Local authorities lose appeal over planning permission for HMOs
The need for planning permission was introduced in April 2010 by the last LabourGovernment after it had conducted a consultation with interested parties theprevious year. However, the new Coalition Government decided that imposing a blanket need for planning permission in such cases could not be justified. It feared it would deter landlords from providing much…
Proposals to help both married and cohabiting couples
This can sometimes create problems for partners and close family members who don’t inherit as much as they expect or believe they deserve. Cohabiting couples are particularly at risk because if one dies without having made a will, the other has no automatic right to inherit the estate. This applies even if the couple have…
Golfer receives nearly £400,000 after being hit by ball
The accident happened when the novice visited a golf club in 2007. He and his companions were approaching the 7th tee when they heard a warning cry of “fore”. The novice golfer ducked his head and raised his hand to protect himself but was still struck by the ball. His injury was so bad that…
OFT updates its guidance on debt collection
The revised guidance highlights specific practices that the OFT considers to be unfair, such as using Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to contact debtors. It says that it is not acceptable to contact debtors at unreasonable times or inappropriate places, such as when they are a patient in hospital. The guidance also warns…
Common sense should apply when interpreting business contracts
Delivering the ruling, Lord Clarke said: “If there are two possible constructions, the court is entitled to prefer the construction which is consistent with business common sense and to reject the other.” The issue arose in the case of six separate companies that had each contracted to buy a ship for $33m from a Korean…
Make sure you know the boundaries when buying property
This is not as simple as it may appear, especially when provisions made in previous transfers of the property have an effect. A recent case before the Court of Appeal highlighted the problems that can arise. It involved a couple who bought a property that bordered a park. There were two potential boundaries to their…
Man awarded £1.8m compensation after ‘sun glare’ accident
He had been in the passenger seat of a vehicle when the driver was blinded by glare from the sun. The driver lost control of the car and collided with a stationary truck. The passenger suffered a near fatal brain injury. He was unconscious for six weeks and then had to spend three months in…
Government calls time on unfair practices that restrict pubs
The proposals have been put forward by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and are in response to the Select Committee’s Report on Pub Companies. They set out the details of a strengthened, legally binding Industry Code which it’s hoped will improve the relationship between pub companies and licensees. A BIS statement highlighted…
Bankruptcy and debt relief orders don’t ‘rule out possession orders’
That was the ruling of the Court of Appeal in two separate cases involving two tenants. Both tenants held assured tenancies and in both cases their landlords had applied for possession because of rent arrears. The first tenant had been made bankrupt before the possession hearing; the second tenant had obtained a debt relief order….
Will writing and estate administration ‘open to abuse’
There could also be major problems if consumers allow unregulated practitioners to draw up lasting powers of attorney. The society raised its concerns in response to the Legal Services Board’s call for evidence into will writing, estate administration and probate activities. The problem is that anyone can set up in business as a will writer,…
Hotel retains right of way over neighbour’s service road
The original owner of the hotel had been granted a licence in 1973 to use the road to provide access for coaches and commercial vehicles. That licence was personal to the original owner and ceased to have effect when new owners acquired the hotel in 1980. In spite of this, however, the hotel continued to…
Would you share your lottery winnings with your spouse?
If one hits the jackpot, they may be able to simply walk away without giving the other anything. The case involved a woman who had won £500,000 on the National Lottery. She bought the winning ticket with her own money and without her husband’s knowledge. The couple, who can’t be named for legal reasons, were…
Directors disqualified after failing to keep company records
The company was placed in administration in 2009 with an estimated deficiency of £1.3m. It was then investigated by the Insolvency Service which was unable to find any of the cars listed on the company’s books. The case went to Crewe County Court, which found that the directors had failed to ensure that the company…
Father faces repeated jail terms if he disobeys court orders
The issue arose following the breakdown of his relationship with the girl’s mother. He was allowed contact with his daughter but that wasn’t enough. In 2009 he abducted her and took her to Pakistan. The girl was then made a ward of court so the father took her to Iran, which has no arrangements with…
Could you make a profit pursuing late payers?
Record numbers of firms are going out of business every day. Their demise is often caused by their inability to recover money owed to them. Thankfully, there are many options available when it comes to dealing with debtors. If handled properly, firms can turn credit control into a profit making operation by recovering unpaid money…
Demand for rented accommodation is outstripping supply
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says that the number of its members stating that there are more tenants than properties has reached the highest level since records began. A survey of ARLA members found that 74% of agents believe that demand is outstripping supply. This has remained constant for the last four quarters….
Covenant restricts homeowner’s right to build
Failure to do so could prevent you carrying out alterations or developing the land, as happened in a recent case in the High Court. It involved a house owner who had bought a property on a small residential estate managed by a residents company. There was a covenant relating to the property stating that it…
Have you recorded your internet passwords in your will?
A survey by the cloud computing company Rackspace found that many people have built up valuable collections of music and videos online and they want to be able to pass these on to their loved ones, just as they would with other property and assets. They also fear that their accounts on bank websites or…
New proposals to allow more firms to avoid audits
EU regulations list three criteria by which firms can be regarded as small for accounting purposes. These are: no more than 50 employees balance sheet total no more than £3.26m no more than £6.5m in turnover To obtain an exemption in the UK, companies must currently fulfil both the balance sheet and turnover criteria. The…
Have you had problems with hair removal creams?
In May 2011 she used AVON’s ‘skin so soft’ hair removal cream adhering to the instructions, and within minutes of application she suffered a severe chemical burn to her skin. The only warnings that were given were on a leaflet in very small print stated “to avoid a skin reaction, test before each use”.There were…
Buy to let landlords acquiring more properties
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) and the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) conducted a survey of their members. The results showed that 30% of buy to let landlords in the North East had increased their portfolios in the last 12 months. The figure was 26% for both the Midlands and Greater London. The research…
Dismissal for sending racist e-mail from home was fair
Mr G had forwarded the e-mail titled “The British Are Way Ahead Of Us” to a colleague who had worked with him at a different prison. The e-mail read “Apparently it is a sin for an Islamic male to see any woman other than his wife naked and that he must commit suicide if he does.” …
Surveyors must pay £18m after giving negligent advice
The surveyors were hired by a consortium of developers to assess the commercial prospects of a factory outlet shopping centre. The centre was in a listed building on two floors. The developers acquired the lease on the centre for £62.85m based on the valuation produced by the surveyors. However, the centre was not a commercial…
Overall employment tribunal figures fall but age claims increase
The latest figures from the Tribunals Service cover the period from 1st April 2010 to 31st March 2011. There were a total of 218,100 claims during that period, a fall of 8% on the previous year. However, while it may be good to see the number of claims fall, it should be remembered that the…
Supermarkets and dairy processors fined for co-ordinating prices
The action follows an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). It found that Arla, Asda, Dairy Crest, McLelland, Safeway, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Cheese Company and Wiseman infringed the Competition Act 1998 by co-ordinating increases in the prices consumers paid for certain dairy products in 2002 and/or 2003. The co-ordination was made possible by…
When shareholders fall out and refuse to meet …
The issue arose in a case involving a taxi firm that had two shareholders who were also both directors. The minority shareholder played no active part in the business but her husband worked as the accounts manager. The majority shareholder discovered that the accounts manager was withdrawing money on a monthly basis without authorisation. He…
Woman injured in hair salon receives £21,250 compensation
She needed to undergo a skin graft procedure and the hair in the affected area of her scalp will never grow back. The incident happened when she went to a salon to have highlights put in her hair. It wasn’t the first time she had had highlights but it was the first time she had…
When divorcing couples try to ‘hide’ property
The courts, however, are prepared to set aside dubious transfers if it’s shown that they are simply an attempt to prevent a fair divorce settlement being reached. Such a case arose recently in which a husband used a company he owned to buy one of his properties worth up to £800,000. He then transferred the…
Salesman wins constructive dismissal claim
The salesman worked for a firm that supplied office equipment and electrical goods. He found that his customers were sometimes supplied with faulty goods, had orders diverted or were inconvenienced by late deliveries. These errors led to the salesman earning less commission. His earnings were further reduced when the company removed one of his major…
Could friends provide the key to buying a new home?
It can be a good way of taking the first step on the property ladder as long as everyone understands what is involved and there is a legally binding agreement that is fair to everyone. It can be tempting for friends to be informal about their relationship, but circumstances change and so it is wise…
Accountant must pay for enticing away former clients
For this reason, most firms will insist on a covenant preventing the seller from setting up a rival business or soliciting his former customers for a specified period. The value of this approach was illustrated in a recent case before the High Court. It involved an accountant who decided to sell his business. The buyer…
Sharp rise in civil partnership ‘divorces’
In 2010, 509 gay couples separated and dissolved their civil partnership. That was a 44% increase on 2009. Civil partnerships came into effect in December 2005. Since then, nearly 50,000 same sex couples have used them to formalise their relationships. More than 6,000 civil partnerships were registered in the UK last year, a slight increase…
Businesses failing to protect themselves against late payers
A survey of ICM members found that a quarter of them don’t use the payment performance data provided by B2B credit reference reports. Researchers also found that two thirds of businesses don’t share payment performance data about their customers with credit reference agencies. This is in spite of the fact that three quarters of them…
Director held personally liable for discriminatory dismissal
The director owned and ran an estate agency. He was the sole shareholder. One of his employees gave him a letter confirming that she was pregnant. Within minutes of reading the letter, he told her that she was being made redundant. This came as a complete shock to the employee who had not been previously…
Complaints mount up about unregulated legal services
All solicitors are strictly regulated and have to be insured in order to practice. It means that if something goes wrong, clients are fully protected. However, in recent years, several unregulated companies have started offering legal services. In his first annual report, the Chief Ombudsman Adam Sampson, said this had led to thousands of complaints…
Contract terms means English company must apply Indian law
Failure to do so could prove costly, as one UK company recently discovered. The company entered into an agreement with an Indian supplier to provide it with condoms to be sold in the UK. It was part of the company’s standard terms and conditions that disputes with foreign partners should be settled under English law….
Stroke victim awarded nearly £400,000 in discrimination case
A tribunal found that he had been discriminated against on the grounds of disability. Jonathan Jones worked as a branch manager in Cardigan for a major national company. There was an understanding at the company that managers were expected to work beyond their nominal contracted hours, and Mr Jones had signed an agreement opting out…
Mortgage lenders urged to back self-build home revolution
Housing Minister Grant Shapps says he wants self-build projects to become more widespread as a way of creating a much needed supply of affordable homes. Mr Shapps has written a letter to banks and building societies calling on them to provide more mortgages and other specialist finance products for self-builders. He says lenders should be…
Land to be made available for new homes
Housing Minister Grant Shapps is urging developers to come forward to take advantage of this new opportunity which could help create 25,000 jobs by 2015. Mr Shapps has told Government departments with significant land banks that by this Autumn, they must publish plans to release thousands of acres of previously developed land to house builders….
Breaking point – when are vacant premises really vacant?
The case involved a company that had two break options on a warehouse that it leased. The first date was for April 2009 and the second was for December 2009. The tenant decided to exercise the break clause on the April date. The landlord drew up a schedule of dilapidation repairs that needed to be…
Court orders that girl should live with grandmother
The parents had what was described in court as a “tumultuous relationship”. They had left their daughter with her maternal grandmother when she was one and a half years old. They later took her back but the authorities became concerned that they weren’t providing her with adequate care. Proceedings began and during a fact-finding hearing…
Surge in number of firms facing critical difficulties
The Red Flag Report produced by Begbies Traynor shows that 186,554 UK businesses were experiencing significant or critical financial problems in the first quarter of this year. That was a 15% increase on the same period in 2010. Sectors that are dependent on discretionary spending were the worst affected. Taken year on year, the number…
Judge wants to reform laws on divorce and cohabitation
Sir Paul Coleridge says an independent commission should be set up to look at ways of reforming the law relating to divorce and cohabitation because family relationships are now “unrecognisable” from 60 years ago when the last review was carried out. Sir Paul, who sits as Mr Justice Coleridge in the High Court, said that…
Be careful about who you allow to sign your contracts
It involved a recycling firm which found itself tied into a hire contract for three years when it thought the arrangement was only on a month by month basis. The confusion arose when a landfill manager signed a contract on the firm’s behalf to hire a high-speed shredder. The contract contained a clause saying any…
Ison Harrison opens 6th office in Guiseley
Jonathan Wearing, Managing Partner, Ison Harrison, said: “We strongly believe that our 150 strong team delivers just what families, individuals and businesses are looking for. We act for a broader base of clients than any other firm in Leeds, including criminal and family clients eligible for legal aid, commercial clients who need corporate advice and support, and private individuals who are moving…
Consumers should ‘be wary’ when buying legal services
Chief ombudsman Adam Sampson revealed that he has received 40,000 complaints about law practitioners since his office was set up six months ago. His team has not been able to deal with many of the complaints because they are against people who are not qualified solicitors. He said: “We’ve seen lots of cases where people…
Penalties imposed on construction firms ‘were too harsh’
The Tribunal said it was important to make a distinction between simple cover pricing and bid rigging, which is much more serious. Bid rigging involved firms joining forces as a cartel in order to enable one of them to win a contract at a lucrative rate. Cover pricing was less damaging. It usually happened when…
Energy performance certificates needed for holiday lets
Until now, the certificates have not been necessary for short holiday lets where there is no intention to create a tenancy. That will change on 30th June when certificates will be needed for holiday homes which are let for four months or more in any 12-month period. This total can be made up of several…
New measures to reduce burden of red tape for businesses
There will be a moratorium to exempt start-up businesses and firms with fewer than 10 employees from new domestic regulations for three years. There will also be a public audit of nearly 22,000 statutory instruments currently in existence to see if they are still useful or necessary. Businesses will be invited to voice their opinions…