Contract signed without me? do i have a case

[DSM94]

I left royal mail to go off to uni, however just before i left i was given a new contract the usual bs with please reply to confirm your intentions of continuing on with your employment. Now royal mail continued to pay me because my manager didnt put down i had left and then the contract i didnt sign got renewed now royal mail wish for all their money back i am fine with paying part of it off however am i correct in saying that due to me not signing the new contract royal mail cannot renew my contract? please can anyone help me on the subject thank you

[Theghost]

How much are we talking about here?

[dvbuk55]

Well you should pay it all back because it wasn't yours and in the original contract there is probably a clause about renewal - just pay it back and save yourself the grief..................more grief if you've spent it!

[Pat Ostman]

I'm afraid it's theft, nothing more nothing less. That's how the court will view it. You are onto a loser here so would advise you to make arrangements to repay it all.

Nobody forced you to spend it...

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I left royal mail to go off to uni, however just before i left i was given a new contract the usual bs with please reply to confirm your intentions of continuing on with your employment. Now royal mail continued to pay me because my manager didnt put down i had left and then the contract i didnt sign got renewed now royal mail wish for all their money back i am fine with paying part of it off however am i correct in saying that due to me not signing the new contract royal mail cannot renew my contract? please can anyone help me on the subject thank you

If you are still at Uni might be worth having a word with the Students Union to see if they can advise, but the only way you might not have to pay all of it back is if you made "reasonable" attempts to contact Royal Mail and advise them.

However if they really wanted to be arsey they could try to get you done for theft if you have not tried to contact them before.

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Sec 24A of the Theft Act.....

Dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit.

(1)A person is guilty of an offence if—

(a)a wrongful credit has been made to an account kept by him or in respect of which he has any right or interest;

(b)he knows or believes that the credit is wrongful; and

(c)he dishonestly fails to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to secure that the credit is cancelled.

------------------------

Your only reasonable action is to contact them - via the SU if you can, and arrange a repayment plan.

[clashcityrocker]

Assuming you went to university Sept/Oct - did they continue to pay you for 10/12 weeks before anyone noticed?

[DSM94]

its immaterially about how much over it is, i dont want to be held accountable for money if legally they're not allowed to give me a new contract without my signature

[DSM94]

i am more than happy to pay it back, however that would be on my terms as a student and second just want to know if they can sign a contract without me, im back off to uni tonight so will re read the contract

[TrueBlueTerrier]

its immaterially about how much over it is, i dont want to be held accountable for money if legally they're not allowed to give me a new contract without my signature

The contract and the overpayment are 2 separate issues.

Their admin is appalling that's a given, but you knew they should have stopped paying you and that's the crux of the matter not the contract.

As you hadn't signed the contract and had left YOU knew you were not entitled to be paid.

When they continued to pay you, and you knew you were not entitled you have a legal responsibility to make reasonable steps to inform them. If you didn't take any steps then they may have a case to make a claim against you. If you did take reasonable steps then you MIGHT have a case.

However, you need professional advice, not a bunch of well meaning if critical posters on a chat site. Go to the SU and CAB see what they advise and do it soon, the longer you try to look for a loophole and there isn't one, the harder Royal Mail will play. The CAB will also help you set up a repayment plan with Royal Mail if you can't pay it back immediately.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

its immaterially about how much over it is, i dont want to be held accountable for money if legally they're not allowed to give me a new contract without my signature

But they have'n't given you a new contract. They just continued to pay you, not hold you to the contract. You need to separate the two issues.

[DSM94]

Thanks TBT, i'll go to my su tomorrow morning and see what can be done, i have an interview tomorrow so if i get that can pay back quicker, they're demanding they want the money back within sixth months and that my old manager will face a disciplinary. The funny thing about it all was when i called up the guy didnt actually speak he let me do the talking and that continue until i said so what should be done

[fishtank]

Truth is you shouldn't have spent it because you knew you weren't entitled to it and that's the base line position any court will take so I would avoid going in all guns blazing demanding to pay it back on your terms.
A better approach would be contrition,not a little humility,explain your current financial position and keep your fingers crossed.

[Sidley]

The funny thing about it all was when i called up the guy didnt actually speak he let me do the talking and that continue until i said so what should be done

Letting you talk so he can gather evidence to get himself out of the sh*te probably.

[wiganpostie]

I was overpaid one week, I flagged it up immediately and was allowed to pay it back over as many weeks as I wanted. Your circumstances are slightly different though , so I doubt they will be as accommodating. Can I just ask, though, what made you think you would get away with it?

[janitor]

when i left they kept paying me for over a month, i knew it wasn't mine so put it to one side till they asked for it back, which they did, and paid it back in one lump sum. telling them doesn't make a blind bit of difference, they said they couldn't stop paying me just because i had left, they needed the correct paper work from my manager.