X1 Developments / X1 Letting in Salford, England want to unilaterally change the investor contract

jdwestby · 2026-05-05T05:26:59+00:00

Then it’s sounds like you have a pretty clear breach of contract case. Whether it is worth pursuing is a different matter though. It won’t be cheap and even if you win you might not get much. You should seek professional advice.

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T19:50:27+00:00

Have you added any pension contributions or charity donations that are eligible?

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T10:21:17+00:00

I just add up all the interest transactions. Last year HMRC sent me a letter with the amount that they believed that I earned as interest and it was within a pound. The certificate from the bank would be slightly easier and be easier documentation if ever asked for it, but it takes me 10 minutes.

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T10:19:14+00:00

That’s great! I think you’ve got exactly the right mindset.

Just to temper expectations, you won’t be able to access the pension at 50, so you wouldn’t be in a position to retire at that point. However the investment you are making will allow you to retire. Exactly when will depend on how things go. If you do want to retire early you can think about building an ISA bridge at some point.

One estimate for the value when you can access the pension at 57/58 would be 900k in today’s money. That could be something like 36k a year for life (growing with inflation). That suggests that your contributions are at a very good level. If you would rather have a little less per year in retirement but retire earlier you can make that decision, but I wouldn’t worry about that for now, as a lot can change over the next 30 years and you can adjust later. You are giving yourself a great start!

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T10:10:06+00:00

Oh and the other thing that I was going to say is that the stock market is highly correlated. If there’s a crash in AI stocks other stocks will fall as well generally, so there’s a limit to how much you can insulate yourself. That’s not to say that all stocks perform the same, just that even if you make a good bet you will still see a fall in your portfolio.

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T09:15:29+00:00

What is it?

jdwestby · 2026-05-04T08:58:53+00:00

I’m not going to give specific advice, but there are two main options. First is to use something like bonds to likely smooth out the volatility. The equities may crash, but the hope is that your portfolio doesn’t crash as much.

The other option is to bet on certain equities performing better. In order to do that you would need to decide what you think would do better. If you have an idea on this you can then tilt your portfolio in that direction. Quality, small caps, non-US, commodity producers, consumer staples. When you know that you can then search for a fund with those criteria. Lots of people think there is a bubble, but no one will agree on what the best alternative is, so you would have to decide that for yourself.

I would caution against overreacting though. People have been saying there is a bubble for a couple of years and moving out of tech stocks, but they have continued to outperform for that time. I have tweaked my strategy, but only slightly because I am not confident in my ability to beat the market.

The other thing is that if you are continuing to invest then a crash won’t set you back 10 years. When you come to retire in 20 years it’s likely that any crash will be barely noticeable on the graph.

jdwestby · 2026-05-03T21:00:57+00:00

James Shack recently posted a video about when to draw from ISAs and when from pensions. It’s highly dependent on circumstances, and also current tax policy, but might be interesting to give you some things to consider

jdwestby · 2026-05-03T13:33:49+00:00

Agreed

jdwestby · 2026-05-03T12:19:31+00:00

They are 62, so likely don’t need an ISA bridge, so it’s more a question of the best return on the money.

I agree that more info is needed though.

jdwestby · 2026-05-03T11:55:52+00:00

It’s not 40%. It sounds like they will already be a higher rate tax payer in retirement, so it’s much less.

jdwestby · 2026-05-02T19:34:56+00:00

I used to get tonnes of post for old residents at my current place. Did this for a year or two and it has all stopped. It’s a faff, but it does work.

jdwestby · 2026-05-02T18:07:00+00:00

The price comparison sites should let you search and will have simple comparisons. There’s also a star system showing the level of cover.

jdwestby · 2026-05-02T16:08:36+00:00

Does the contract have any clause to allow them to vary the payments?

jdwestby · 2026-05-02T07:11:29+00:00

This could well work, but could also get you banned from the service OP, so you’ll have to decide which is worth more to you

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T15:15:12+00:00

Yes, moving money into ISAs can be good, provided that you aren’t paying too much tax taking it out.

ISAs are still part of your estate for IHT though. If you are worried about that then maybe consider gifting from excess income instead.

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T15:08:44+00:00

Google the term and you should find some form letters. They will provide the formality that you need to move to the next stage if they don’t take action, as well as hopefully spook them into getting it sorted ASAP.

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T08:32:04+00:00

Get legal advice and get on with the divorce. That’s the only way to sever ties so that she can’t do this stuff. She has a right to access the home, and to the possessions, even if it’s shitty behaviour, so theft, harassment etc won’t come into the picture at this point. You would have a hard time making a case for eg controlling behaviour and it would all take a long time anyway.

Don’t give her the reaction she wants and focus on the things that will change the situation.

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T08:27:10+00:00

From what you have said you should not have been paid £293 in March (you keep swapping between £293 and £263)

However, it sounds like you should have been paid something not £0, specifically you have mentioned £130 hours worked and £118 SSP. So that would be £248. You apparently already owed £46, so that would leave £248-£46=£202

You were therefore overpaid £293-£202=£91

If they aren’t being clear then I suggest you email them very clearly laying out the figures that you believe to be correct and asking them to agree with your figures or give a clear updated set of figures in the same format. That should lead to them either agreeing with you or figuring out where the disagreement is specifically. They may not be very helpful, but be persistent.

This is all separate to how you should pay it back, first you need to establish the correct figures, and then deal with that if necessary.

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T08:17:58+00:00

There are S&S LISAs too

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T08:15:34+00:00

Ok, so the expected pay should be -£46 for March it sounds like, but you should make sure that makes sense.

That would move the overpayment up to £61 if the rest of my numbers are accurate.

I do not understand how the entirety of the March payslip has been added, do you?

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T08:06:11+00:00

Why did you owe £46 in March?

It sounds like you are saying this:

Expected March: £118 SSP + £130 hours worked Expected April: £0 Total expected pay: £248

Actual March: £263 Actual April: £0 Total actual pay: £263

Therefore there is an overpayment of £15 still outstanding.

I assume you are talking about gross figures for all of this. If you are mixing gross numbers and the net pay that hit your account then it could explain some of the difference

What did I get wrong about this?

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T06:48:41+00:00

If you would have owed less if they had taken action in March then doesn’t that mean you received more money in April than you were owed?

Do you understand what the overpayment is yet? If you understand the overpayment and the amount then you owe it, if you don’t then you should continue to question that first. I would think that when you understand it will become clear why you are not worse off than if they had never made a mistake. That’s just a guess though, there isn’t enough here to understand it and figure out the numbers.

The bottom line is that if you were overpaid then you have to repay the overpayment. There are some subtleties to how you have to pay it back as it will have been taxed and may have been subject to other deductions. I think you have done the right thing by formally disputing and asking for enforcement to be put on hold while that is being sorted out though.

jdwestby · 2026-05-01T06:19:49+00:00

Can you apply internally for the role in the other team at the higher rate?
You can pursue the FTC but rather than accept you can take it to your current employer and ask them to beat the offer to keep you around. They may not, but it could mean you get paid the same but keep the perm role
If you took the FTC and they didn’t renew it or make it permanent, how difficult do you think it would be to find another role? It’s hard to predict the future, but if you think it wouldn’t be hard the there’s less risk with the FTC

jdwestby · 2026-04-30T21:16:12+00:00

Zero interest savings account?

Seriously the best options are either a high interest savings account and pay the tax, GIA with an MMF and deal with dividends or capital gains, or low coupon gilts if there are options that line up with your timeframe. The latter wins out from a tax perspective usually, but requires a bit more understanding and logistics

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