Reply to: West 28th Street Limited

[Monkeypower]

Hmmm, EBT Loan or Consumer Credit Loan?
Back in the early stages when HMRC alerted me to the suspect nature of my arrangements, my Scheme Promoter applied their 'Teflon desk' approach and fobbed me off to an entity called Trust Helpline' Ring any bells with anyone here?
To paraphrase the old saying "It it looks like a Duck (Trust) and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck"
West 28th best go waddle off into the sunset as I believe their latest attempt to extrort money by redefining these EBT Loans is a dead duck. Yeh I know, too many duck references here. Happy Friday all.

I like your thinking . I even still have the generic "Trust Help Line " (operating as Helpline services ltd) letter sent to people .. to quote some of the wording

" Helpline Services Ltd are writing to you in our capacity as Communications Administrators, having been engaged by the Trustees, ECS International Trustees (Isle of Man) Limited and Professional Independent Trustees Limited "The Trustees".

The Trustees are trustees for several Brands, one of which (or more than one) were involved with your former employer.

These Brands are Sanzar Solutions, Tudor Pay, Long Acre, Eximius, Dynamic Partners, IQ, Garraway and Winchester.

The Trustees appointed Helpline Services Limited to engage with you, as borrower, and manage any communication and questions you may have regarding your loan(s) on their behalf going forward."

"Current Legislation - Retrospective Action

As a recipient of loans, we would like to provide an update and make sure you are aware of the current legislation known as "2019 Loan Charge", which will take effect on 5 April 2019. The "Loan Charge" will tax retrospectively any loans established through contractor loan arrangements if they are still outstanding on 5th April 2019. These include loans made via Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) and Employer- Financed Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFRBS).

The new legislation will not apply if you have genuinely repaid your loans prior to 5 April 2019."

Then at this point they started asking would one like to purchase a "Deed of Release"... to Quote " Contact Helpline Services Limited to purchase a "Deed of Release" which is the trustee's agreeing to your formal legal release from the debt"

I count the words "Trust" or "Trustees" at least 9 times in just that extract ...............I think it could be a Duck!

[Diagnose b4 u prescribe]

That's literally all you need - as I said yesterday West 28th and Trethowans need a time machine

they started chasing the money as EBT loans and failed
they now want to use the CCA against these loans - but the originator has confirmed that they are EBT loans so they can never be subject to the CCA..

So unless they go back to before the scheme started they've got a fundamental flaw they can't resolve..

Hmmm, EBT Loan or Consumer Credit Loan?
Back in the early stages when HMRC alerted me to the suspect nature of my arrangements, my Scheme Promoter applied their 'Teflon desk' approach and fobbed me off to an entity called Trust Helpline' Ring any bells with anyone here?
To paraphrase the old saying "It it looks like a Duck (Trust) and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck"
West 28th best go waddle off into the sunset as I believe their latest attempt to extrort money by redefining these EBT Loans is a dead duck. Yeh I know, too many duck references here. Happy Friday all.

[cojak]

And we’re back…

[cojak]

Okay, I’m getting a bit annoyed now as this thread has been swamped by off-topic posts. Loanchargehurt take your argument to another thread - this one is for W28 people.

Any more disruption to this thread and I will ban the offenders.

Don’t worry guys, I’ll tidy up and reopen after lunch.

[MrO666]

Who knows where this will all go, but one thing is for sure, if they genuinely try to make demands, this is going to take many years and lots of money, as this would all head to the big boy courts, not some local magistrate.

Poor Adrian though, he must be crying himself to sleep.

[eek]

He even states in his interview they were employment loans which would make them EBT not CCA.

That's literally all you need - as I said yesterday West 28th and Trethowans need a time machine

they started chasing the money as EBT loans and failed
they now want to use the CCA against these loans - but the originator has confirmed that they are EBT loans so they can never be subject to the CCA..

So unless they go back to before the scheme started they've got a fundamental flaw they can't resolve..

[Wtaf]

Sack-o-tulip is a victim, suuure. If he felt so bad about what's happening why doesnt he give away all the money he made throughout this? No, what a surprise. He even states in his interview they were employment loans which would make them EBT not CCA. The people behind this would no longer be hidden behind a confidentiality curtain if this got to court.

[cojak]

Also, tracking down and keeping the documents of those original schemes is what we’ve been telling people for years.

sadly, it’s been that long that many contractors are in this position…

I think he’s got bugger all hard evidence of anything from that period apart from a dim and distant memory of being in a Scheme that HMRC want a real-life solid chunk of.

He’s got nothing, nada. No bank statements, no evidence of employment, not even the memory of his day rate. Nowt but the HMRC demand, so he has absolutely no proof that the demand is accurate or not.

HTH.

[cojak]

Oh really, what a pile of crock. And I suppose identifying the ‘funder’ will get his legs broken…

(Excellent article, btw - first class investigative journalism.)

[Monkeypower]

Just in ... the man himself !

https://www.contractoruk.com/news/ad...call-interview

[eek]

But that's only one and there are others, and there is absolutely no certainty that they will be able to clear those hurdles."

It's refreshing to see a company that appears to be acting with integrity on behalf of it's clients!

Many of those hurdles require a time machine - so I can't see them being cleared...

[Diagnose b4 u prescribe]

Latest commentary from Greenwoods solicitors... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt-145rsrG4

That's an interesting and informative video from Greenwoods. Their view is that because West 28 have not followed up on those April letters, it's best to sit and wait for now. So Greenwoods are NOT trying to extract any more money from their clients.

For visibity, here's a couple of extracts from the transcript starting around 1min 30 seconds in:
"Nothing has happened, and our suggestion remains that we should wait.
We are of course aware of what some other firms are doing and have been doing including pressing people to sign up to pay some sums towards unknown future costs with a recommendation that the best course of action is to take the fight to West 28th in various different forms. That's not our position. There are several reasons which we covered in our last update both in the video and on email as to why we say we should wait.
...... we can only suspect that West 28th has realised that if they are going to make a claim against anybody for an alleged loan, then there are a number of hurdles under the Consumer Credit Act that they need to clear first. Sending the corrective annual statements which everybody received back in April this year; that was one such hurdle or box that they needed to tick. But that's only one and there are others, and there is absolutely no certainty that they will be able to clear those hurdles."

It's refreshing to see a company that appears to be acting with integrity on behalf of it's clients!

[lillybean]

Latest commentary from Greenwoods solicitors... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt-145rsrG4

[clause out]

"Trethowans and West 28th have been working together since 2022. First fighting them as EBT loans, but now as CCA."

There are so many links between the nefarious entities going way way back. Good to see the dots being joined.

[cojak]

Whether that's the cause for the silence or not who knows, but at the very least you would assume that the people who run Trethowans would be keen to not have their name associated with what is universally accepted as tax avoidance scheme(s).

Equally, if they try and claim they're just trying to recover debts, then seeing as they don't appear keen to respond to a single SAR (from what I've heard), it would rather complicate their approach in court I'd assume. Telling someone you're taking them to court at the same time as saying they won't honour a SAR isn't going to do them any favours is it.............and for a law firm to act in this manner, I think that says all you need to know about Trethowans.

One thing is for sure, if this ends up in court, then the gloves are going to be off on both sides, and at that point, the press coverage for Trethowans won't look good. Id' be doing everything I could to get their name and association with this mess up in lights for all to see.

As for W28, they don't care what they look like, as it's basically a shell company anyway, and will just dissolve and move on.

Only because this has blown up in their faces and has got national attention.

Trethowans and West 28th have been working together since 2022. First fighting them as EBT loans, but now as CCA.

https://caseboard.io/cases/b8eed28f-...3-572b6d289163

I quite agree Mr O666, Trethowans aren't exactly what we originally thought they were...