Can anyone give me some legal advice?

I was working for a very short time with value cabs in Northern Ireland,when i started i had to pay them 拢200 deposit they said this would be refunded to the driver on return of the equitment in good working order,by this they meant sign meter,radio ect. They also said if i wanted to termanate my employment i had to give 2 weeks notice in writing which i did not do,because i was not getting the work they said i would so they kept the 拢200 is this right can they legally do this,if i dont give them a letter to say i am leaving?Thanks for any help its a real pain.

you failed your conract by not giving the required notice simple your money is forfeited. nothing is more plainer than that.

What you first of all need to establish was the contract which you made. Was the contract made verbally or in writing and what did it say?

If the deposit of 拢200 which you made was refundable on the return of your equipment and you complied with this condition then you are legally entitled to your money back UNLESS something in the contract stated it would be forfieted if you did not comply with it. It's as simple as that!

The 2 weeks notice which was required by you which you did not give means technically your employment with them still exists but this is a seperate legal obligation to the return of your money unless as previously stated they have some right to retain your initial deposit.

Hope this helps!

Depends on the contract that you signed when you joined.
Did your contract say that they would provide you with a minimum level of business?
Did it specify you and their notice periods?
Your question contains a lot of 鈥榯hey said鈥檚.
I鈥檓 getting the impression that you didn鈥檛 have a written contract.
That鈥檚 no problem a verbal contract is just as binding as a written contract,
So did they verbally say that they would provide you with a minimum level of business and can you prove it?
Can you prove that they said that they would refund you the 拢200 deposit 鈥?have you got a receipt for the 拢200.
As you can see it鈥檚 not an easy answer.
If you鈥檝e got the equivalent of the English Citizens Advice Bureau in NI I suggest you run the situation past them.

Firstly, the answer is no, I can't give you legal advice. (On the internet, you'll rarely find anybody who is both capable of and willing to give actual legal advice. I find this board quite entertaining for that reason.)

However, I can give you general legal information which you may find helpful.

Firstly, as far as I know, no employee has ever been held liable to pay an employer's loss when leaving employment. I'm not up-to-date on recent U.K. law, but I can't imagine that this would have changed.

Secondly...well, a deposit that's refundable upon a condition being met...ought to be refunded upon that condition being met...

Well you needed still to give them the 2 weeks notice no matter what, the agreement between you and the cab company simply required to give 2 weeks notice which you failed to do, sorry to say you have no leg to stand on.
If your reason for leaving them due to serious circumstances they might gave you the deposit just being nice but I don't think they will now, sorry mate.

Was this a contract? Did you not fill your part of the contract, which includes notification of termination?

If you breeched the contract in any way, your deposit will have been forfeited. Read your contract in detail.

legalzoom.com might help you

The situation is not entirely clear from what you say so here goes:
Have you anything in writing .. this will make things a lot easier. I suspect that the return of the equipment is and can be a separate issue on any contract you have. You can return the equipment and are entitled to the refund deposit of 拢200.
As for the notice period regardless of anything being in writing or not my argument would be that there had to be a reasonable expectation that there would be work and sufficient work to justify the use of the equipment and to create a meaningful working wage. There fore I think you have a very strong justification for seeking work elsewhere. There are various legal arguments that you could employ but these will probably only confuse you. I would write a letter, in effect saying 'you have complied with the safe return of the equipment and therefore want your 拢200. As for the notice, you consider them to be in breach of specific and implied terms that there would be work or sufficient work placed with you and therefore you consider yourself justified in seeking work elsewhere.' Additionally, check how your local small claims court operates - I suspect it is very similar, and then perhaps also add the following to your letter ' If your money is not returned within 7 days you will commence proceedings to recover the money. In addition you will seek additional costs and compensation.'
Edit: a quick search suggests your N Ireland small claims operates very like England, try <www.consumerline.org/search/?catname> it gives help line phone numbers. It will cost you 拢36 to issue a claim for the amount you are involved in and when you win you get that back. Best I can do for you as I don't have access to a full law library at the moment.