- Original Poster
- #1
Hi all, I'm just wondering if anyone has previously had a similar situation to us and if so what the outcome was. Basically my husband and I had a ltd company which we had to put into liquidation last year. We were both on the payroll and paid tax and NI via payroll but we also took dividends as and when allowable. We both submitted claims to the RPS for unpaid wages which we were not paid in the last few weeks and we were advised by the liquidator that we could raise a claim for redundancy with the RPS. My husbands claim was accepted and he was paid the wages and redundancy. My claim was rejected and I went to a tribunal to try to claim back the wages I was owed. I lost the tribunal and the judge said the decision was based on the grounds that I worked extra hours in the last 2 years of trading than I did in the beginning and that because I could choose the hours I worked, I was 'master of my own destiny' and because I only kept a note of my working hours in a diary and not written on a time sheet like the other staff, I wasn't answerable to anyone and therefore not an employee and that my husband would not have been an employee either and the Secretary of State should probably want to look into the way I was treated against the way my husband was treated. (I must add my husband worked more hours that I did and was also paid an additional 'bonus' through payroll for working away from home which was in line with the other staff members).
The judge then stated that it also raises the questions whether I was an employee years ago when I received SMP and whether my husband should have indeed been given his unpaid wages and redundancy.
My question is, are they likely to request my husband pays back his wages and redundancy and are they likely to want the SMP back that I was paid 5yrs ago? and worst case scenario will they try to make out we have acted fraudulently? In my mind we haven't done anything wrong and I spoke to our accountant who says we haven't done anything wrong or illegal or in fact any different to the other company directors he completes work for. He says my SMP claim was accepted by HMRC all p60'S submitted thereafter have all been accepted.
I just have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach though. I suffer with anxiety and I'm worried that they will try to make us pay this back or worse, make out that my husbands claim was fraudulent. Since losing the business we have no money, we've gone through our savings to keep bills paid and our children fed and can barely make ends meet. Maybe I'm just building it up to be something it's not. I don't know. The last year has been incredibly stressful.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
The judge then stated that it also raises the questions whether I was an employee years ago when I received SMP and whether my husband should have indeed been given his unpaid wages and redundancy.
My question is, are they likely to request my husband pays back his wages and redundancy and are they likely to want the SMP back that I was paid 5yrs ago? and worst case scenario will they try to make out we have acted fraudulently? In my mind we haven't done anything wrong and I spoke to our accountant who says we haven't done anything wrong or illegal or in fact any different to the other company directors he completes work for. He says my SMP claim was accepted by HMRC all p60'S submitted thereafter have all been accepted.
I just have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach though. I suffer with anxiety and I'm worried that they will try to make us pay this back or worse, make out that my husbands claim was fraudulent. Since losing the business we have no money, we've gone through our savings to keep bills paid and our children fed and can barely make ends meet. Maybe I'm just building it up to be something it's not. I don't know. The last year has been incredibly stressful.
Has anyone had a similar situation?
