Estate agent in court over Data Protection offence
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires organisations or individuals who process personal information in an automated form to notify the ICO, unless they are exempt. Failure to do so is a criminal offence and could lead to a fine of up to £5,000 in a Magistrates Court. If the case goes to the Crown Court…
Sales manager breached his duty when setting up rival company
The manager was working for an information technology consultancy when he decided to set up a new company of his own. While preparing his new venture, he downloaded some of his employer’s business contacts and copied invoices in order to use them for his own purposes. He also obtained contracts for his new company while…
NHS director awarded £933,000 in race discrimination case
Elliot Browne, who is 55, had worked for the NHS for more than 30 years. His career came to an end in 2008 when he lost his management job with Central Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. Mr Browne claimed he had been harassed and verbally bullied because he was the only black director in his…
More landlords taking action against tenants in arrears
Figures released by the specialist receivers, Templeton LPA, also show that the number of tenants in “severe arrears” of more than two months rose by 18% last year to 78,970. That’s the highest level since the third quarter of 2008. Paul Jardine, director and receiver at Templeton LPA, said: “The soaring cost of renting has…
Inheritance tax cuts to support charity will start in April
The plan was announced in last year’s Budget statement. Chancellor George Osborne said that if at least 10% of the estate is left to charity, IHT will be cut by 10%.This would reduce the rate from the standard 40% to 36% for qualifying estates. It’s hoped that the measure will encourage more people to leave…
Don’t overlook new tax relief for property investors
The change rectified the situation whereby if an investor bought a property containing several flats from the same seller, the rate of SDLT would be determined by the total amount payable. For example, if there were five flats at £250,000 each then the total purchase cost would be £1.25m. SDLT would then be charged at…
New rules aim to prevent risky mortgage lending
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants tighter controls so that people don’t borrow more than they can afford and are properly informed when they take out amortgage. It says it wants “common sense” standards to apply in future. An FSA statement said: “The Mortgage Market Review aims to prevent a recurrence of the irresponsible lending…
Employees will have to pay to bring tribunal claims
Ministers say the move will relieve pressure on businesses and reduce the £84m annual cost to the taxpayer. The Ministry of Justice has now begun a public consultation on the proposals, which are designed to ensure that those who use the system make a contributiontowards the costs. The consultation offers two options for consideration: Option…
Till turning 60 do us part – divorce in later life
The latest figures show that the overall divorce rate across all age groups fell by 11% between 2007 and 2009. However, the figure for the over-60s rose by 4.2% to 11,507 over the same period. There are probably several reasons for this. People are living longer, more active lives. Many couples find they have grown…
When a letter can amount to a written contract
The case arose after the architects agreed to carry out consultancy services for a local authority under a framework agreement. The work was to be carried out in two stages. The first stage was completed without incident but there was a disagreement about fees for the second stage. The architects claimed they were entitled to…
Developers must pay extra after selling land cheap
The developers bought the land from the authority with a view to creating abusiness park. The authority retained a share in the open market value of theland, which meant an uplift was payable if the developers disposed of the landby sale or lease, or if they wanted to buy out the authority’s share. The developers…
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…