.
The difference in the agency name and who paid you is quite common.
Usually something like,
A Smith and B Smith
T/A Second class Drivers LTD.
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
WIth that, you can claim 3 figures per week in tax credits - kid in tow - or not. 
ETS:
I’ve submitted an “Early concilliation notice” through the acas; problem is - I have no actual proof for work done, no contract for work either.
Yes you do. As long as you never deleted the texts from the agency you have proof of a contract sat on your phone. The proof you did the work is is sat on your digicard and will be there for a few months at least. If you can get to another truck or find a friendly transport company or TNUK member to do a print out of those days then you’re good to go.
Just going back to the text messages from the agency, always get them to confirm everything by text and don’t delete any of them until they’re several months old because you’ll never know when you’ll need proof of what they said.
Is it just me, or is it incredibly petty for the DVSA to issue a prohibition notice to a vehicle which has no inherent roadworthiness fault but where the driver has made a simple mistake which would have been rectified in a hundredth of the time it took to write out the prohibition notice?
Harry Monk:
Is it just me, or is it incredibly petty for the DVSA to issue a prohibition notice to a vehicle which has no inherent roadworthiness fault but where the driver has made a simple mistake which would have been rectified in a hundredth of the time it took to write out the prohibition notice?
No it’s not Harry. I think we can all agree with you. Apart from those who think they are perfect and want to knock others for not being as perfect as they think they are.
New driver - who made a simple (albeit silly) mistake. Time for me to be honest - I have done it once. Not put the tail lift all the way up. Fortunately for me a guy pulled his car up next to mine and told me about it. So I pulled over and sorted it.
On the plus side - like me the OP will have learnt a lesson he won’t repeat. He could have left the DVSA thinking they were top guys if they had told him he was daft and to sort it before they finished their coffee and started filling paperwork in. Instead, his first reaction to them will be thinking they are the enemy. Which is total lunacy if the DVSA ever want to work with drivers to improve safety.
Harry Monk:
Is it just me, or is it incredibly petty for the DVSA to issue a prohibition notice to a vehicle which has no inherent roadworthiness fault but where the driver has made a simple mistake which would have been rectified in a hundredth of the time it took to write out the prohibition notice?
Totally agree, Harry. During my time in uniform I would simply have stopped the vehicle and pointed out the problem. Assuming he didn’t fail the attitude test, he would have been happily on his way 2 minutes later. It wouldn’t even merit any sort of “lecture” (unless of course he failed the aforementioned attitude test).
Roymondo:
Harry Monk:
Is it just me, or is it incredibly petty for the DVSA to issue a prohibition notice to a vehicle which has no inherent roadworthiness fault but where the driver has made a simple mistake which would have been rectified in a hundredth of the time it took to write out the prohibition notice?Totally agree, Harry. During my time in uniform I would simply have stopped the vehicle and pointed out the problem. Assuming he didn’t fail the attitude test, he would have been happily on his way 2 minutes later. It wouldn’t even merit any sort of “lecture” (unless of course he failed the aforementioned attitude test).
Pg 9 for a roadworthy vehicle with a tail lift obscuring lights etc is pretty standard esp if its on a green light vehicle. Easy to spot and easy fine.
Doing the Money Claim Online thing is easy, and not as daunting as you think.
I successfully took someone to court 3 years ago, and once the paperwork was submitted, it was just a case of sticking to the guidelines laid down. So I was ringing them at prescribed times, just to make sure that the case was not getting lost in the amount of claims that they had.
Whatever you do in the first instance of contact with the agency, sod ringing them, and instead e.mail them. That way you have an electronic paper trail, and you can then prove to the courts that you have given them every opportunity to resolve it amicably.
If you are in a union like URTU or any other, then maybe a word with them instead of ACAS might be better, because if you need to obtain the services of a solicitor, then they will more than likely foot the bill and fight it on your behalf.
Ken.
What i can’t understand is you payed fine and no further action,why did you give any paperwork in that elated to said incident. should have said nothing to anyone end of problem.
indeed:
Roymondo:
Harry Monk:
Is it just me, or is it incredibly petty for the DVSA to issue a prohibition notice to a vehicle which has no inherent roadworthiness fault but where the driver has made a simple mistake which would have been rectified in a hundredth of the time it took to write out the prohibition notice?Totally agree, Harry. During my time in uniform I would simply have stopped the vehicle and pointed out the problem. Assuming he didn’t fail the attitude test, he would have been happily on his way 2 minutes later. It wouldn’t even merit any sort of “lecture” (unless of course he failed the aforementioned attitude test).
Pg 9 for a roadworthy vehicle with a tail lift obscuring lights etc is pretty standard esp if its on a green light vehicle. Easy to spot and easy fine.
I thought you only got a PG9 for driving a vehicle that is an MOT failure then and there?
“Tail lift down” is hardly that ■■? 
I would actually put this kind off offence up there with “forgetting to have lights on when leaving forecourt at night” type stuff… 
If you have forgotten to operating a working thing properly - then it is a different ball game to “driving with something knowingly busted outright”. 