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When a woman updated her will in 2003, she had no way of knowing that a simple change to a precedent document could cause problems for her executors several years later. There was no intention to change one of the main provisions of the will, which was that...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will be targeting 6,000 Swiss bank accounts for further enquiry following the completion of the preliminary review resulting from the co-operation agreement in the area of taxation between Switzerland and the UK, which was...
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There has recently been a further case on long-term sickness and a worker’s right to accrue untaken annual holiday leave ( Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust ). Mrs Fraser was on long-term sick leave after she injured her...
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Although pre-nuptial agreements are persuasive rather than binding in the British courts, a recent ruling of the High Court on a French ‘pre-nup’ illustrates clearly the current approach of the courts. It involved a very wealthy French couple...
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A rider who was injured after being thrown from her horse has won compensation of £37,000. The accident happened in 2007 when Ceri Tonkinson was riding in Cosmeston Country Park, near Penarth in Wales. The horse she was riding had only recently been...
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When a property is owned by two people as joint tenants (where the title to the property is owned by each of them, so that if one dies, the other inherits the property by survivorship), each of them is considered to be the legal owner of the property. A man...
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Creating a commercial database and keeping it up to date is an expensive business and owners of such databases often take precautions to make sure they are not used without permission. One method of doing this is for the owners of databases to plant...
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A retired plumber who was diagnosed with mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos at work has won £115,000 in damages. The man had worked almost exclusively for the same building firm between 1950 and the early 1970s. He was exposed to asbestos...
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A North Somerset man has received a six-figure sum in compensation after a mistake during an operation on his heart led to him having to have a pacemaker fitted. Steve Edwards, 51, an NHS manager from Weston-super-Mare, was undergoing treatment for an...
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When a supplier to a marquee company was not paid for goods it had supplied, the directors told the supplier that the company was waiting for an insurance claim to be settled, after which payments would be made as usual. In reality, there was no insurance...
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The wave of litigation which has followed the turmoil in the financial markets as a result of the credit crunch has led to many decisions that have resulted in those suing financial institutions being left to lick their wounds (and also facing sizeable legal...
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After years of litigation, a young woman who suffered life-changing injuries when she was hit by a car as a child has been awarded a compensation settlement worth more than £9 million. Leigh Ann Blinkhorn, now 23, was seven years old when the accident...
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A court ruling that a spouse’s lottery winnings were not ‘matrimonial property’ so were not subject to the usual rule of equal division between the spouses when the marriage broke up received much publicity recently. The normal rule on...
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The Supreme Court has denied HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) the right of appeal in a tax case involving a series of transactions that were carried out for no commercial purpose but which led to a tax saving by the taxpayer. The decision represents a blow for...
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The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has now published its response to the recent consultation on proposals to criminalise squatting. The consultation paper, entitled ‘Options for dealing with squatting’ , received over 2,000 responses. As a first...
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A man who was almost blinded after an accident at work has won an undisclosed amount in damages. Trevor Watson, 42, was working as a drainage engineer. He was instructed to take his truck to a hydraulic specialist because of a blockage in its jetting...
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Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010 ), when deciding whether or not an employer took sufficient steps to comply with its duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove a disadvantage faced by a disabled...
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When a Jersey multi-millionaire gave most of his assets away to one of his daughters in the months prior to his death, leaving an estate of less than £100,000 to be shared by all three of his children, it was perhaps inevitable that a legal challenge...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that the Mortgage Verification Scheme (MVS), which was developed in co-operation with the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association and run as a pilot scheme in March 2010, is now fully...
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An engineer who was seriously injured when he fell through a roof has won more than £164,000 in damages. The 66-year-old man worked for electronics and electrical engineering company Siemens. He was installing CCTV cameras at Liverpool Lime Street...
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The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, made changes to the rules that apply to websites using cookies and similar technologies to remember a user’s preferences....
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The scheme set up by the Government to assess the value of Northern Rock shares, for the purposes of deciding whether or not compensation was due to shareholders, concluded that without government support the shares would be valueless. A group of...
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A woman who lost a filling when she bit into an oven chip has won compensation from the manufacturer of the product. Susan Stapylton, 60, was eating Aunt Bessie’s oven chips. She bit into something solid and dislodged a filling in one of her wisdom...
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The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. Under Section 2 of the Act, it is an offence for a person to request, agree to receive or accept a financial or other advantage intending that, in consequence, a relevant function or activity should be...
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In Williamson & Soden Solicitors v Briars , the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered the employment status of a solicitor who was described as a partner of the firm and whose remuneration was by way of a ‘guaranteed profit share’...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have had difficulties in the past in checking on property sales to ensure that the ‘principal private residence’ exemption for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is being used correctly. Notwithstanding the complexity of the...
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A golfer who was hit in the face by a stray golf ball has received compensation for her injuries. Rachel Davis was walking back to the car park from the ninth hole at Branston Golf and Country Club in Staffordshire when the accident happened. The ball hit...
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A Gulf War veteran who suffered life-changing injuries when he hit a pothole and was thrown from his motorcycle has won an undisclosed amount in compensation from the council responsible for the upkeep of the road. The accident happened in February 2009,...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced that, from 1 January 2012, supplies made by employers under salary sacrifice schemes (schemes whereby an employee accepts a lower salary in return for receiving certain benefits) will be treated as taxable...
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When a marriage or civil partnership breaks up and there is a significant risk that one party may move assets (normally cash in bank accounts) ‘out of sight’, it is sometimes possible to obtain a ‘freezing order’ to prevent the sums...
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A recent case illustrates how strong the evidence must be before the presumption that a person making a will has the mental capacity to do so will be overturned. It involved an elderly woman who died leaving an estate of a little under £150,000. Her...
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The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has reported a noticeable increase in calls to its helpline from businesses that inadvertently included on their websites images that are protected by copyright and subsequently received demands for payment from the...
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A retired man who has been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease several decades after exposure has received more than £141,000 in compensation. For more than 20 years, the man worked as a labourer at a paper mill, where he operated a paper...
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When a house is bought or sold, the prospective purchaser makes what are called ‘pre-contract enquiries’ in order to establish the exact details of the property being bought. These are normally in the form of a standard set of questions with any...
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It is common for service charges to be paid ‘on account’ of the annual cost, based on estimates, and a final account to be made up some time after the year end, based on the actual costs incurred. However, not all landlords are diligent about...
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There are generally strict time limits that apply when presenting a claim for unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal (ET). Normally, a claim must be lodged before the end of a three-month period beginning with the effective date of termination (EDT)....
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Most people probably do not realise that a highway authority’s responsibility for keeping the roads safe to use is very limited. In practical terms, so many things can happen to a road that it would be unreasonable for the authority to be responsible...
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A shopper who was injured when he tried to lift a faulty box containing flat-pack furniture has won £11,000 in damages. The man was shopping at a major supermarket when the accident happened. He wished to buy the furniture and was attempting to remove...
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One of the rules that applies to the administration of estates is that whilst a person appointed as executor under a will can refuse to accept the appointment, once an executor ‘intermeddles’ in the estate, in principle he or she cannot then...
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A man who suffered damage to his hearing as a result of exposure to excessive noise in the workplace has won compensation from his employer. William Shipman, from West Yorkshire, had worked in a variety of jobs for a packaging company. During his...
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The penalties for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour are very substantial but, recognising that cartel (price-fixing) behaviour is difficult to detect, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has a ‘leniency programme’, which operates to give...
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The cardinal rule in proceedings involving children is that the welfare of the child comes first. In some cases, the interests of individual children in a family are sufficiently different for them to be considered separately. In a case involving a...
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The Government is proposing to integrate the operation of the Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions systems, as announced in the 2011 Budget. Following an initial consultation with businesses and other interested parties, to gather evidence on the...
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A woman who missed out on her holiday after she fell down a set of temporary stairs at Birmingham International Airport has won £28,000 in compensation from Thomson Airways. Sheila Gilling, 69, was boarding a flight to Lanzarote when the accident...
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When an elderly woman passed away, her daughter, who was her personal representative, realised that some of her late mother’s land was occupied unlawfully by three people. She brought an action against them , seeking to recover possession of the land...
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The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued for consultation proposals for introducing fees for those wishing to lodge a claim with an Employment Tribunal (ET) or an appeal with the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). Currently, the system is free to use and in...
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In order for an asset to be removed from an estate for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, the donor of the asset must retain no benefit from it after the legal title to it passes. Complex ‘reservation of benefit’ legislation exists to ensure that...
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A former professional jockey who was injured while working on an equestrian farm has won £22,000 in compensation. Jeffery Kear was working as an equestrian facilities manager at Stockland Lovell, near Bridgwater in Somerset. He had only been employed...
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In July, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced that it had applied to intervene in four cases due to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights, all of which were brought by Christian employees who claimed to be victims of religious...
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The UK has been proceeding apace in its attempts to develop ‘green’ energy, and wind turbines are appearing all over the country – including in such seemingly unlikely spots as beside the M25. However, no matter what their benefits as...
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When one business uses the trade marks of another, an action may be able to be brought for trade mark infringement and possibly also for ‘passing off’ – the term given to the situation in which a business attempts to profit by presenting...
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A man who suffered a serious spinal injury as a result of a mistaken hospital diagnosis in 2000 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation. Liam Careless, now 23, was 12 years old when he was taken to Tameside Hospital complaining of paralysis in his...
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A husband has lost his appeal against an order made in July 2010 for ancillary relief (the legal term for financial provision for an ex-spouse) that put family assets of £10 million, including £7 million held in two trusts, into the pool of...
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Company liquidations have edged up in the first quarter of 2011, with 4,121 companies being subject to winding-up orders. Compulsory liquidations fell by more than 10 per cent compared with the same quarter in 2010, but creditors’ voluntary...
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A man who was run over by musician Pete Doherty’s Daimler in 2009 has won an undisclosed amount in compensation at the High Court. Chris Corder, 42, was delivering church newsletters near Hadleigh in Suffolk when the accident happened. He was struck...
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Every year the firm's Christmas party presents employees with the chance to relax and enjoy the holiday season. However, it is easy to forget that an employer owes its employees certain obligations, even outside work, when the employer has organised the...
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If you are used to taking part of your company income by way of dividends (a common tax planning device, the main advantage of which is savings on National Insurance Contributions), but you require time to pay your taxes because of cash-flow problems,...
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When a millionaire estate agent died intestate, the two women he had been involved with both tried to have his estate distributed according to their wishes. Chris John died leaving an estate worth £5 million. At the time of his death, he had been...
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The widow of a man who died of an asbestos-related disease has won over £250,000 in compensation. William Wolff had worked as a joiner for 50 years before he retired in 2005, three months before his 65th birthday. He and his wife had planned to tour...
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published provisional fatal injury statistics for the year April 2010 to March 2011 . These show that the number of workers killed in Britain was 171, compared with an all time low of 147 deaths in the previous...
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An amateur footballer who was seriously injured while playing on a poorly maintained pitch was recently awarded £22,700 in compensation at Dewsbury County Court. Paul Zoledziejewski, a 33-year-old mechanic, was playing for his club on a pitch in Shelf...
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It is well known that in the UK, the loser in a court case pays the legal costs of the winner. It is often assumed that if, say, your legal costs are £5,000 and you win your case, you will get the £5,000 reimbursed. However, this is normally not...
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When does a commercial property become vacant under a lease agreement? This was the question considered in a recent hearing in the Court of Appeal . The appeal was brought by haulage and storage firm NYK Logistics (UK) Ltd., a former tenant of Netherlands...
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A grandmother has won substantial compensation for injuries she sustained when she slipped on a spillage at an ASDA superstore. Patricia Hill, 73, was shopping at the Rivergate store in Peterborough when she slipped on what was thought to be vegetable...
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An advertising and media company run by a Mr Casey sought to register the trade mark ‘Carbon Virgin’. The application was opposed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Enterprises Ltd. (VEL) on the grounds of the similarity of the proposed trade mark...
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People who suffered losses as a result of the collapse of mutual insurer Equitable Life in 2000 will be pleased to know that the compensation payments they receive as a result of the passing of the Equitable Life (Payments) Act 2010 will be tax free. The...
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A recent survey of businesses carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has found that, in general, the availability of finance for business from banks and other providers of external finance has eased slightly but is still...
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The recent case in which the court was asked to rule regarding a vacant flat that was part of a property sold at auction – the existence of which neither the vendor nor the purchaser was aware of until after the sale – has now been heard by the...
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Following its Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation and the Red Tape Challenge review of employment law, the Government has announced its proposals for reform. The aim is to replace overly burdensome regulation whilst safeguarding workers’ rights,...
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Every employer must provide employees with suitable personal protective equipment to guard against exposure to health and safety hazards while they are at work. To this end, employers should carry out risk assessments to identify any foreseeable risks faced...
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A widow who was excluded from inheriting her husband’s £500,000 estate, under the terms of a will he made four years before he died in 2009, has contested the will, alleging that the brain tumour from which her husband was suffering meant that he...
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Operators of Amusement With Prizes (AWP) machines who receive VAT refunds as a result of a review carried out by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the wake of a court reverse in 2009 are advised to ensure that they are able to repay the refund if necessary,...
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A father who sought to have a hearing regarding his contact with his children adjourned so that new evidence could be obtained found his argument rejected by the Court of Appeal recently. The family court had issued an interim order that the father, who had...
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The court has approved a compensation settlement of £900,000 for a boy whose leg had to be amputated shortly after he was born. Leo Ison, now six, was just three weeks old when doctors at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester told his parents that he would...
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A landowner’s duty of care with regard to land used by members of the public was the subject of a recent case in the High Court . The limits of legal responsibility in such circumstances are established generally by the law of tort (civil injury to...
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The construction industry is one of the most dangerous in which to earn a living. A construction worker who was seriously injured in a fall from height at work has secured a compensation package worth millions of pounds. The 38-year-old man was working for...
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Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which came into force on 1 October 2011, agency workers are entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by the hirer once they have completed a...
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New measures put forward by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to deal with the problem of ‘tax agents who act dishonestly in tax matters’ include proposals that HMRC should ‘name and shame’ advisers who are found to have acted dishonestly...
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MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis has won summary judgment in the High Court – against a cold calling company – for infringement of his trade marks. This means that Mr Lewis does not have to run to the expense of a full trial on...
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A man who was struck by a van while walking through a car park has won £5,500 in damages. The man was returning to his car when he saw a van reversing, so he altered his route so that he passed in front of the vehicle. The van driver quickly changed...
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A developer who completely demolished a property when he only had permission to demolish part of it has landed himself with a fine and legal costs totalling more than £120,000. The developer has been given a year to pay the £80,000 fine and the...
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Years ago, it was common for a deed creating a trust for children to specify the beneficiaries as being ‘the legitimate children’ of the person setting up the trust. Recently, the children of the 13th Duke of Manchester, by his bigamous marriage...
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A woman who was left permanently disabled after a routine hip operation went wrong has won over £100,000 in damages. Margaret Peabody, 51, was suffering from painful osteoarthritis and, in 2008, underwent an operation at the St Cross Hospital in Rugby...
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Two companies have been fined a total of £450,000 and ordered to pay costs after health and safety failures led to a maintenance worker falling to his death. Christopher Booker, 49, was working at Aberthaw Power Station when the accident happened in...
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A woman who fell from a boat during a pleasure cruise has been awarded compensation for the injuries she suffered as a result. The woman was at a Christmas party, with colleagues from work, when the accident happened. She and a friend had been dancing and...
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A woman who paid more than 90 per cent of the cost of a £3 million property purchased for her daughter, in whose name the title is held, has failed in her attempt to have the ownership of the property changed to reflect her contribution. It would seem...
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The law relating to the fiduciary duties of directors is stricter than many company directors might think, as a recent case illustrates . The director of a company was given the loan of ‘a second-hand excavator and dumper’ for his personal use,...
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The High Court has upheld a challenge by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to various terms found in some gym membership contracts – most notably lengthy minimum membership periods – ruling that such terms are unfair and therefore unenforceable....
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A woman whose hearing was damaged as a result of exposure to excessive levels of noise at work has won just over £1,200 in compensation from one of her former employers. This comes on top of an earlier settlement of £2,700 from a different...
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News that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are to create a dedicated team of investigators to ‘target’ restaurants suspected of evading their tax liabilities is no real surprise: the sector offers them rich pickings in terms of under-declared...
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The Supreme Court has handed down its decision in a case concerning the employment status of 20 valeters who provided car-cleaning services to motor retailers and auctioneers ( Autoclenz Ltd. v Belcher and others ). The valeters had written contracts with...
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The Supreme Court recently handed down its judgment in the case of Gaines-Cooper v Revenue and Customs . In what will be a suprising decision to many, the Court has ruled in favour of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), who argued that businessman Robert...
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The family of a former shipyard worker who was exposed to asbestos in more than one job has won compensation from three of his former employers. William Galloway began working as a lagger when he was 16 years old, and was exposed to asbestos during that...
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On 1 October 2011, changes to the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (normally called the Construction Act) came into force. The changes are contained in Part 8 of the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 ...
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The combination of a deathbed marriage, a millionaire and a new will was always likely to end in a court battle, and so it proved recently when a family challenged their late father’s will, which left everything to his new wife, who had been his...
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A textile factory employee who suffered a serious wrist injury when he slipped at work has won £40,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The man, who is in his 60s, slipped on fluid that had leaked from a textile printing machine. He fell backwards and...
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Following Lord Justice Jackson’s report on his review of civil litigation costs, a new law has been introduced to make it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to bring actions to protect their patent and design rights. The Patents County...
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The Law Society is urging the nearly 70 per cent of the adult population who have not yet made a will to do so. There are many reasons why you should make a will. It is a mistake to think that it is only necessary if you have a substantial estate. Estate...
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A retired roofer has won compensation for the injuries he suffered when a gas canister ignited, setting fire to him and forcing him to jump from a 12-foot roof. Victor Barrell, 65, was using a roofing torch, to which the gas canister was attached, to repair...
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As reported previously, the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) as they currently stand are not in accord with recent decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the interpretation of the Working Time Directive with regard to the interaction of...
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Noisy neighbours can be the bane of one’s existence, so it is no real surprise that a lesbian couple finally lost patience with their adjoining next-door neighbours after they had workmen carrying out extensive building work on their property for a...
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A woman who is disabled as a result of injuries she sustained when she was knocked down by a taxi when she was 14 years old has been awarded £3 million in compensation. Vicki Hart, now 22, was hit by the taxi while crossing the road in Guisborough,...
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A covenant can either represent a commitment to do something or a commitment not to do something. In either case, the party faced with a breach of the covenant has a range of options available to them for obtaining a legal remedy, one of which is to obtain a...
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Just four months after relaunching Index-linked Savings Certificates, the Government-backed savings institution National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has withdrawn its Savings Certificates from sale. The move was necessary in order to ensure that it...
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As part of the Government’s bid to tackle the growth of a ‘compensation culture’, the Ministry of Justice has announced that the payment of referral fees in personal injury cases is to be banned. At present, referral fees are commonly paid...
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Readers are reminded that an application to reclaim VAT incurred in another EU country can be made to that country via HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) provided the claimant business is registered for VAT in the UK and is not VAT registered, or does not have to...
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A school worker who fell from a toilet she was standing on in order to open a window has been awarded £15,900 in damages . Marie Wallace, 64, was a clerical assistant at Kirkriggs School in Glasgow. The accident happened when she attempted to open...
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Employers are reminded that new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates came into force on 1 October 2011. The revised rates are as follows: The adult hourly rate of the NMW has increased from £5.93 to £6.08; The development rate (which...
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Among the requirements for a will to be valid are that it must not be witnessed by a beneficiary and it must be signed at the bottom by the testator (the person making it) or, if they are unable to sign it, under their direction. You would therefore be...
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A man who tripped on a raised paving stone in the pedestrian area of a high street has won £5,000 in compensation for his injuries. The area was paved with small granite blocks, one of which was standing proud of the others. The man tripped over it...
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A recent divorce case has confirmed the general position that when wealth is inherited, it is not normally subject to the ‘equal shares’ rule that applies to assets built up during a marriage. The case involved a couple who married in the UK...
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When a licensing application cannot be heard because insufficient information has been supplied relating to the primary use of the premises, the licensing authority must decide whether to grant the licence and deal with any issues through enforcement action...
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A further case involving injury to a worker as a result of the use of a chemical cleaning product, without adequate health and safety measures having been taken, has seen a caretaker from Walsall receive a £3,000 compensation settlement from his...
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If you move abroad to work, you pay your tax where you now live and that is the end of the matter. Or is it? Regrettably not. The UK tax system is a ‘world tax’ system, which seeks to tax the worldwide income of its residents. In order to avoid...
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The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, make certain changes to the laws that cover direct marketing by electronic means. Serious breaches of the rules surrounding the...
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Earlier this year, the Government published a consultation document entitled ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’. This sought views on various measures aimed at increasing employers’ confidence to take on more workers, encouraging the early...
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A young girl who was left severely brain damaged after complications during her birth has been awarded a seven-figure sum in compensation. Ella Franklin, now 11, was starved of oxygen when problems arose during her mother’s labour. As a result, she is...
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Before you purchase a property, it is wise to make sure you are aware of the implications of any permitted uses of the land surrounding it. A recent case, in which the courts declined to prevent a landowner from carrying out activities which, although they...
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The Government is calling on businesses to have their say in the latest phase of its Employment Law Review. From today until 19 October, the Government's ‘Red Tape Challenge’ is focusing on more than 160 different employment-related...
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An employee wishing to bring a claim of unfair dismissal must do so before the end of the three-month period commencing with the effective date of termination (EDT) of their employment. Where a period of notice is given, the EDT is the date on which this...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have won a major battle in the Supreme Court which may have severe implications for tax planning exercises. HMRC have persuaded the Court that a tax avoidance scheme, which was based on the wide definitions that apply to the...
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According to a recent poll, more than one in eight wills is ‘self-written’ and one in 10 of those people who have made a will fails to tell anyone where it is. Since nearly 4 out of every 10 adults have not made a will in the first place, the...
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Damage by animals is not common, despite the lurid headlines one sees in the popular press. However, if your animal does cause damage or injury to someone else, what is the extent of your liability? As well as a remedy in tort (the general law of damages),...
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A compensation settlement of £212,500 has been awarded to the widow of a former joiner who died as a result of being exposed to asbestos at work. The man had worked as a joiner for a building firm from 1958 to 1968. He and his wife later moved to...
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Directors of companies are entitled to any information they reasonably request about the company of which they are a director. It is therefore normal for a director to possess a great deal of confidential information about the company. Directors are also...
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The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has issued a consultation aimed at simplifying the licensing laws for events attended by fewer than 5,000 people. Currently, events organisers have to apply and sometimes pay for licences for events which pose...
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A recent case shows how unwilling the court will be to change an adoption order once it has been made. The case concerned a child who was removed from his mother’s care because she was unable to look after him due to drug dependency. This was...
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Slipping or tripping is the single most common cause of major injury in UK workplaces. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that more than 10,000 workers suffered serious injury as a result of a slip or trip in the year 2009/2010. This figure...
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If a claim is not defended, is a person indemnifying the defendant required to meet the claim in full? This question was at the core of a recent legal case involving a property development. The developer contracted with a subcontractor to carry out...
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Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are becoming increasingly common. For example, all of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms have been LLPs for several years now. Recently, the acrimonious bust-up of an LLP led to one of the ex-members suing the...
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Anyone who has substantial assets in the United States, is a US citizen, or expects to inherit assets situated in the USA or which are the property of US citizens, should take note of recent changes to the US Estate Tax. The legislation, in the form of the...
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A woman who was injured when the car being driven by her husband was involved in an accident has won £34,000 in compensation from his insurers. The 78-year-old woman was being driven home from her son-in-law’s 50th birthday party by her husband....
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When it comes to contesting tax assessments, the playing field is far from level, as a recent VAT case shows. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) made assessments on a trader based on discrepancies between recorded sales and cash in the tills on two visits. The...
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A recent case has confirmed that a clause in a contract which absolves one party from paying the other in the event that the second party becomes insolvent is invalid as it infringes the ‘anti-deprivation’ principle. The principle exists to...
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A recent case illustrates the importance for cohabiting couples of giving careful consideration to property ownership and inheritance issues. Ms Cattle had a relationship with her partner, Mr Evans, for many years and when he died she made a claim against...
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A former weaver who was exposed to excessive levels of noise at work has been awarded compensation after suffering damage to his hearing. Mr McKinley had been employed as a weaver at a textiles firm in Milnrow, Lancashire, from 1969 to 1970, and had also...
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Following several suspicious deaths at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Rebecca Leighton, a nurse working at the hospital, was accused of tampering with medical products, arrested and charged. She was consequently banned from working as a nurse by the...
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According to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) – Tax by Design – the current tax system is "inefficient, overly complex and frequently unfair" . It calls for some radical changes to taxation policy, warning...
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With all the recent publicity surrounding the proposed changes to the ‘no win, no fee’ regime, another set of proposals, which may well be of greater importance to many people, has slipped under the radar of the popular press. A new...
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When an insulation manufacturer created a road show to demonstrate its products in comparison with those of a competitor, there was always likely to be trouble. The comparison consisted of a series of fire tests, which were intended to demonstrate the...
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Businesses are reminded that new reporting arrangements for workplace health and safety incidents commenced today (Monday 12 September). Only fatal and major injuries and incidents should now be reported by phone to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)....
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Whilst the Internet, tweeting, blogging and the like have revolutionised the way we communicate with one another, some estimates report that misuse of social networking tools by employees at work costs the British economy billions of pounds a year and...
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A recent case illustrates that, when mistakes occur, it may not always be possible to put them right. A buyer and seller exchanged contracts on a flat, which was being sold by way of a long lease. This seems straightforward enough, but when the plans were...
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A woman from Southend who fell down an open manhole while holidaying in Turkey has won a six-figure sum in compensation for her injuries. Michelle Dragon, 49, was staying with friends at the Club Sarba Hotel in Marmaris, Turkey, when the accident happened....
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A divorced man has won the right to retain £1 million of his pre-marital assets before a 50/50 division of the remainder of the couple’s joint assets is made. The assets were valued at around £9.5 million, after provision had been made...
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A woman who suffered life-changing injuries after doctors were slow to diagnose her childhood meningitis has been awarded a compensation settlement worth £4.3 million. Natalie Tuthill, now 21, was admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary with a serious...
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A recent case ( Gosden v Lifeline Project Ltd. ) demonstrates that it is important for employers to have in place an Internet usage policy and to ensure employees are aware that disciplinary action may be taken over any conduct capable of harming the...
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If a person's estate does not fully utilise the nil-rate band for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes, the unused proportion of the nil-rate band can be used on the death of that person’s spouse or civil partner. This is termed the ‘transferable...
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Building contracts often involve a multiplicity of documents, which sometimes have conflicting terms. In such cases, the liabilities under the contracts will depend on which of the various contractual terms has primacy over the others. In a recent...
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A mother has won a seven-figure sum in compensation after she was injured in a road accident that left her with life-changing injuries. The 48-year-old woman had driven out to get some milk when her car was hit head-on by the vehicle of a man who had...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have announced a probe into under-recording of takings and cash tips at restaurants of all sorts, commenting that payments made in cash for sales and tips make tax evasion a high risk. The move forms part of HMRC’s plan...
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A shopper who tripped over a pothole in the pavement has won £3,100 in compensation. Terence Wakefield, 78, was walking through a local market in June last year when he tripped over the pothole. He reached out with his hands to try to break his fall...
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It may be tempting (but is probably just tempting fate) to put a ‘qualification’ clause in a will whereby a person inherits only if they do something or refrain from doing something. Where it is something definite which can be unequivocally...
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A former BBC Radio Leeds DJ has won compensation for injuries he sustained during a charity stunt. Alex Belfield, 31, was doing a live broadcast in support of Children in Need when he was unexpectedly tackled by two Bradford Bulls rugby league players. He...
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Copyright is a right that exists as soon as you create the copyright material. You do not have to apply for it. There are some exceptions to copyright, but unless one of these applies, anyone else using your material without your permission is infringing...
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A ‘McKenzie Friend’, named after the case which established the legal principles in 1970, is a person who assists another person in legal proceedings in open court when the person who is party to the proceedings requires support – for...
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The Court of Appeal has overturned the decision of a lower court to allow a father, against whom allegations of violence towards the mother of his child had been made, to vary the terms of contact arrangements made earlier so that he could continue to see...
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A London Underground cleaner who developed a severe skin condition after being exposed to a cleaning chemical has received £14,900 in compensation. The man had worked as a cleaner for more than 20 years. In June 2007, when he was responsible for...
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When a claim for damages is made on the basis of ‘loss of a chance’, having good quality expert evidence is essential. Most people know that it is possible to claim damages, where appropriate, for the loss of future earnings. Normally, such...
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The general principle that ‘the loser pays the costs of the winner’ does not apply to disputes brought before the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT). The maximum amount the LVT can require the loser to pay is £500, and only then in...
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A joiner who is now terminally ill after being exposed to asbestos at work has won compensation of more than £350,000 from his former employer. Stephen Adkin, 54, worked for Nova Retail Display Ltd. between 1996 and 2010. During the late 1990s he was...
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The Government has accepted all the recommendations made in the recent review of health and safety regulation, ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’, and announced a package of measures designed to support its growth agenda and to ease the regulatory...
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If your property has been damaged in the recent riots, you may well find that your insurance policy will not cover your losses. Most policies exclude damage resulting from 'riot', which in law, means when 12 or more people are present at the disturbance. If...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) look carefully at the documentation supporting all investment schemes that have a tax advantage, such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). One of the rules for an investment to qualify for EIS relief is that the...
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When a beneficiary loses out because the terms of the will of a wealthy person are changed shortly before that person’s death, a dispute is always likely. When a Scottish woman with an estate valued at £4 million died shortly after changing her...
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A man who tripped and suffered a severe knee injury at work has won £40,000 in damages. The unnamed man suffered the accident while working for a motor manufacturer. He was walking across an area of the factory floor which had been covered with a...
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New developments require planning permission, as is well known, and so do projects that affect the environment. But can demolition of an existing building be considered to be a project affecting the environment, thus meaning planning permission is required? ...
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A recent trade mark case has confirmed that a trade mark can be infringed when the sound of the mark is infringed, as opposed to the mark itself. The case arose when the international toy manufacturer Hasbro alleged that its trade mark...
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The High Court recently ruled in favour of a pension scheme which decided to stop awarding pension increases which, though discretionary, had in practice been regularly given in the past. The Prudential’s pension trustees had for many years followed...
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A cyclist who was knocked down by a car that failed to give way has been awarded compensation for his injuries by Market Harborough Magistrates’ Court. The driver of the car, Robin Perry, told the Court that he was making a turn and failed to see the...
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The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has issued guidance for employers and employees on coping with the effects of the riots which have recently erupted in London and in other major cities across the UK. The focus of the advice is on...
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Not many prosecutions are brought under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 , which are designed to protect consumers from the activities of unscrupulous traders. Recently, however, several companies were taken to court by the...
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A recent case in the Court of Appeal has demonstrated that terms agreed by email can amount to a contract despite a formal contract referred to in the emails remaining unsigned. The case concerned a commodities trader and a fuel storage company that had...
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A boy from Weston-super-Mare has won £28,750 in compensation after doctors failed to diagnose acute appendicitis when he attended Bristol Children’s Hospital in 2005. Thomas Roberts, who was aged 11 at the time, was taken to the hospital by his...
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The Government has announced that as part of its ongoing review of employment law, aimed at eliminating unnecessary ‘red tape’, it will consider in detail the case for reforming: Compensation for Discrimination Whilst there need to be remedies...
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A fence put up by a Devon couple will cost them more than £20,000 in legal fees and re-erection costs after the court decided that it was built a few inches the wrong side of their boundary with their next-door neighbours. The court case was necessary...
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When a person goes bust, what is the position regarding a debt they owe to the Child Support Agency (CSA) with regard to arrears of maintenance payments? This question arose recently when a man applied for a creditors’ voluntary arrangement (CVA). At...
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When a document contains errors, the court will often act to ensure that commercial common sense dictates its interpretation. In a recent case, a farmer sought to avoid an estate rentcharge for roads and sewers on the farm estate when the covenants in the...
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A shopper who was injured at an outdoor market has secured £30,000 in compensation. The unnamed woman was passing a stall in the market when the accident happened. A large metal pole fell from the stall and hit her on the shoulder. Her shoulder was...
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VAT penalties are not set at a level which provides compensation to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), but are intended to penalise the taxpayer’s error, as is illustrated by the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal in a case in which a careless mistake,...
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A recent case will cause concern to anyone who has a specific wish that their estate should not pass to certain people. It involved a woman who left an estate of more than £400,000, which she had bequeathed to various animal charities. The woman had a...
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A refuse collector whose hearing has been impaired as a result of many years spent working alongside noisy bin lorries and recycling equipment has won compensation for the damage. Graham Wild, 50, worked for Rochdale Council as a bin man for thirty years....
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The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 , which came into force on 26 May 2011, make certain changes to the laws that cover direct marketing by electronic means. Serious breaches of the rules surrounding the...
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A man who slipped on a grape at a supermarket in Peterborough has been awarded £10,500 in damages. Thomas Wardle brought a claim against Asda after he slipped and injured himself in January 2008. The exact nature of his injury is not known but it is...
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Insurance giant AXA has sent out a message to accident cheats that it will resist claims which it believes to be fraudulent. In a recent case , the insurer took court action over a relatively small claim of £1,500. Alleging that the claim had been...
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In the year to December 2010, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) raised in the region of £70 million in additional tax as a result of challenging property valuations included in the estates of people who had died. Inheritance Tax (IHT) is payable if the...
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The family of a woman who died from an asbestos-related disease has received £150,000 in compensation. Christina Bolas trained as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and worked there until 1968, and again between 1971 and 1986. She...
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Conveyancing is often thought to be a straightforward process, but the truth is very different. Problems with potential fraud, claims by lenders and title disputes are not infrequent. In order to protect consumers, the Law Society launched, in January 2011,...
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If an employee is dismissed following an unfair redundancy selection process, the level of any compensatory award can be reduced if the employer can show that the employee would have been dismissed even if the correct procedures had been followed. This is...
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A cyclist who was hit by a lorry after he collided with barriers around electrical works has won a settlement worth millions of pounds in compensation for the life-changing injuries he suffered. Alexander Kotula, 27, fell into works barriers on a busy...
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A recent decision of the European Court of Justice will come as good news for hard-pressed hoteliers and has led to HM Revenue and Customs issuing new guidance on deposits. The decision confirms that there is no relationship between a deposit taken for a...
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The English courts are well known worldwide as being amongst the most ‘generous’ to divorcing spouses in terms of financial settlements: they start with the premise that assets built up during the marriage should be split equally unless there is...
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A woman who broke her neck during a horse riding lesson has won £60,000 in compensation. Maxine Wright and her husband had been taking riding lessons in preparation for a horse trekking holiday in Spain. The accident happened during a lesson when Mrs...
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From 6 April 2011, the Competition Act 1998 has been extended to cover agreements made with regard to land. Such agreements were previously excluded from the scope of the Act. The Act seeks to prohibit agreements etc. that prevent, restrict or distort...
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In a groundbreaking decision , the Supreme Court has ruled that an expert witness who is negligent in respect of their work can be sued. Until the decision, the rule was that experts were immune from being sued for negligence in relation to evidence given...
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Trade marks can come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can include names and numbers – but cannot, says the European Court of Justice (ECJ), include a number which is merely descriptive. The decision followed an attempt to register as a Community...
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A machine operator who strained his groin while lifting a box in the factory where he worked has won £20,000 in compensation. Barry Lester, 64, was injured while working at the Ford factory in Dagenham. He was trying to lift a box from the top of a...
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Trustees of discretionary trusts who have found that recent tax changes have resulted in an unacceptably high level of taxation (especially as regards trust income from dividends) should give consideration to the possibility of amending the trust to give a...
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The faltering steps the economy is taking towards recovery seem to be breeding a degree of overconfidence on the part of some businesses, but there is no reason to abandon good credit control practice. According to a recent report from Creditsafe, more than...
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Whilst the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) operate to protect the employment law rights of employees when there is a relevant transfer of a business or part of a business, Regulation 8(7) provides that where...
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A woman who endured severe pain for many years after a bungled operation to remove painful corns has won £100,000 in compensation. The unnamed woman, known only as Mrs P, had the foot operation in 1983, when she was 32 years old. She continued to...
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A very unusual case illustrates the lengths to which the courts may go in order to sort out disputes involving lost wills. It involved a couple who had both been married before and who, it was claimed, had made mutual wills. On the husband’s death,...
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A landlord’s attempt to obtain a rent based on the uplifted value of a property was rebuffed by the court because a term in the lease, which was worded in such a way that the rent set by the rent reviews would not take into account improvements made...
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A woman who sought compensation after slipping and falling on an ill-fitting church doormat has reached an undisclosed settlement. The accident happened in 2007, when Margaret Graham, 78, was preparing flower arrangements for a Sunday service at the St...
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Avoiding penalties for under-declarations of output VAT is a tricky business, even when the mistakes are innocently made. The VAT legislation allows penalties to be forgiven when there is a ‘reasonable excuse’, but HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)...
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The Government has suggested that councils in rural areas consider changing their planning policies to allow unused farm buildings to be converted to use for residential purposes, rather than insisting that they only be used as farm buildings. This idea is...
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The Bribery Act 2010 comes into force today (1 July 2011). The implementation of the Act, originally scheduled for April, was delayed to allow time for the guidance on it to be finalised. Section 7 of the Act makes it an offence for a commercial...
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Debtor Patrick Brophy must pay his credit card bill, following the failure of his bid to overturn a High Court decision dismissing his appeal against a 2009 judgment in the Willesden County Court. Mr Brophy took his case to the Court of Appeal , alleging...
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When considering legal action regarding material which is on the Internet, often one of the most difficult questions one has to face is that of where the material is ‘made available’. Since a website can be physically situated anywhere, where...
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A West Yorkshire cyclist who was injured when his bicycle hit a pothole has been awarded compensation of £2,000. Peter Lodge, 52, was cycling near his home when the front wheel of his bicycle became stuck in a gap that had formed around a water valve...
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Clients who have discretionary trusts in place are reminded that the advent of higher rates of tax since April 2010 may warrant a review of the trust structure. Since April 2010, trustees of discretionary trusts have been subject to a 50 per cent tax rate...
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A recent case in the Court of Appeal ( Tilson v Alstom Transport ) dealt with the application of the ‘necessity’ test for implying a contract of employment between an agency worker and the end-user business where the worker is fully integrated...
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There are hundreds – possibly thousands – of companies listed as ‘dormant’ at Companies House and often these are retained rather than wound up because although they do not trade, they do contain assets. For more than a quarter of a...
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A woman who tripped over an uneven road surface and fractured her hip has won compensation of £9,500. The woman was walking to the shops when the accident happened. Her foot became caught in a sunken drainage grate and she fell to the ground. She...
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When settlements in divorce cases are being determined, the contributions made to the marriage by each party will often be relevant. However, a recent decision of the Court of Appeal illustrates that the future earning capacity of the husband or wife at...
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has the power to apply for an order banning a person from being a director in cases in which competition law is breached. Orders are granted under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 and are issued when the...
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The family of a man who died of mesothelioma has been awarded £250,000 in damages from the company where he used to work. The unnamed man had carried out research on asbestos for a chemical company. This necessitated cutting up samples of the...
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An unusual instance of the creation of a statutory will was reported recently, when an application for a statutory will was granted to the daughter of a woman who had suffered a stroke. The applicant’s two half-siblings were found to have forged an...
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A manufacturing company based in Wigan has been fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £1,703 after a worker lost part of his index finger whilst operating a drilling machine. The 46-year-old employee was drilling holes through an iron bar...
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An attempt by campaigners to prevent the demolition of a neo-Georgian building by creating a conservation area was recently defeated , following a challenge by the property company that wished to develop the site. The council failed to prevent the...
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A tenant that served a break notice on its lease to the wrong person had a lucky escape recently when the court ruled that the notice was valid because the landlord’s agent had accepted it and this had the effect of waiving the defects in serving it....
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Latex allergies have become increasingly common amongst people who have to wear gloves at work for health and safety reasons. The allergy is caused by the body becoming hypersensitive to proteins naturally present in latex and over-reacting to their...
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Keeping company records up to date is not always a top priority for the directors of smaller companies. However, failing to keep the shareholders’ register up to date can have a downside if a share transfer has occurred but the new owner’s name...
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A maintenance operative who was injured after falling from steps erected out of scaffolding has won £44,000 in compensation. The unnamed man, 45, was carrying equipment down the steps when he lost his balance. One of the steps had not been properly...
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A drug smuggler was arrested at Heathrow Airport and discovered on X-ray to have ingested 116 bags of cocaine containing approximately a kilogramme of the Class A drug. The man was immediately remanded in custody by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff. He...
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In a recent case , firms which used trade marks to which they were not entitled felt the wrath of the court. The case concerned the National Guild of Removers & Storers (NGRS), a trade association for businesses in the removal and storage industry. NGRS...
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Two divorcees who allege that the investment advice they received after their divorces was negligent have commenced proceedings against their financial advisers in a bid to recover their alleged losses. Friends Megan Scotney and Clare Gallacher both...
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The guidance relating to the tax legislation that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) use to determine whether a contractor who uses a limited company to carry out contracts should be treated as employed by the end-user client is contained in HMRC leaflet IR35. ...
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A woman has been awarded a compensation settlement worth £4.25 million for injuries she sustained in a road accident when she was a child. Rhiannon Millett, then six years old, was a passenger in a car which was hit head-on by a Land Rover. Her...
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The Court of Protection has ruled that Hillingdon Council acted unlawfully in detaining a 21-year-old autistic man, Steven Neary, for almost a year against his wishes. Steven’s father, Mark Neary, wanted to care for his son at home and waged a long...
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The Government’s review of the operation of health and safety legislation in the UK, 'Common Sense – Common Safety', recommended that the risk assessment procedures for low hazard workplaces, such as many offices and shops, should be simplified...
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A woman whose mother left an entire estate to charity has won her appeal for a substantial payment from the estate, sufficient to meet her need for reasonable maintenance. Melita Jackson died in July 2004 at the age of 70, leaving a net estate of some...
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A pensioner from West Bromwich has won £25,000 in damages after she was injured when a bus driver pulled away as she was getting off at her stop. Doreen Tyler, 82, was stepping off the bus when it started moving again. Realising that she was still on...
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It is often considered that the sorts of disclosures that a company must make to regulatory authorities or in its annual accounts are not matters that need to be given close attention. However, where the failure to disclose such information is significant,...
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A recent court decision illustrates that where ownership of land changes, rights conferred by covenants over neighbouring land are not necessarily passed on to the new owners. In this case, the former owners of a house had sold part of their garden for...
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The former employer of a ceiling fixer who suffered an acute head injury in a workplace fall has lost its appeal against the level of damages awarded by the lower court. Stephen Dalling, 31, was working for R J Heale & Co Ltd. in a disused factory,...
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A girl has won a settlement of £575,000 after complications during her birth left her with a disabled arm. When Zahra Salim-Jaffer, now 16, was born, the nerves supplying blood to her shoulder and arm were damaged due to shoulder dystocia, a...
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Changes by HM Revenue and Customs to the disclosure requirements for executors have come into effect. These apply to deaths occurring from 1 March 2011. The first change is that where the deceased gave gifts which exceed the annual ‘Inheritance Tax...
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Property company Daejan Investments Ltd. has failed in its bid to overturn Tribunal decisions concerning repair works carried out at the company’s Queens Mansions property in Muswell Hill, London. The recent Court of Appeal ruling will cost Daejan...
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A balancing act is always necessary when a case heard by the courts is of interest to the public but where revealing the facts and identifying the parties involved would infringe their right to privacy. Normally, the balance is achieved by revealing either...
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Eight Jobcentre employees have won a total of £12,600 in compensation after being exposed to toxic fumes at work. The workers were exposed to a highly toxic chemical called Xylene. Contractors working on a footpath outside the Jobcentre had spilled a...
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The scheme whereby the names of employers who breach National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation are published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) came into effect on 1 January 2011. The aims of the scheme are to deter employers who would...
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The Supreme Court has ruled that a director of a company that was itself the corporate director of a second company was not a de facto director of the second company. He was not therefore liable for the misuse of the second company’s assets, if his...
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The Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of a local authority to place a baby born in prison in care, after the behaviour of the mother was believed to have put the child’s life in danger. After the local authority had obtained a separation order,...
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The family of a woman who died of mesothelioma has received £150,000 in damages. Christina Bolas, who was 64 when she died, worked as an intensive care nurse in a Birmingham hospital. She was exposed to asbestos while using an underground corridor in...
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Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are the pictorial means by which computer users can interact with their machines and, as such, they are often designed with great care and at great expense. It is no surprise, therefore, that the creators of GUIs wish to...
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A man who was appointed under a power of attorney to look after a woman’s affairs, when she could no longer manage to do so herself, has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after he abused his position of trust to steal more than £100,000 from...
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When a trust receives a dividend, the trustees may, in certain circumstances, be able to treat it as a capital receipt rather than a receipt of income. This may have tax benefits for the trust. The treatment is available when the payment of the dividend...
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A musician who was hit by a car while crossing a road in London has been awarded compensation of more than £1.1 million. Tavenor Douglas, 41, had been out celebrating his birthday on the day the accident happened. He was using a pedestrian crossing...
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Bribery is coming under increasing attention following the passing of the Bribery Act 2010 , under which bribery is a criminal act. Whilst implementation of the Act, which was passed under the previous administration, has been delayed so that the Government...
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The banks have recently lost a High Court challenge to new rules issued by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding the approach to compensating those who have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). PPI was commonly sold alongside...
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When the terms of a house building contract exclude any liability for losses incurred by the client on account of defective works, the client has no redress under a general duty of care. This was the decision of the Court of Appeal in a recent case...
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A foundry worker who developed respiratory illness as a result of inhaling silica particles has won £35,000 in damages. The unnamed man worked in a foundry which generated large quantities of dust. There was an extraction system, but it frequently...
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A committed Spiritualist has failed in his attempt to persuade the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) that his dismissal from the post of Special Constabulary Trainer was unlawful discrimination under the Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 ( ...
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Who has the right to the airspace above a flat? This question was at the centre of a recent legal dispute involving a block of flats. The block of flats was wider at the bottom than on the upper floors, narrowing at the 6th. The 6th floor tenant obtained...
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One of the more frequent problems faced by charity trustees is that of balancing the need for charity investments to produce financial benefits with the desire for them to also produce social benefits. Fortunately, the Charity Commission has now updated its...
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Following a hearing in the High Court, the judge is to rule on who was responsible for the ‘Dreamspace’ artwork accident, which left two people dead and over two dozen injured. The accident happened in July 2006, when the Dreamspace V artwork,...
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The recession has brought many changes to the way HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) deal with taxpayers. A generally more aggressive approach on the part of HMRC has coincided with the much-touted ‘time to pay’ agreements for businesses experiencing...
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When an obvious error is made, the courts will sometimes be willing to correct the mistake – but not always. In a recent case , the court was asked to consider wills executed by an elderly couple. Each will was a simple ‘mirror will’, in...
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In a landmark decision ( Jones v Kaney ), the Supreme Court has overturned the long-established principle that an expert witness is immune from being sued over evidence given in court, except in respect of defamation suits. The decision was reached in...
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The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published guidance for employers and those in the recruitment sector on the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR), which come into force on 1 October 2011. The AWR will give agency workers the right...
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As part of its comprehensive review of employment legislation, the Government has published a consultation document, ‘Resolving Workplace Disputes’. This seeks views on measures designed to improve the Employment Tribunal (ET) system and to...
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Workplace accidents involving falls from height are regrettably frequent. In 2008/09 there were 35 fatalities, 4,654 major injuries, and a further 7,065 injuries where the injured person had to take three or more days off work due to a fall from height. In...
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When a person continues to use land they do not own over a long period of time, they may acquire an easement (a legal right to use the land). Recently, the Court of Appeal considered the extent of the rights created by easements. The case arose because of...
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The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) may give tenants the basis of a valid defence against a possession order sought against them. This was the ruling of the Supreme Court in a case in which a council sought to ‘demote’ the tenancy of a tenant as...
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A woman who has been left unable to have children after hospital staff failed to diagnose her life-threatening condition has won £160,000 in compensation. Joanne Connolly first attended hospital in May 2002, due to concerns regarding her pregnancy....
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A woman who was suffering from a chronic mental illness and had developed a phobia of opening mail had her bankruptcy annulled by the High Court recently after HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) were judged to have breached their duties under the Disability...
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European Directives on comparative advertising based on price differences have been clarified, following preliminary rulings from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a case referred by the French commercial courts. The case was brought before the...
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The families of two women who died of mesothelioma have won compensation following a landmark decision by the Supreme Court. In each case, there was a sole known source of exposure to asbestos dust and the extent of the exposure was found to be very small. ...
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A recent case shows that the creation of a valid will in English does not depend on the person creating it being able to speak the language. The situation arose when a woman’s daughters contested her will, which left everything to her four sons,...
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Input VAT is normally only available for deduction with respect to motor cars in very limited circumstances and subject to extremely tight criteria. One of the exceptions is where a car is used wholly for private hire (e.g. a taxi or a self-drive hire car). ...
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In deciding immigration cases, the rights of any children who are British citizens and who would be affected by the decision must be taken into consideration. This was the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of a Tanzanian woman who had made three failed...
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Employers are reminded that the Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Age Provisions) Regulations 2011 came into force on 6 April 2011. This means that the last date on which an employer can lawfully notify an employee of a retirement dismissal using...
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A compensation settlement has been agreed in the case of a factory worker whose colleague leapt onto him at work, resulting in him suffering serious back injuries. William Jones, 46, was bending down to pick up a tool when a colleague jumped onto his back...
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Provisions introduced on 6 April 2007 under the Housing Act 2004 made it a requirement that landlords protect their tenants’ deposits using an authorised Tenancy Deposit Scheme, if they have let the property on an assured shorthold tenancy. The rules...
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In summer 2010, two children died after becoming trapped in electrically powered gates. The accident happened in each case because their presence at the closing edge was not detected and the closing force of the gate when they obstructed it was too great. ...
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Two women who had to abandon their careers as beauty therapists, after they developed chronic repetitive strain injury (RSI) whilst working for Virgin Atlantic, have had the level of their compensation awards determined in the High Court. Jayne Evans, 40,...
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A survey of business confidence from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, based on the last quarter of 2010, shows a sharp decline, with confidence amongst those in the production industry having fallen more sharply than that in...
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Many websites only allow full access to features if ‘cookies’ are enabled on your web browser. A cookie is a small text file placed on your computer which allows the site visited to identify you (strictly, the computer user) on future visits to...
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When copyright is licensed, use of the copyright material is limited to that contemplated by the parties at the time the licence is created. This decision of the Court of Appeal has implications for many users of licensed material. The case arose when a...
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An experienced horse rider who was involved in an accident with a camper van has been awarded £87,400 in damages. Sally Stoddart, then 14, was riding with a friend when the accident happened in 2002. As she was turning off a bridleway and into the...
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A disabled man has recently won compensation of £80,000 after he was thrown out of his wheelchair when it hit a pothole. The man, 56, and his brother were on their way home from a concert. His brother was pushing him over a dimly lit bridge when the...
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published for consultation a proposed amendment to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR). This follows a recommendation in the recent Government-commissioned...
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As of 6 April 2011, the following changes have been made to tax credits: Working Tax Credit (WTC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) These have been largely uprated in line with inflation. The basic and 30-hour elements of WTC will then be frozen for three...
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Over the years, a number of ‘tax-efficient’ methods of giving remuneration have been developed, such as Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) and Employer-Funded Unapproved Retirement Benefit Schemes (EFURBS). The Government has recently published...
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A recent decision of the Employment Tribunal (ET) illustrates that you should think carefully before pressing the email ‘send’ button on what you regard as a private communication made out of working hours. If the email contains material that...
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A police sergeant who was involved in a motorcycle accident, which left him with impaired mobility and ended his career, has been awarded £370,000 in compensation. Steve Ball was on patrol on his motorcycle when a motorcyclist travelling in the...
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A man who built a house which appeared from the outside to be a barn has lost his battle to obtain a certificate of lawful use for the property. The man originally obtained planning permission to build a barn. He then constructed a fully-equipped...
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The Law Society is campaigning to persuade the Government that a change to the law is necessary to protect members of the public from problems caused by using unqualified will writers. The Law Society wants will writers to have to gain formal qualifications...
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The Government has accepted recommendations from the Low Pay Commission (LPC) and announced that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase by 15p an hour to £6.08 in October 2011. The statutory wage for those aged 18 to 20 years will increase by...
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Following the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 , the Equality and Human Rights Commission has produced statutory Codes of Practice on employment; services, public functions and associations; and equal pay. The Codes set out what the legislation...
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A shop worker who slipped and fell while reaching for a box has won compensation of £9,600. Elizabeth McLachlan was employed at a branch of the Early Learning Centre in Glasgow as a senior sales assistant. A customer wished to see the size of the box...
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A tax case recently decided in Scotland has implications for businesses in which a trade that qualifies for Business Property Relief (BPR) for Inheritance Tax (IHT) purposes is carried on alongside one which does not. BPR operates to reduce the value of a...
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A group of tenants who sought to acquire the freehold of the property they occupy met with failure recently , after the Court of Appeal found that the notice served on their landlord was invalid because it was not correctly signed by one of the tenants. ...
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned debt management firms to stop using unsolicited and misleading cold-calling practices to generate client leads. As part of its crackdown on illegal cold-calling within the debt management industry, the OFT has...
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Compensation has been awarded to an ex-Royal Marine who suffered brain injuries after being involved in a vehicle accident during a training exercise. Steward Daglish, 39, was a passenger in a 4x4 vehicle taking part in exercises in Scotland when the...
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Following the announcement in last June's budget of 'National Insurance (NI) holidays' for new businesses, HM Revenue and Customs have now published a Technical Note detailing the conditions of the scheme. In order for the NI holiday to apply, the new...
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An argument over an estate worth more than £4 million has caused a family rift which looks set to run and run. The case concerned the assets of a Greek Cypriot woman, who died leaving her and her late husband’s estate largely to their daughter....
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The Government has announced that the right to request time to train will not be extended this April to employees of small and medium-sized businesses. In April 2010, the right was introduced for employees in organisations with 250 or more employees. It was...
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The High Court has confirmed the principle that where a lease for a dwelling is held by two tenants, either tenant can give a valid notice to terminate the tenancy. The effect of such a notice is that both tenants will be required to vacate the premises...
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The widow of a former town councillor who died of an asbestos-related disease has won compensation from his former employer. Ted Hissey, 75, was exposed to asbestos many years ago when he worked for what was then the Department of the Environment (DoE) at...
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The Government is planning to change the current ‘no win, no fee’ system, in which a lawyer taking a no win no fee case charges a success fee met, in effect by the losing party, to an American style system in which the damages are split between...
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Clauses limiting liability under contracts have always been contentious, so a recent decision is to be welcomed because it sets out clearly the limitations which apply to exclusion clauses. The case involved GB Gas Holdings (Centrica) and Accenture, which...
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When a couple who are retired or approaching retirement get divorced, one of the major issues to be settled is the division of pension entitlements. In this situation, the first step is to obtain a valuation of the pension rights. Where large sums are...
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The High Court recently concluded that a property sale could not be subject to an agreement made two decades previously, as the circumstances of the transaction were not envisaged by the original agreement. The agreement related to a building divided into...
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A passenger who suffered serious head injuries in a car accident has been awarded more than £1 million in damages. David Sutton, 25, was travelling in a Nissan car that was involved in a crash with a BMW, on a B-road between Wallingford and Goring in...
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled ( Pinewood Repro Ltd. v Page ) that for consultation during a redundancy selection process to be fair, an employee should be provided with sufficient information in order to be able to challenge his or her...
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A recent case has confirmed the position that if a complainant accepts recompense ordered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), further recompense will not be available by way of court proceedings. Although the FOS is free, the Ombudsman can only award...
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A resident in a nursing home, who suffered 40 per cent burns when she was lowered into a bath of hot water, has been awarded substantial compensation for the injuries she suffered. Jeanette De Bono, 28, suffers from a rare neurodevelopmental disorder and...
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A recent case illustrates that insurers will often seek to avoid paying claims under their policies even in circumstances where they would normally be expected to be liable. The case involved a processing plant which supplied the claimant, a pet food...
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All the positive publicity generated about ‘time to pay’ agreements has increasingly been shown to be misplaced as new research shows that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are now leading the way in bringing insolvency proceedings. Recent research...
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A case which recently came before the High Court illustrates how complicated probate issues can be, especially where the will was written in another country or involves assets abroad. The case involved an Indian man, who lived in the UK and owned several...
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A lorry driver whose hearing was damaged at work has received £8,500 in compensation. Charles Haswell now suffers from tinnitus, noises in the ears most commonly described as ringing, buzzing or whistling sounds. The condition was caused by injuries...
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A footballer who suffered an injury which ultimately ended his career has been awarded compensation. Dean Ashton, now 27, was injured in 2006 in the lead up to what would have been his international debut for England, in a friendly match against Greece....
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A compromise agreement is a legally binding agreement by which an employee undertakes to refrain from instigating Employment Tribunal (ET) proceedings against his or her employer or, if proceedings have already commenced, to discontinue them, in return for...
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When seeking to claim the ‘principal private residence’ (PPR) exemption – which exempts from Capital Gains Tax (CGT) gains made on the sale of the PPR of the taxpayer – the criteria for exemption are strictly interpreted by HM Revenue...
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It is sometimes tempting to try to have an agreement reconsidered and the UK sees more than its fair share of family law cases with an international element, where one party to an agreement made abroad seeks to revisit the issues because of the comparatively...
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The Court of Appeal recently concluded that a potential property buyer was able to rescind the purchase contract owing to a defect in the title to the property concerned. The buyer had contracted to acquire the property, which was sold at auction, with...
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A diner at a McDonald’s restaurant who broke a tooth on a piece of metal in his burger has won £1,100 in compensation. Kevin Smith, 43, was eating a Quarter Pounder at one of the fast-food outlets when he bit down on a scrap of metal lodged in...
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The Government has announced that from April 2011 the maximum pension contribution which will attract full tax relief is being restricted to £50,000 per year and the lifetime allowance (LA) will be reduced to £1.5 million from April 2012. Where...
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A recent case illustrates that it is not necessarily possible to make a claim against a supplier of goods just because they failed to warn the purchaser about a potential issue. The case involved a manufacturer of fire extinguishers, from whom a...
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A recent ruling of the Supreme Court is an important victory for victims of mesothelioma, particularly those who claim to have developed the disease after exposure to only small amounts of asbestos dust. The Court dismissed the appeals of the employers of...
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It is a source of concern to lawyers and families alike that the majority of people never make a will. Often, the intention to do so is there, but somehow the person never seems to ‘get around to it’ and dies or becomes incapable before a will...
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When a contract contains a ‘penalty clause’ for breach of the contract, the clause will not be enforceable if it is punitive, rather than a genuine attempt to compensate the other party based on an estimate of the loss they would incur as a...
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A double leg amputee who fell on a poorly maintained footpath and injured his arm has been awarded £35,000 in compensation. Colin Adamson had previously lost part of both legs as a result of a road traffic accident in 1991. He later had an operation...
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The Court of Appeal has recently handed down a judgment in a ‘big money’ divorce case which shows the approach the courts are likely to take towards financial settlements on divorce when one of the spouses has substantial inherited assets. The...
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Can an employer sack an employee for gross misconduct without breaching its contract of employment with the employee? This question came before the Court of Appeal in the case of Dunn and another v AAH Ltd . Stephen Dunn had previously been the Managing...
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The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reliefs for property owners are surprisingly generous in the UK and provide a variety of tax planning opportunities. The rather beneficial tax regime is probably why many people think that the ability to make an election that a...
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The Court of Appeal has confirmed that when a local authority has obtained a liability order to claim unpaid council tax and wishes to enforce it using insolvency proceedings, the authority does not have to do so within six years of the granting of the...
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A boatyard worker who suffered brain damage in a workplace fall has been awarded a compensation settlement worth £7.2 million. Kevin Cleightonhills, who was 21 at the time of the accident, was working at a boatyard on the Isle of Wight. He was...
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The Digital Economy Act 2010 aims to combat the seeming tsunami of copyright infringement on the Internet. In principle, the way the Act will do this is simple. When a copyright owner advises an Internet Service Provider (ISP) that a website it hosts is...
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The Court of Appeal recently ruled that a debtor should not be threatened with prison for contempt of court merely to speed up a debt collection process. The case concerned Emeka Okonkwo, a tenant of Broomleigh Housing Association in Croydon, Surrey....
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A teenager who was left with severe brain damage after complications during her birth has been awarded damages worth £5.3 million. Sophie Taylor, now 15, was starved of oxygen at birth and suffers from cerebral palsy as a result. Had she been born...
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A case which recently came before the High Court demonstrates the importance of taking care over the service of documents, if only to prevent costly litigation over whether a document was validly served. In the case concerned, a construction dispute was...
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The Government has now published draft regulations abolishing the Default Retirement Age (DRA) of 65, which was introduced by the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. The Employment Equality (Repeal of Retirement Provisions) Regulations 2011 are due...
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The Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court's decision that a former scout who was injured while playing a game is entitled to compensation. Mark Barnes, now 23, was injured when he was 13 while playing a game called ‘objects in the dark’ with...
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Judges are not perfect and when a judge recently considered a child placement order, there were inadequacies in the judgment. The judge had not stated correctly the test for the criteria to be considered when making a placement order. On the basis of the...
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When the owner of a building intends to carry out work covered by the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 , the owner of an adjoining building has the right to request security from the owner planning the work where this involves a risk to their property. This is so...
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The wife of a man who died as a result of being exposed to harmful asbestos whilst at work has secured compensation of £74,000 from his former employer. George Combe, who was 69 when he died, had worked as an apprentice turner for an engineering firm...
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If your business has followed the common practice of giving trade samples, your VAT returns will have been prepared on the basis that a single sample could be supplied to a person as a VAT-free supply but where a larger number of samples was given, output...
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A family's eleven-year argument with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) over the valuation of a property for IHT purposes has finally been decided by the Tax Tribunal . Mr Price's wife died in 1999, leaving her half share in the matrimonial home to her four...
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When a development plan is passed which should have been subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) but was not, does the granting of a retrospective consent for EIA development have force or is the planning authority obliged to take action against...
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Financial problems are one of the most common factors in family relationship breakdown, so divorce cases are not uncommonly carried on against a background of insolvency. A recent case shows the sort of problems that can arise. It involved a couple who...
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published two draft documents, on which it has recently held a consultation, aimed at helping businesses and company directors comply with competition law. The first document, How Your Business Can Achieve Compliance ,...
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A young boy who was hit by a car at a pedestrian crossing has been awarded £14,000 in compensation. Liam Brickell, who was three years old at the time of the accident, and his mother were both hit by the vehicle. The accident occurred because the...
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The newspapers have recently reported several incidences of the exploitation of vulnerable elderly people. In one such case, Stevenage care worker Jo-ann Tharle has been jailed for the theft of savings of more than £10,000 from an elderly man in her...
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The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland has ruled ( Martin v Southern Health and Social Care Trust ) that a nurse was not ‘on call’, for the purposes of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR), during unpaid rest breaks that were at risk of...
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A compensation settlement of over £500,000 has been agreed for a delivery driver who fell from his van and suffered life-changing injuries. Colin White, 53, was working for a home deliveries firm when the accident happened. He and his colleague had...
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An ongoing dispute between a pensioner and her local authority has demonstrated the importance of considering the impact of planning laws when carrying out work on listed buildings. Sheila New, 72, painted the front of her house a light blue colour in 2008....
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A recent case has illustrated that, when it comes to trade marks, first impressions are important. In the case concerned, a firm sought to oppose a trade mark application by another firm which has a similar name and was in a similar business. The firm...
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The NHS has paid out compensation totalling almost £200,000 to women who have become pregnant or been injured after undergoing treatment to have a contraceptive device implanted. The device, Implanon, consists of a tube which is implanted in the arm....
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The core provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October. The Act largely consolidates existing discrimination law, which had previously been found in a number of different pieces of legislation. One of the changes made by the Act is to...
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'Without prejudice’ communications, made when negotiating legal disputes in order to aid agreement, are not normally admissible in court. The idea behind them is to allow the parties to explore possible areas of agreement and make suggestions and...
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A nurse who injured her back whilst treating an overweight patient has won her claim for compensation in the High Court. Linda Andrew, 56, was attending the patient, who weighed more than 20 stone, in his own home in order to change the dressings on ulcers...
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The half-sister of two children in the sole care of their father has been allowed indirect contact with them, following a ruling of the Court of Appeal. Previously, a family court hearing was told of the father’s concern that allowing his daughter to...
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When appointing an executor, it is vital that you make sure you choose someone who is trustworthy. Where co-executors are appointed, it is important that they will all oversee the estate administration. The wisdom of an assiduous approach when deciding who...
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The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published key annual figures for the year 2009/2010. The statistics show that: 152 workers were killed at work, a rate of 0.5 per 100,000 workers; 121,430 other injuries to employees were reported under...
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A motorist who crashed due to farm waste on the road has been offered £20,500 in compensation for the injuries he suffered. The accident occurred when he drove around a blind corner and ran into a patch of mud and manure that had fallen from a vehicle...
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A dispute between neighbours over whether or not a brook marked the boundary between their properties may well be aired in the Supreme Court after the couple who lost the argument in the Court of Appeal was given permission to appeal against the decision. ...
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As heralded by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement in the June 2010 Budget, the standard rate of VAT rose to 20 per cent on 4 January 2011. HM Revenue and Customs have published guidance on the change ....
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As part of its reform programme to save public money, whilst at the same time increasing the transparency and accountability of public bodies, the Government has announced plans to merge the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office...
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A telephone engineer who is suffering from mesothelioma, a deadly asbestos-related disease, has won his battle for compensation from British Telecom (BT). Bernard Mottram, now 82, was employed by BT from 1970 until 1991, installing phone lines at office...
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The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2010 details the maximum amounts of compensation employment tribunals can award, which change annually in line with inflation. The Order was laid before Parliament on 10 December 2010 and applies where the...
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In a recent judgment dealing with child maintenance payments for a mother who left her husband and formed a stable monogamous relationship with another woman, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the mother’s obligations towards her...
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In order to prevent smaller firms from being deterred from litigating claims over intellectual property rights because of the costs involved, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that from 1 October 2010 the limit of recoverable costs in an action in...
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According to a recent economic report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, micro-businesses do not share the optimism of mid-sized businesses over growth prospects for the next two years. The survey found that only 56 per cent...
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A marine safety engineer who was seriously injured when he fell off a roof at work has won £100,000 in damages. The man was instructed by his employer to carry out work on a roof area used for storage. There were no guardrails on the roof and he fell...
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A woman has failed in a £680,000 High Court bid for half the proceeds of the sale of a business she helped to run, following the breakdown of a partnership. The claimant valued the business at £1.36 million and claimed 50 per cent of that...
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If something was described to you as a floating structure moored in a river, you would be forgiven for assuming that what was being described was a boat – but it isn’t necessarily so, as a Norfolk couple found. Using a barge as a base, they...
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The much publicised sacking of Sky Sports presenter Andy Gray serves as a salutary reminder to employees and employers alike that attitudes change and sexist banter is simply not acceptable. Mr Gray, who served as assistant to Ron Atkinson when he was the...
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The Government has announced its intention to abolish, by 1 October 2011, the Default Retirement Age (DRA) of 65 contained in the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 . Meanwhile, a preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding a...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have issued three new ‘toolkit’ guides to help taxpayers reduce the risk of submitting an incorrect tax return. Although primarily aimed at tax advisers and agents, the toolkits are a useful reference guide for any...
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Hundreds more victims of ‘toxic sofas’ are to receive compensation for their injuries, following a settlement reached with the insurers of one of the retailers involved. Several thousand members of the public suffered burns and skin complaints...
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The Court of Appeal has overturned a controversial High Court decision regarding a will which was unclearly worded. The deceased had left his property, valued at £169,000, to his lifelong friends. He also left a pecuniary legacy to his brother and his...
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The Government has confirmed that the Default Retirement Age (DRA) will be abolished, in line with earlier announcements on the subject. Employment Relations Minister Edward Davey said, “Retirement should be a matter of choice rather than compulsion...
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The Information Commissioner has served the first monetary penalties for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). In the first case, Hertfordshire County Council was issued with a penalty of £100,000 for two serious incidents where...
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The parents of a young girl who suffered severe brain damage as a result of a lack of oxygen during her birth have secured a settlement worth £9 million in compensation for her injuries. Amy Smith, now 8 years old, was born twenty minutes after her...
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The Court of Appeal has ordered a divorced husband to pay an additional £481,000 in ancillary relief to his former wife, five years after the original divorce was settled, because he hid information about a profitable share deal. In April 2005, the...
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The Government has announced that the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 will be introduced according to the timetable proposed by the previous Government. The Regulations will allow new parents greater flexibility as to how they make use of the...
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Loss of light can be a major irritation and the law provides two remedies where it occurs. The usual remedy is for the developer of the structure responsible for the loss of light to make a payment to the person whose property’s light is impaired. The...
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A total of nearly £1 million in compensation has been awarded to a group of ex-employees of MG Rover who were exposed to hazardous substances in the workplace and developed occupational lung disease as a result. The breathing problems were caused by...
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In a recent Tribunal decision , two beneficiaries under a will, who had donated a part of their inheritance to charity by way of a deed of variation, failed in their attempt to claim Income Tax (IT) relief on the gifts. Mr Ronald Harris and his sister, Mrs...
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Licensees are reminded that it is now compulsory to ensure that an age verification policy is in place and that it applies to any person who appears to be under the age of 18 years. Any such person is to be required to produce, on request, identification...
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A case involving a ‘multiple shares’ company, in which different classes of shares were created, with different rights and varying dividends paid to the shareholders over time, illustrates the baleful look that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) give...
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A woman who was sprayed in the face with CS gas by police while on a night out in Dewsbury has accepted £7,000 in settlement of her claim for compensation. Debbie O’Reilly, 45, was on a night out with a friend in August 2007. They met her...
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A builder who entered the ‘buy to let’ market after acting on a negligent valuation has been awarded more than £70,000 by the court . He intended to buy a property to let it out and engaged a firm of surveyors to value the property and to...
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One of the prime objectives of the due diligence process carried out by the prospective buyer of a business is to ensure that there are no skeletons in the cupboard of the business being bought. Warranties and indemnities are important safeguards, of course,...
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A recent case highlights the importance of making sure that procedural issues are dealt with correctly in the giving of formal notices. When a tenant wished to terminate its lease, it served the relevant notice on the landlord. At least, that is what it...
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When an agreement is made on separation or divorce for school fees to be paid by a parent, should the payment of the fees be taken into account by the Child Support Agency (CSA) when calculating that person’s child support liability? It might seem...
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We regularly report on compensation awards made to victims of mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer that principally affects the external lining of the lungs and normally only affects people who have been exposed to harmful asbestos. The symptoms of the...
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When a claim is made to the Employment Tribunal (ET), the ET reaches a decision based on an examination of the facts before it. An appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) can only be on a point of law. The EAT’s job is to identify any flaws in...
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The Court Service has revised its guidance on making an application for probate, in order to take into account the most common errors made. The guidance has been published by HM Revenue and Customs on page 6 of the June 2010 Inheritance Tax and Trusts...
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With over 300,000 businesses now having made ‘time to pay’ arrangements with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the fear is that businesses that are insolvent are using such arrangements to hide their precarious financial status. With HMRC said to...
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The Court of Appeal recently ruled that being in full-time employment abroad was enough in itself to prevent UK residence for Income Tax (IT) purposes, as long as the employment was for the whole of the tax year. It had previously been thought that some...
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A welder who suffered permanent damage to his hearing as a result of working in a noisy environment has won an out of court settlement of £12,000 from his former employer. Stephen Rothwell, 50, worked as a plater welder in a noisy steel fabrication...
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Having money in an account held in two or more names does not mean that the account is held jointly by all those named and that entitlement to the total balance automatically passes to the last survivor. A recent case dealt with a bank account that was held...
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A cyclist who was left with a permanent disability as a result of a road accident has been awarded compensation of £280,000. Doris Barrera-Torrico, 31, was cycling along a busy road in North London, on her way to a charity where she did voluntary...
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When the relationship of a same-sex couple who have children breaks up, there can be a problem regarding the meaning of the word ‘parent’, because at least one of the couple will not be the biological parent of the children. In a recent case, a...
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Virtually all contracts contain provisions which allow the parties concerned to cancel the contract in the event that the other party breaches it. However, with many contracts being complex and imposing a variety of obligations of varying importance on the...
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that allowing an employee to leave before the expiry of his or her notice period does not, in itself, affect the effective date of termination (EDT) for the purposes of whether a claim of unfair dismissal was...
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A recent case serves as a reminder to occupiers or owners of premises which are visited by the public that they have a duty to take timely action to prevent injuries caused by ice or snow where they know, or ought to have known, that there was a risk of an...
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The family of a woman who died of cervical cancer earlier this year has been awarded compensation after medical professionals repeatedly failed to detect abnormalities during routine screening tests. Debbie Phillips had regular smear tests over a 16-year...
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Getting into business is easy. Getting out of business is often where the real problems start. That is why it makes sense to have a partnership agreement (or a shareholders’ agreement if the business is a company) in place from day one. A...
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In a long-running case , a beneficiary under an estate administrated by his brother failed in his attempt to bring an action against two firms of solicitors which had acted for his brother in his capacity as administrator. Mark Roberts and his brother John...
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The Court of Appeal has ruled that a man who suffered serious injuries after being hit by a car in Spain is entitled to the same level of compensation that he would have received had the accident happened in the UK. Clint Jacobs was on holiday in Marbella...
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From 1 January 2011, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Regulations will be changed in order to close a loophole whereby some Employment Businesses and umbrella companies operate travel and subsistence schemes for temporary workers in order to save on tax and...
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Inheritance Tax (IHT) allowances and reliefs are available individually to each taxpayer. Because transfers of assets between spouses or civil partners normally have no tax consequences for IHT purposes, it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that...
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Two recent decisions in child contact cases illustrate that the courts recognise the importance, where possible, of children having a relationship with both of their parents. The Children and Adoption Act 2006 , which came into force in December 2008,...
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The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) standard agreement forms have recently been updated. The new forms replace the 2007 versions and are available from the RIBA bookshop ....
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The family of a builder who died from an asbestos-related disease has won a compensation settlement from his employer. The man first developed chest problems whilst on holiday in Spain and his condition was serious enough to warrant admission to hospital....
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld the principle that ‘without prejudice’ communications are not permitted as evidence in court except in very clearly defined circumstances. Without prejudice communications are those which take...
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A recent case illustrates the wisdom, when purchasing a car, of always checking the background of the vehicle to identify the rightful owner and the terms under which it is owned. Dr Kulkarni purchased a Mercedes for £39,000. The...
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A teacher has agreed a settlement of £145,000 in damages after having to over-extend her voice in the classroom where she worked, resulting in permanent damage to her vocal chords. Joyce Walters attributed her injury to the noise levels outside the...
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Earlier this year, YouGov carried out a poll on behalf of children’s charity Barnardo’s . The results indicate that 58 per cent of adults in the UK, and 74 per cent of those who are cohabiting, do not currently have a will in place. According...
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A recent case in the High Court serves as a reminder of the importance of making sure all contracts are carefully drafted. The case was surprising, mainly because it appeared unlikely that anyone involved in the finalisation of the contract had read it...
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A man who fell onto a concrete floor in the fish and chip shop where he worked has won £55,000 in compensation. The man was placing some stock in an overhead storage area when the accident happened. He slipped and fell through a ceiling hatch onto the...
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Valuation, as any valuer will tell you, is an imprecise art. Claims against valuers for negligent valuations are therefore notoriously difficult to sustain. Recently, the court heard a claim brought by investors in hotels that a valuer had neglected to...
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When a marriage breaks up, the matrimonial home is often the subject of considerable dispute and it is common for an order to be made for it to be sold and the proceeds divided between the divorcing couple. Recently, a case was heard in which a wife...
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An employer whose bonus scheme for sales staff was not tightly worded enough was recently left to count the cost after an appearance in the Court of Appeal . The employer hired a salesperson on a contract which included bonuses for meeting sales targets....
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A recent court ruling resulted in an employer having to contribute towards the hospice care received by a former employee who had contracted mesothelioma. The man had worked at the Deptford power station more than 50 years ago and the court heard that it...
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A woman has won damages of £9,000 for her injuries after slipping on a wooden footbridge. The accident happened in the winter, when the surface of the river crossing was dangerously slippery. The woman slipped and fell, with the result that she...
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The first charge of corporate manslaughter since the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force was brought against Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings Ltd., an engineering consultancy based in Gloucestershire. The company was...
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Trustees who make mistakes that have unintended tax consequences can normally obtain relief from the court. Recently, a tax-avoidance exercise by which trustees of offshore trusts passed the absolute beneficial interest in the assets of trusts to the...
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A street cleaner whose little finger was injured while he was clearing rubbish from the garden of a council house in Hull has won the right to compensation. Steven Threlfall, 45, was injured when a sharp object in a bin bag severed the artery and nerve in...
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Earlier in the year, OFCOM held a consultation on a draft initial obligations code of practice designed to reduce copyright infringement on the Internet. The code, entitled ‘Online Infringement of Copyright and the Digital Economy Act 2010 ’...
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Sometimes, after a person's death, it turns out that their will does not have the effect that was originally anticipated. This can happen if, for example, the family circumstances have changed since the will was made. In such situations, there are a number...
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With parts of Britain colder than the North Pole, and snow covering much of the country, many employees are failing to turn up for work and, in some cases, the work is made more dangerous because of the weather. If an employee cannot get to work because...
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The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has reaffirmed ( Todd v Strain and others ) that when there is a ‘relevant transfer’ under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE), the obligation under Regulation...
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When purchasing goods or services on the Internet, it is common for websites to include, normally at a stage before a contract is formed, a tick-box which must be completed to confirm that you have read and understood the necessary terms and conditions. ...
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A compensation settlement of £47,500 has been awarded to the family of a Devonshire man who had been exposed to asbestos in the workplace and subsequently died of an asbestos-related disease. Donald Bracher had worked on and off for a firm in...
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A poorly-drafted plan and a refusal to compromise have led to an argument over the boundary between two rural properties reaching the Court of Appeal . The argument between the owners of adjacent land arose because there was a brook and a fence that were...
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It is not often that decisions are quashed on the basis that the court in which a case was heard got the facts wrong, but a recent planning case shows that it can occur. The case concerned a planning application which related to two sides of a property....
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A teenager who was left almost completely paralysed by a road accident has been awarded a settlement estimated to be worth more than £17.5 million. Chrissie Johnson was 16 when the car in which she was a passenger collided with a lorry in 2006. After...
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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published revised guidance on Competition Disqualification Orders (CDOs), which are orders under which company directors are disqualified from acting as directors where the company of which they are a director is in...
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Mental capacity has always been something of a problematic area of the law. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 was enacted to put mental capacity law on a firmer footing and is based on the concepts of ‘best interests’ and ‘capacity’....
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A robust attitude taken by an executor to the valuation of a property came to nothing recently when HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) were successful in defeating the executor’s claim that a property valued by them at £475,000 for Inheritance Tax...
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A London accountant has recently been jailed after pocketing £11 million of clients’ money. The accountant used a simple technique – he submitted false returns for his clients, which led to refunds of tax and VAT being received. His...
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A young boy who faces a lifetime of painful surgery and physiotherapy after NHS treatment failures has won an out of court settlement in compensation. Hayden Aspin was born in 1998 with both hips out of alignment, which meant that they could easily be...
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The use of questionnaires about job applicants' general health and similar issues before a job offer is made - including before selecting a pool of applicants from whom the successful candidate will be chosen - is prohibited under Section 60 of the ...
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Next time you take a holiday in Europe, make sure you have appropriate health insurance. Many British holidaymakers think that the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will cover them if they are taken ill and require immediate medical treatment in a...
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A wealthy man has had an order served on him by the court which prevents him from selling his house until he settles child maintenance arrears of more than £78,000. The man had failed to pay any maintenance for more than 12 years, It was thought that...
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A recent case highlights the importance of getting standard terms in contracts right. It involved a hotel group, which entered into a contract with a computer software firm specialising in software for managing hotels. A standard term in the software...
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An agricultural worker has been awarded a compensation settlement of £71,000 after his leg became caught in a potato harvesting machine, resulting in serious injuries. Stephen Hyndman, 28, was carrying out seasonal work for an agricultural contractor...
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When estate assets are not divided as potential beneficiaries think they should be, disagreements often result. When there is a second family involved, legal challenges are relatively common. In a recent case, Jean Gorjat, a multi-millionaire electronics...
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When you do business with someone else, it is important to agree the applicable terms and conditions – merely exchanging terms can be a recipe for dispute, as a recent case shows. The case involved a US company, which ordered goods from a British...
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A girl who is permanently scarred after she suffered an accident at a holiday park in Somerset has been awarded £5,000 in compensation. The unnamed girl, who was 11 years old at the time of the accident, slipped and fell into a glass panel in the door...
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The Effective Date of Termination (EDT) of an employment contract is of critical importance when determining whether or not a claim of unfair dismissal is presented to the Employment Tribunal (ET) within the three-month time limit allowed. In Heaven v...
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The inclusion of the mortgage broker’s fee in the ‘total amount financed’ did not make a debt unenforceable, according to the Supreme Court. The Court was considering the case of a Mr and Mrs Walker , who took out a loan of £17,500...
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A tenant wishing to vacate premises by terminating its lease should read the break clauses in the lease carefully and comply fully with them: failing to do so can prove to be an expensive mistake. A recent case dealt with a dispute over a notice to...
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A sheet metal worker who developed ‘vibration white finger’ has won £7,000 in compensation. The unnamed 58-year-old man from Sheffield spent up to three hours a day grinding and hammering sheets of metal. After 26 years in the job, he...
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There are special rules covering 'heritage property' - works of art or important buildings that are of significant cultural importance - where capital taxes are concerned. In appropriate circumstances, the rules allow such property to be used to settle...
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A director of a Staffordshire refrigeration company was recently jailed for 44 months after pleading guilty to charges of false accounting, fraud and theft. The man had been perpetrating a fraud against the company he worked for, which involved falsifying...
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A couple who were awarded £22,000 in damages after they cut short their £60,000 dream cruise, when it turned into a nightmare due to sickness and physical discomfort, have had their damages slashed by the Court of Appeal . The couple abandoned...
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A disabled man who was injured whilst travelling on a bus that was being driven erratically has won £10,000 in compensation. The man, who had pre-existing brain injuries, got on the bus in his wheelchair. The wheelchair area was occupied by...
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As part of its review of legislation, in order to reduce any unnecessary burden of regulation on businesses, the Government has carried out a consultation on the right of employees to request time to undergo training. The right was introduced by the ...
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A tolerated trespasser is a person who has had an eviction order made against them but who remains in occupation of the property with the landlord’s acquiescence because they continue to pay rent. Since the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 came...
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Two landlords were recentlly successful in persuading the High Court that a Corporate Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), under which they stood to lose the benefit of a guarantee for their rent, was ‘unfairly prejudicial’ to them as defined by...
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According to a survey by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), businesses are bullish about their prospects over the next 12 months. In its quarterly UK Business Confidence Monitor Report for the second quarter of 2010, the...
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An ambulance service worker has agreed a settlement of £6,000 in compensation after he fell down a flight of steps at work. The man was going down some steps into the garage where his ambulance was parked when he slipped on a cup of coffee, which had...
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The Court of Appeal recently ruled that a mother whose child was taken into care unnecessarily was not entitled to compensation under human rights legislation. She reported concerns about episodes in which the child had apparently stopped breathing. The...
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Provisional figures published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that the number of people killed at work in Britain fell to a record low in the year 2009/2010. Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010, 151 workers were killed, compared with 178...
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When a claim is brought for damages, the party that is claimed against can make an offer to the claimant under a procedure contained in Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules. ‘Part 36 offers’ are designed to make it more likely that a case will be...
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Repetitive strain injuries are often linked to fairly simple repetitive workplace tasks, such as packing on a production line or the regular use of hand tools, so it is easy for employers to fail to recognise the risk such practices pose to employees. A...
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The Government Equalities Office has signalled its intention to proceed with the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 according to the previously announced timetable, which means that its core provisions came into force on 1 October. Under existing...
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In a recent case , a pre-nuptial agreement made between a woman and her former husband was held to be binding by the Supreme Court. The couple had agreed, before they married in 1998, that should the marriage fail neither would benefit financially. Katrin...
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The family of a man who died of an asbestos-related disease has received £121,716 in compensation. James Simpson died in a hospice at the age of 83 shortly after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a particularly lethal form of cancer caused by...
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It is often thought that an appeal to the Court of Appeal will lead to the resolution of a dispute, but in some cases, the Court will merely decide that another hearing is necessary. In a recent case , the Court heard an appeal concerning a boundary...
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The Court of Appeal has recently made a decision which is of huge importance to clients seeking tax advice. Despite extensive lobbying by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) , the Court ruled that legal professional privilege...
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The Government is currently conducting a review of health and safety laws and practice. Lord Young of Graffham, who was a cabinet minister in Margaret Thatcher’s Government, has been appointed as Adviser to David Cameron and is overseeing a...
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A pensioner who slipped and fell in a Marks and Spencer food hall has been awarded compensation of £7,500 for her injuries. Janet Morritt, 71, slipped on a wet patch caused by a spillage of prawn cocktail from the salad counter and water from the...
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The Court of Appeal has now handed down its judgment in a recent case in which the lower court held that a man’s will was valid because he had testamentary capacity (‘was of sound mind’) when he gave instructions for it to be drawn up,...
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The ruling of the House of Lords in Stringer and Others v HM Revenue and Customs – that employees who are off work due to sickness for more than a year who have been denied their entitlement to statutory holiday pay can bring a claim under the ...
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An autistic boy was not deprived of his right to an education, under the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA), despite being kept out of school for some 18 months, according to a recent decision by the Supreme Court . According to the Court, the right to...
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A husband who proposed a ‘clean break’ divorce settlement (where there is a one-off lump-sum payment and no subsequent maintenance payments are due) had his request rejected by the court recently . The divorcing couple had two children, both in...
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HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have recently taken a swipe at websites which pass on enquiries to the websites of companies which engage in the selling of insurance. Insurance contracts are exempt from VAT, but HMRC argued that the service provided by a...
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A grandmother who has been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer has received £75,000 in compensation after a hospital failed to investigate the cause of a shadow on her left lung, revealed in a previous X-ray. Janet Hardingham, 65, only discovered...
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The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has urged organisations to be extra vigilant in the way they handle personal data, after the number of reported data protection breaches reached 1,000. Anyone who processes personal information must comply...
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A Barlcaycard customer recently failed in his bid to have his £13,000 credit card balance set aside on the grounds that Barclaycard could not produce the original document showing that he had agreed to their terms and conditions, following the credit...
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A sale and leaseback agreement between a landlord and tenant was the subject of a recent court case . The decision turned on whether it was reasonable to refuse to comply with the agreement if vacant possession of a very small portion of the property could...
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A former champion cyclist has been awarded a record sum in compensation after a road accident that left him with life-changing injuries. Manny Helmot, 39, was out on a training ride when he was hit head-on by a speeding car. He sustained serious injuries...
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The Government intends to abolish, by 1 October 2011, the Default Retirement Age (DRA) of 65 contained in the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 and has published a consultation document on how it proposes to achieve its aim. Under the proposals,...
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A construction worker has won a compensation settlement of £600,000 after his arm was partially severed in an accident at work. The man was working on a construction site where a JCB digger was in use. The driver was having difficulty releasing the...
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A case concerning a company director who was disqualified from acting as a director serves as a reminder of the circumstances in which the court will reverse such a decision. It involved a man whose conduct was judged to have fallen below the standards of...
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A recent case confirms that for the purposes of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 , which gives tenants of let houses the right to buy them in appropriate circumstances, a ‘house’ need not be used as a residence in order for the right to buy to be...
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The directors of the Midlands will-writing firm Willmakers of Distinction have been jailed for the theft of more than £400,000 from the estates of clients. Nicholas Butcher was jailed for three and a half years and banned from acting as a director for...
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The Court of Appeal has issued its ruling in an interesting intellectual property (IP) case, involving copycat scents, which follows recent European rulings. The case was brought by l’Oréal and other makers of luxury perfumes. They took...
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After a three-year legal battle, the High Court has ruled that a mesothelioma victim’s former employer must pay for his hospice care. Mesothelioma is a deadly disease, almost always caused by exposure to asbestos. It can manifest itself decades after...
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A recent case shows the importance of acting promptly when a loss due to a breach of the public procurement rules is suspected. It involved a company which had bid for a public procurement contract awarded by the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal...
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The Court of Appeal has overturned the lower court's decision that Plymouth City Council was partly liable for injuries sustained by a man who fell five metres into a car park after darting through a gap in some bushes late at night. Jonathan Harvey was a...
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Doubts had been raised that implementation of the Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010, which were passed by the previous Government shortly before the May 2010 General Election, would not proceed as planned. However, the Coalition Government has now...
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Changes have recently been made to the regulations governing Lasting Powers of Attorney and Enduring Powers of Attorney . The amendments require that the original Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) must be produced, if available, when an application is made...
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Since April 2009, the names of employers and individuals who fail to pay Employment Tribunal (ET) awards have been added to the public Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines, once enforcement proceedings have been brought against them in the County Court....
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A process worker who developed noise-induced hearing loss has won £15,000 in compensation. Gerald Cox, 52, was employed by electronics firm LG Philips Displays in a factory where there were excessive levels of noise. Unfortunately, during the 25 years...
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A company recently failed to persuade the Court of Appeal that ‘without prejudice’ comments made by the company it was in dispute with should be admitted as evidence in court. Without prejudice material is material which is used in negotiation...
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A man’s attempt to obtain a half-share of his ex-partner’s property after they split up failed recently when he could not persuade the Court of Appeal that his decision to have his name removed from the deeds, taken more than 20 years earlier,...
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One of the reasons a contract can be abandoned is that the performance of the contract is ‘frustrated’ – something happens which makes it impossible to complete. In August 2007, the builders Barratt contracted with site owner Gold Group...
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A seven-year-old girl has been awarded damages of £3,000 from a pub chain after trapping her finger in a cupboard door. Caitlyn Ratcliffe was at a friend’s birthday party at a ‘Wacky Warehouse’ when the accident happened. A member of...
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Employers have a statutory duty to allow their employees reasonable time off work to carry out public duties. Such duties include acting as a justice of the peace, as a prison visitor, as a member of a local authority or relevant health or education body, as...
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The core provisions of the Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010. The Act replaces nine major pieces of discrimination legislation and other ancillary measures that have been introduced over the last forty years to protect people from...
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Yet another recent case illustrates that the elderly and the bereaved are a target for those who seek to manipulate others for their own benefit. An NHS bereavement services adviser from Leicestershire was jailed after being found guilty of stealing...
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A motorcyclist who was seriously injured in a road accident has been awarded a substantial sum in compensation. The unnamed woman, who was training to be a nurse, collided with an oncoming car that turned across her path when she had the right of way. She...
