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"Right of Reimbursement" clause in CP contract

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    "Right of Reimbursement" clause in CP contract

    OK here is the deal. I took a shocking CP contract a couple of months ago out of a combination of necessity and naivity (it is my first UK contract).

    I have just been offered another role that will mean 2 hours less travel each day, an opportunity to work for a fantastic company, and a 70% pay increase to boot. However being in a CP contract I am thearetically locked in for the full 6 month term.

    The "Right of Reimbursement" section of the contract reads as follows:

    "If the company incurs of suffers any costs, expenses, damages or any financial loss or other liability, loss or damage because the contractor breaches any term or condition of this agreement then the contractor shall reimburse the company accordingly. In particular this shall include any claim for breach of contract arising from the contractor not commensing the assignment or terminating the agreement prematurely prior to the expiry of the assignment period and in such circumstances the company shall be entitled to charge an administration fee of £500 to recover administrative costs incurred from such breach. This administrative fee shall be without prejudice to any claim for damages which the company can also claim against the contractor arising from this breach. If the company so chooses, it can set off the amount to be reimbursed by the contractor, in whole or in part, against payments due to the contractor under this agreement. In addition, the contractor hereby agrees to indemnify the company in respect of, any costs, expenses, damages, compensation or any financial loss or other liability suffered or incurred by the company arising out of or in connection with any breach by the contractor and/or the personnel of the terms of this agreement or as a consequence of any act or ommission of the contractor and/or the personnel arising out of or in connection with the supply of the contractor or any of its personnel under the terms of this agreement. Further the personnel hereby indemnifies the company in respect of any sum due from the contractor to the company arising under the terms of this agreement howsoever arising whether under contract or indemnity or otherwise (including any sums owed by the contractor to the company arising under the provisions of this clause 12).



    Can anyone make sense of that? Scary parts in bold.

    To me it reads like they can name their price, and effectively rob you of any outstanding payments for work completed. I really hope that isn't the case.

    My concern is that CP will try and stiff me out of a few weeks of pay if I bail, as they work on a payment cycle that is 2 weeks in arrears (WTF is with that?!).

    Note that I also opted out at their insistence (live and learn).

    Has anyone bailed on a CP contract before (I'm sure many have), and if so what were the repercussions, if any?

    Cheers


    EDIT: My apologies, I meant to post this in Accounting/Legal.
    Last edited by JohnnyLow; 12 March 2006, 22:22.

    #2
    Don't sign it (actually, as a general rule, don't sign anything produced by CP ). You are the supplier, you are not liable for their consequential losses. They certainly can't put arbitrary values on your work, which is essentially what they're doing here, and you are certainly not liable for their admin costs (whatever that may mean anyway) - that's what their 20% margins are supposed to be for.

    Anyway, don't waste time on it, get it to Sarah at Bauer and Cotterill and ask them to take over the review and negotiations. It will cost £200 at most and may (will!) save you a lot.

    Or stick to the Malvolio approach - anything offered by CP is rejected immediately. Life is too short to work for charlatans.
    Blog? What blog...?

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by JohnnyLow
      OK here is the deal. I took a shocking CP contract a couple of months ago out of a combination of necessity and naivity (it is my first UK contract).

      I have just been offered another role that will mean 2 hours less travel each day, an opportunity to work for a fantastic company, and a 70% pay increase to boot. However being in a CP contract I am thearetically locked in for the full 6 month term.

      The "Right of Reimbursement" section of the contract reads as follows:

      "If the company incurs of suffers any costs, expenses, damages or any financial loss or other liability, loss or damage because the contractor breaches any term or condition of this agreement then the contractor shall reimburse the company accordingly. In particular this shall include any claim for breach of contract arising from the contractor not commensing the assignment or terminating the agreement prematurely prior to the expiry of the assignment period and in such circumstances the company shall be entitled to charge an administration fee of £500 to recover administrative costs incurred from such breach. This administrative fee shall be without prejudice to any claim for damages which the company can also claim against the contractor arising from this breach. If the company so chooses, it can set off the amount to be reimbursed by the contractor, in whole or in part, against payments due to the contractor under this agreement. In addition, the contractor hereby agrees to indemnify the company in respect of, any costs, expenses, damages, compensation or any financial loss or other liability suffered or incurred by the company arising out of or in connection with any breach by the contractor and/or the personnel of the terms of this agreement or as a consequence of any act or ommission of the contractor and/or the personnel arising out of or in connection with the supply of the contractor or any of its personnel under the terms of this agreement. Further the personnel hereby indemnifies the company in respect of any sum due from the contractor to the company arising under the terms of this agreement howsoever arising whether under contract or indemnity or otherwise (including any sums owed by the contractor to the company arising under the provisions of this clause 12).



      Can anyone make sense of that? Scary parts in bold.

      To me it reads like they can name their price, and effectively rob you of any outstanding payments for work completed. I really hope that isn't the case.

      My concern is that CP will try and stiff me out of a few weeks of pay if I bail, as they work on a payment cycle that is 2 weeks in arrears (WTF is with that?!).

      Note that I also opted out at their insistence (live and learn).

      Has anyone bailed on a CP contract before (I'm sure many have), and if so what were the repercussions, if any?

      Cheers


      EDIT: My apologies, I meant to post this in Accounting/Legal.
      This reads like scare tactics to me. CP couldn't possibly withdraw monies owing to you unless they could demonstrate actual material losses arises from your breach of contract. They couldn't charge an arbitrary £500 or any other sums unless they'd actually lost this money somehow. I don't see how they can. Furthermore, the agency are the supplier to the end-client so if they end client actually sued the agency for your breach of contract they would have to treat each claim separately. The end client would have to sue the agency and win leading to costs incurred by the agency. The agency has lost and then they would have to take out a separate civil action against you for their losses. The can't roll the whole lot into one package otherwise it implies that you actually work for them in some way.

      Next time always remain opted in and always insist on a notice period that will allow you to terminate early, should another better opportunity arise.

      Never listen to the stupid idiots on this forum who actually believe that opting in is for wimps and that only 'real men run real businesses' adn always opt out. It's just macho drivvel and has no logic at all in terms of running a business which is all about minimising risk and maximising profits not big talk.

      Comment


        #4
        Denny, that's almost total horsefeathers. It may barely be true, but only if CP are working as an agency. They don't do that, they pretend to be a consultancy and treat all sub-contractors as their employees in all but fact. Opt-in or out, they will ignore it and still try to screw you for monies deem to be owed (sound familiar?). This is a company that keeps back the VAT element of your legitimate expenses, remember?

        Get the contract reviewed and negotiated by a professional, you will never succeed with them as a single freelance, even a big ugly one like me. Or forget CP as a source of work and get a real contract.
        Blog? What blog...?

        Comment


          #5
          Here we go again...

          I sense another "Regulations" battle commencing.......!!

          Comment


            #6
            Well this arguement is all besides the point now. The Courts have just determined that all contractors are now disguised employees

            Mailman

            Comment


              #7
              It's quite easy for CP to put a value on their material losses. It's going to be (their margin) * (billing periods remaining on contract).

              Comment


                #8
                No, they do not apply anyway. CompanyA cannot hand off its liabilities to CompanyB without express agreement from CompanyB, so if you want to then fine, but it is commercially stupid to do so.

                The intent of the clauses quoted appear to be to ensure CP get their commission whether or not the contract is completed and also, more importantly, to seek to limit by economic means the right of the supplier to terminate the contract for any reason.

                It's also part of my ongoing campaign to demonstrate that WE are the suppliers, not the agencies - if anything we should be in the position to claim from them when they screw things up, not the other way round, but you try and get a mutual clause to that effect with CP.

                Walk away or get it negotiated out.
                Blog? What blog...?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Cheers for the advice guys.

                  One thing I need to clarifiy - I signed this contract a couple of months back. I am trying to guage the consequences of bailing on it.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by JohnnyLow
                    Cheers for the advice guys.

                    One thing I need to clarifiy - I signed this contract a couple of months back. I am trying to guage the consequences of bailing on it.
                    Apart from CP wishing to legitimately protect its business interestes what is wrong with the contract?
                    Let us not forget EU open doors immigration benefits IT contractors more than anyone

                    Comment

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