Charged for crashing outside working

[Jelllybaby]

Hello,

I could do with a little help again. I am responding to the letter they sent, this is what I have so far:


Dear -

In response to your letter dated 26^th June please note that I have always accepted that this accident was my responsibility and have agree to repay the costs.

However, the letter I was asked to sign (without being given time to review) on 14^th May:

• Does NOT state what those deductions are – this part of the letter was left blank
• The letter stated that damage costs would be taken out my salary (I am weekly waged) until repaid but do not advise any amount, payment plan or timescale
• The letter stated that ‘if I should leave the employment of COMPANY Ltd I am still liable for the cost’ BUT it does not state what that cost is or set a timescale by which it must be repaid

Choosing to withhold my last weekly wage payment puts me in the position of earning less than national minimum wage. This is an unlawful act on your behalf. I am owed £348.00 less tax and national insurance.

In reference to paragraph 3 of your letter you state ‘The damage of the vehicle was £2,150.40 including the third-party car hire costs’. Then you list amounts you are claiming as a total of £2,150.40 and additional costs of £290.88. If the amount of £2150.40 includes the hire car costs as you have stated please amend the balance and remove the additional £290.88.

**"I wish to pay in full the balance of the Makita Drill payment, if you could provide bank details I will send a direct debit payment for £130. I am now proposing a payment plan of £40 per week to repay the balance of the car accident repair bills. Please advise if you accept, send through a new balance and I will set up a standing order.""

**OR

"I wish to pay in full the balance of the Makita Drill payment, if you could provide bank details I will send a direct debit payment for £130. I am willing to reconsider my offer if you adjust the balance to take in to consideration you did not pay my final weeks wages."



Please acknowledge, send through a new balance and I will send through a payment plan.


Yours sincerely

__________________________________________________ ________________________

I just want someone to read it before I send it off as if it does go to court I want to be prepared for if I have made a hash of this.

What could they even take us to court for? We have admitted fault and offered a payment plan..

[ULA]

Just a quick question as I am making some amendments to the letter, the last weekly wage of £348 that your husband did not receive was that owing for work he has completed up until 12 June?

[Jelllybaby]

Yes w/c 10th June.

Thanks Ula

[ULA]

In which case am I correct in thinking that needs to be shown as an amount already paid alongside the £200 which he already paid by the 2 x £100 deduction.

If so just need to make that point in the letter

[Jelllybaby]

Yes that’s right if they won’t pay the wage then take it off the total but I think they just don’t want to pay it, or deduct it.

[ULA]

Did they say that they did not pay his final wages in lieu of the monies owed?

[Jelllybaby]

No they just haven’t mentioned final wage at all.

[ULA]

Hi, here are my suggested amendments to the letter, there are some dates to add in and also you may need to take out the bit about accrued holiday pay if that is not relevant.

Dear -

In response to your letter dated 26th June please note that I have always accepted that this accident was my responsibility and have agreed to repay the costs, however I cannot do so at the rate of £100 per week given my financial situation.

In regard to the letter I was asked to sign (without being given time to review) on 14th May:

1. The letter stated that vehicle damage costs would be taken out my salary (I am weekly waged) until repaid but it did not advise the amount to be deducted each week, or confirmation of the start and end date of the payment term. All of these details should have been included to make this a valid authorisation for you to deduct monies from my wages.
2. The letter stated that ‘if I should leave the employment of COMPANY Ltd I am still liable for the cost’ BUT it does not state that this would be confirmed as the outstanding balance at the time. In addition, it did not detail the ongoing repayment amounts or the timescales by which the full amount needed to be repaid following the end of my employment.

Effectively the document I was asked to sign did not in fact give you the required authority to deduct £100 from my wages nor withhold all of my final wage payment and is therefore considered to be an unlawful deduction of wages.

In reference to paragraph 3 of your letter you state ‘The damage of the vehicle was £2,150.40 including the third-party car hire costs’. Then you list amounts you are claiming as a total of £2,150.40 and additional costs of £290.88. If the amount of £2,150.40 includes the hire car costs as you have stated, then I would like confirmation of this and the separate hire charge costs need to be taken off the amount owing. In addition, I am still owed my final salary up to xxx (last working day), [plus accrued but untaken holiday pay] amounting to a total of £ xxxx gross. If that sum is not going to be paid then it needs to be considered as a further contribution to the amount owing and should be taken account of accordingly. Please can you therefore provide a new balance owing that reflects all of the above.

Given that I have agreed to repay the monies owing I am surprised that you are considering court action and as already stated in my letter of xxxx I wish to immediately pay in full the balance of the Makita Drill payment, which I will arrange to do if you could provide bank details. In regard to the vehicle damage costs upon agreement of what the actual balance owing is, then given you will not agree to a £10 per week repayment and I cannot financially afford £100 per week, I am proposing a plan of £40 per week to repay the balance owing.

I hope that you will view this as an acceptable compromise in an attempt to resolve the situation and I look forward to receiving bank details in order to make the £130 payment and also confirmation of what the actual outstanding balance is given the queries I have raised.

Yours sincerely,

[Jelllybaby]

That’s brilliant thank you so much for your time and help! I really appreciate it.

[Jelllybaby]

Hi again,

SO this is hopefully the final contact. However they have messed up the totals. At least we get the final wages deducted i'm really pleased with that.





I think I will wait and see if they notice their own mistake.

Thank you for all your help - Ula especially!

[ULA]

That is good news, glad that they have agreed the repayment terms and accepted the final wages not paid do contribute to what has already been paid back.