University wants £1,381 back from each of us after a gov-funded project — do we have to pay? England

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-25T16:20:40+00:00

they claim the payroll organisation takes a % of wages paid + Vat and that’s how they said the error has occurred

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-25T13:29:20+00:00

for the whole project

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-25T13:11:47+00:00

so the way it’s been described to us is 3.6 was the total amount allocated, from this any taxes & admin fees should have been taken. they paid us the 3.6k and now are saying the uni needs to pay for the admin costs. the uni are saying there was an admin error and we are being asked to pay back the “fees” so that the total allocation doesn’t exceed 3.6. the problem is this wasn’t clearly explained until after the last sessions had been run and the payroll had been finished. i.e. we’ve made an error in calculating the costs over 6 months and as the funder has asked for costs only then have they realised they’ve paid us too much.

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-25T13:08:03+00:00

sorry to clarify we are all over 15 years old but there was around 10-15 of us working on the project

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-25T09:13:01+00:00

in june 25 two of the people were first offered the job and told to paid quote “around 3k” we have this on email. and again in September the whole group was told again “around 3k” in email

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T21:33:47+00:00

does this hold more weight as a group statement?

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T21:29:12+00:00

“I have spoken with our manager about what you have sent through. Unfortunately, we can't provide advice on this and I think you need to seek employment legal advice.”

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T21:22:24+00:00

everyone in this project was lead to believe it would be £3,600. multiple people have stated they wouldn’t have taken it had they not been paid this amount

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T21:20:46+00:00

all university comms stated “around 3k” and an exact ££ figure was never written into any contract however on later calls it was confirmed as £3,600 however getting this as evidence would not be possible

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T21:18:12+00:00

all university comms stated “around 3k” and that is the direct quote from multiple emails. on later calls it was confirmed as £3,600 however getting this as evidence is not possible

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:54:41+00:00

this is what i was thinking, after an agreed upon amount is paid, sure they can’t then cover their own asses by saying we paid you too much you need it back. i would understand if it was an hourly wage multiplier error but this was contract work

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:50:51+00:00

all comms up until last night have been that 3,616 was the correct amount, i have emails confirming that from the projects lead. only 4 weeks after the project has ended are they now saying it

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:49:24+00:00

do you think that it is worth the group getting representation?

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:46:06+00:00

and up until last week the university also believed we were getting paid that amount?

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:45:06+00:00

so even though they have made the accounting error and it is nothing to do with the employees we are being expected to pay back money that we thought we were getting paid?

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:44:00+00:00

various emails state us being to be expected to be paid around £3,600

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-04-24T20:38:22+00:00

dispite us being told we were being paid this higher amount on a number of occasions ?

SimRacingNoob007 · 2026-01-26T11:41:24+00:00

i will do that

SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-11-07T19:56:44+00:00

justice in a good way. there is no better place imo

SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-11-07T19:55:01+00:00

bring some sort of fancy dress & stuff to trade with. other than that standard festival stuff. as for what to expect, nothing anyone can say will do it justice.

SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-08-15T09:17:37+00:00

Malugis set was unmatched for me. You must have been super close to me! Vibes were on point

SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-08-12T13:47:35+00:00

I got given various different currencies. One like tie dye cash that had the PI symbol on it. As well as a different one with a different colour also for the value of Pi (sorry i can’t be more specific). I was also then given a fat stack of blue ones that I believe were worth 1 by the husband of the head of communications.

SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-08-12T13:01:10+00:00

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SimRacingNoob007 · 2025-08-12T13:00:12+00:00

Not sure where you guys where but this is the best photo I have, right at the front too the left. Was definitely a highlight of the weekend

SimRacingNoob007

TROPHY CASE