Job Offer Withdrawn after contacts signed

[Broodymomma]

So.. to cut a ling story short my husband chose to take voluntary redundancy from his job due to the fact he had been head hunted by another company at the same time the offer came out. The contracts for the role were signed by both parties and all that was to be done was a start date set. My hisband went out and bought a brand new car as the job came with a substantial car allowance.

3 weeks down the libe he received a letter saying due to changes in the business their offer was being withdrawn.

Now we are stuck in a expensive car we now cant afford and will have to sell it back to the garage at a loss and he has no job from 8 weeks time.

I was wondering if there is any way we could claim the costs back due to the breach of contract from the company?

[anonymosity]

Look at the termination clauses in the contract that's been signed - first port of call to see what your DH's rights are...

[prh47bridge]

With contracts signed I presume the offer was unconditional and the main terms had been agreed. That being so and assuming the possibility of the offer being withdrawn was not mentioned your husband may be able to claim compensation from this company. However, the damages will normally only be the amount he would have been paid if they had given him his notice on the first day in the job. If the contract has a probation period during which he is on one week's notice, for example, he is likely to only receive one week's pay as damages. It is very unlikely you will be able to claim the loss on the car.

You could see if his current employers would accept retraction of the voluntary redundancy. If you want to pursue a claim against the other company your husband should consult an employment lawyer.

[LittleMissHoHoHoFit]

This happened to a friend of mine once, she took them to court and I think they were told to pay her a number of months salary.