royal mail legal team wanting money

[haggis0073]

hello everyone, basically my office was closed down 2 years ago and we were giving the option to move to another office, they offered me a 3 year travelling plan which i took. This consisted of £15000 lump sum for travelling expenses(although after tax i received alot less) but after 2 years 2 months it was just getting to me having to travel all this way to another office so i decided to leave and have now found new emplyment.
Problem i have now is that because i have left 10 months early they are demanding i pay back just under £4500 as i left within the three years. i had a letter saying i must pay within 5 days(well that was never going to happen as i dont have that kind of money).

Does anyone have any experience with what might happen next, can debt collectors get involved, could it affect my credit rating(which i have now got to good)

Also my last wage slip showed a gross pay of MINUS 4000, and my p45 shows i only earnt £125 since april, all so confusing

any help appreciated

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

Yes you have to pay it back as you took the relocation payment in one hit

If i were you i would contact HR and do a reasonable repayment plan before Weightmans gets hold of it. They will take you to court and vigerously enforce the judgement

This is all covered in the MTSF Agreement

Managing the Surplus Framework

[haggis0073]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

I fully intend to pay it back but when i spoke to them they said payment must be in full and i can't afford that and they declined a payment plan

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

They are entitled to do that as it was you that breached the agreement

Most people who transfer take the payment as a weekly allowance, not a one off payment

Not trying to worry you but weightmans will be next then a CCJ claim

You can then set up a repayment plan set by the court

[haggis0073]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

That's annoying as i have just finished clearing my old debt and all defaults have dropped off. Looks like it gonna be another 6 years of annoyance if i get a ccj. Better get my van finance set up for work now before this happens.

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

To be honest, it was you that decided to take the money and run

Not having a go at you

Just being blunt

[haggis0073]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

I wouldnt say took money and run as that implies it was my intention to do this. Since taking the package i have done over 2 years but unfortunately situations change and i left with 10 months remaining. But i kinda get what you mean ☺

[mariefab]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

If it's any comfort, you certainly don't owe them £4500; for the obvious reason that you didn't receive anywhere near the gross amount for the 10 months.
If you still have the relevant payslip you can calculate how much you owe them based on 10/36 of the net amount you received a couple of years ago.
Also, if you were due any pay for hours worked or untaken holiday pay in your final wageslip that was swallowed up by the £4000 deduction, that amount should be deducted from the outstanding debt.

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

Sorry Mariefab but you are in error

When the Mail Centre closed down the staff were given a choice, accept redundancy terms which was 104 weeks wages max, or accept a transfer to the next avaliable Mail centre. Travel costs will be compensated calculated on the milage there and back. Quite a few people i know purchased new cars with the money

As i stated this comes under a collective bargainning agreement called the MTSF. If you accept relocation then you will receive the payment under the MTSF as either a lump sum or every week in your wages.

On signing that agreement you agree that if your contract termnated before the end of the 36 months you will have to pay the proportion pro rata back

[mariefab]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

I'm not suggesting that the debt doesn't have to be repaid.
I'm saying that they can't claim an amount that haggis wasn't paid.
They seem to be trying to do that by claiming the Gross amount rather than the Net.

Look at it this way; if haggis was paid the £15000 this week and after tax & NI actually only received £10000, if he leaves next week they can't require that he repays £15000.

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

You did not pay tax on the relocation advance, only on severance

Any tax liability was paid by the employer under the agreement via a discount of 12.5% if the amount was taken as one lump sum

Tax liability was only payable on amounts above £30,000

[mariefab]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

The MTSF documentation states that the lump sum for excess travel expenses is subject to tax & NI deductions and that if an employee leaves within 3 years they will be be required to repay the relevant proportion of the net ETE payment.

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

Yes but the employer will offset that cost. That has now closed since the tax reforms of April 2013. I should know i negotiated the process with the branch for over 500 workers at the Mail Centre

The employer met the individual tax and NI deductions

The MTSF you are reading has now been replaced by a new version due to the changes in tax liabiity. That is the problem with things posted on the internet, they are usually way out of date

To give you an idea i was given £15 a day subsitance when travelling to a new area from branch funds. Now i have to pay myself and get a receipt, even for a bacon roll and claim it back.

I am now retired by the way

[haggis0073]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

well if they will not accept my reasonable payment plan and they go for a ccj i will just bankrupt myself as it will no doubt have the same affect of a ccj. I am more than happy to pay this back over a 1 year period but if they are not going to bother to negotiate with me and go ahead and mess my credit rating up then i will not be paying them anything. I am trying to be reasonable with them cheers for input so far guys

[judgemental24]

Re: royal mail legal team wanting money

I know of three people who they have done this to.

On one occassion within days of the judgement Weighmans had instructed a HCEO to collect.

You are given 28 days normally to pay before a CCJ is registered.

Royal Mail will not give an inch on this one