Umbrella Company Not Remitting Wages To My Account.

[user1477255159]

My stomach hurts and I feel sick!
I started a locum assignment in October, to be paid weekly via an Umbrella company. The umbrella company has not paid me at all. The recruiter and the Umbrella both send texts weekly saying they've sent the money to my account but as I've used them several times in the past, I generally trust that of course they would have paid it, we have a signed contract, they are regulated, I took their word for it. I don't check texts/sms and I don't check my bank account. I do my work and that's it but now I need some money and my husband needed to file my tax returns but my bank balance seemed oddly and terrifyingly very low. Admittedly I don't like numbers. I shy away from calculations, numbers don't compute quickly or easily for me as the do others. My husband asked me to log into both banks accounts I have and we couldn't find wages.

We tried to find my wages amongst the transaction but found none. So I emailed them immediately which was at the weekend. Then I rang them first thing on Monday and the person I spoke to said she would listen to the call where the account details was given and I must have given them someone else's account number (not possible as I don't have anyone else's account details. Won't that even be against employment rules to not check the account has authorisation to work in the UK and doesn't match the name I registered with etc?). I asked when I'll hear back, she said within an hour but she never rang me I've not been able to speak to her since. She's never available. Whenever I call they say they're looking into it. They're not replying any of my emails.

Today I pushed my way to speak to a director who's name I'd found online. They said she was unavailable and passed me on to someone else. He says he's the Operations Director. He said
the money might be in my savings account or so and how come I've kept quiet all this while and waited till after 15 weeks of non payment. The first time was understandable but not after that. It's a lot of money and it has left their account and they can't pay it twice.
I didn't wait or keep quiet. The assignment was for just over 3months ending this month. I've used this Umbrella company in 2020 and 2021. I gave them my correct account details. His company has a duty to pay to the account I gave them. I asked him who's account was it paid to; he said he can't say. I asked is it the account I gave during the call? he said he can't say. He can't say anything until the bank tells him where it went. I said but your account and systems will show where you sent it to. he said he can't give me that information as he could be giving me someone else's information.

What can I do??
I feel nauseous and want to cry.

When they say you might have given them someone else's account details, they don't mean that you knew the details for another account. They mean you made a mistake when giving them your account details, e.g. swapping over two numbers, and so the details you've given them are valid, but not your account. It is, of course, possible that you gave the correct details, but they entered them incorrectly.

They have to check that you have authorisation to work in the UK. They don't have to check that the bank details you have given are for an account in your name or conduct any other checks on the account.

Your employer's systems will not tell them who has your money. They will tell them the sort code and account number used, but that is all. Even if they know, they can't give you that information as that would be a breach of GDPR.

By leaving it 15 weeks, you have made matters worse. If you had checked that the first payment had gone in successfully and notified them immediately when you found it was missing, it may have been easier to recover the money and, at the very least, less money would have gone missing. If they have contacted their bank to request return of the money, whoever has received it will be given a chance to dispute the claim. The bank will then investigate. This can take up to 20 working days.

At this stage I'm afraid all you can do is wait. It may well be late next month before you see your money.

@user1477255159 i agree with @prh47bridge The only thing I would add is make sure you have put in writing that you have not received your payments and send it to both the umbrella company and the company you did work for.

Thanks. They've now sent what they believe is the full amount due. I've asked for the complete payslips so I can add them up.

@user1477255159 that is good news.

Please take this as a reminder in future to promptly check you have received monies due. Much easier to rectify at the start.

Thanks. I will. I've set up folders and will start saving and checking payslips vs deposits.

One huge weakness of mine is disinterest in numbers. I simply don't like looking at them. For that reason I don't open my banking app or look at statements. Also, I sometimes swap two digits in a set of numbers. However, If I read them in twos or slowly then it doesn't ever happen. Further more this is my bank account details which I'm familiar with and would've read slowly and in twos.

Glad you got the money. You are going to need to check your bank account weekly (if not daily - many many of us check ours daily ) even if you don't like that and I would also recommend you print out (or save to your computer) all pay slips and P60s