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Lost money due to government dept "losing" my SC

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    Lost money due to government dept "losing" my SC

    Fully expect some sarcastic comment from NLUK here mind!

    Anyway, left a contract last October which I had SC for.

    Started a new one shortly after which needed SC. The new client then said no clearance existed for me which was strange. I had a letter from 2017 telling me my SC had been granted.

    Anyway, to cut a long story short, because of all this, they terminated my contract.

    Not the end of the world, got another one a week later. Yep you guessed it same problem, can't find clearance and sorry you can't start without it.
    Luckily for me, they were willing to hold it open for me. In the meantime, I was in touch with Dept of BEIS (who apparently had my clearance).
    They were'nt the quickest, but eventually they admitted they'd screwed up back in 2017 and even though I had clearance they hadn't logged it properly so no-one could see it on the system.

    Positive news I could start my new gig. Not without 2 months of zero income while I waited for them to sort it out.
    Spoke to an ex-colleague the other day (he started same time as me in previous gig and finished same time). Yep you guessed it they'd screwed his up too.

    I did make an official complaint but the answer I got back was "oops sorry" pretty much which is not great.

    Tempted to get legal advice because it has cost me a lot of lost income because some donut didn't do things properly. Anyone ever done anything like this?
    Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

    #2
    Waaaay back I worked on a MoD site. For 2 years. I left them and moved to a different client. When the new clientco approached the vetting organisation they disavowed any knowledge of my SC. Fortunately I've found if you're good enough they'll reclear you anyway.

    Good luck getting money out of anyone though!
    Last edited by b0redom; 27 July 2022, 11:04.
    And the lord said unto John; "come forth and receive eternal life." But John came fifth and won a toaster.

    Comment


      #3
      IME most places which require SC will also let you start, possibly without full unfettered access to all systems whilst 'at risk' with SC pending assuming that:

      1) You're good enough to be hard to replace/find
      2) You're not a risk
      And the lord said unto John; "come forth and receive eternal life." But John came fifth and won a toaster.

      Comment


        #4
        The legal route for lost income won't work and not worth trying (IMO). You have to prove direct loss for a claim to succeed. As a contractor it's your business to find work. If one avenue isn't open then you go find other work. Claiming loss of earnings, which you didn't earn so you didn't lose, due to an admin error when it's your responsibility to then go find other work is a very thin argument. They will argue you didn't have to wait two months, you could have gotten another gig in the meantime so you took the financial risk by waiting. They could also argue you do didn't do enough diligence at the start and end of the last gig to ensure you knew where your SC was and it was valid. Again arguable.

        Because there are so many argumentative points it's also going to take a lot of too'ing and fro'ing which will involve solicitors costs. You might get a split judgement with a partial payment which is likely to get wiped out by your solicitors costs.

        This is a case of crap happens so a legal challenge is unlikely to be worth it even if you had a clear cut case, which you most definitely don't.

        Two months is a long time as well. Why didn't you just get another gig and drop the delayed one like a hot potato?

        Sometimes things aren't fair but that isn't a basis for a legal argument.
        Last edited by northernladuk; 27 July 2022, 11:17.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

        Comment


          #5
          I think the answer is that there is nothing that can be done about it.

          Although, as I think we've pointed out in the past it leaves the awkward of question of why were the BEIS happy to let you look at confidential data when they hadn't got the paperwork that allowed you to look at it.
          merely at clientco for the entertainment

          Comment


            #6
            Also, Mal needs to clarify this but even if you held SC at a previous gig it isn't a given it's transferrable. SC should exist with the gig not the person or something like that so even if you had it in the past it's not a guarantee it's available for the next one. Mal words it better than that but it's another argument they can bring up to obfuscate the situation.
            'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
              Also, Mal needs to clarify this but even if you held SC at a previous gig it isn't a given it's transferrable. SC should exist with the gig not the person or something like that so even if you had it in the past it's not a guarantee it's available for the next one. Mal words it better than that but it's another argument they can bring up to obfuscate the situation.
              The only thing having security clearance helps is in demonstrating that you may be able to get it again...
              merely at clientco for the entertainment

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by b0redom View Post
                IME most places which require SC will also let you start, possibly without full unfettered access to all systems whilst 'at risk' with SC pending assuming that:

                1) You're good enough to be hard to replace/find
                2) You're not a risk
                Yeh to be fair the new place did start a new clearance but that does take time. They were good about and I did, in the end, start a week or two before it got sorted.
                Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
                  The legal route for lost income won't work and not worth trying (IMO). You have to prove direct loss for a claim to succeed. As a contractor it's your business to find work. If one avenue isn't open then you go find other work. Claiming loss of earnings, which you didn't earn so you didn't lose, due to an admin error when it's your responsibility to then go find other work is a very thin argument. They will argue you didn't have to wait two months, you could have gotten another gig in the meantime so you took the financial risk by waiting. They could also argue you do didn't do enough diligence at the start and end of the last gig to ensure you knew where your SC was and it was valid. Again arguable.

                  Because there are so many argumentative points it's also going to take a lot of too'ing and fro'ing which will involve solicitors costs. You might get a split judgement with a partial payment which is likely to get wiped out by your solicitors costs.

                  This is a case of crap happens so a legal challenge is unlikely to be worth it even if you had a clear cut case, which you most definitely don't.

                  Two months is a long time as well. Why didn't you just get another gig and drop the delayed one like a hot potato?

                  Sometimes things aren't fair but that isn't a basis for a legal argument.


                  True enough I did make the decision to hang on and wait. Of course, you wait a week and they promise they'll get back to you in a day or two, then its another week.
                  In the end, I did talk to the new client and say "look I can't wait any longer" and to be fair they let me start a few weeks before my SC came through.

                  Apart from this two months, gig is great so, in a way, glad I stuck with it. Of course, if I'd bailed for a non-SC role then my SC would be gone soon so I guess thats a business decision.

                  As for due diligence, I had a letter from 2017 telling me I had clearance. I tried all ways to tell BEIS, that "look I've got this letter with this persons name on, whats happened to my SC?" BUT as you know things move slowly.

                  Know what you mean. Quoted £2000 up front from a few solicitors. Not worth it.

                  On the plus side, I did claim a bit of JSA and even got tax credits for one month....
                  Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by eek View Post
                    I think the answer is that there is nothing that can be done about it.

                    Although, as I think we've pointed out in the past it leaves the awkward of question of why were the BEIS happy to let you look at confidential data when they hadn't got the paperwork that allowed you to look at it.
                    It wasn't BEIS I worked for just for some reason they handled my SC?

                    But yes I did point this out that for 4 years I'd been working at a client thinking I had SC when maybe I didn't really. They did come back, eventually, to tell me that yes my SC was all done in 2017 just that someone had "forgotten" to log it onto the system.

                    Visions of finding a paper copy at the bottom of someones desk whos left.
                    Rhyddid i lofnod psychocandy!!!!

                    Comment

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