The Government's quest for better information on the energy efficiency of buildings has led to the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for commercial as well as residential property (where they constitute part of the Home...

Employees, or their dependants, are entitled to claim damages for injury caused by a workplace accident if:   there was a duty of care owed to the injured person; that duty was not performed; and ...

The new national minimum wage rates which will apply from October 2008 are as follows: The adult national minimum wage will rise from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour. The minimum rate for 18- to 21-year-olds...

A judgment by the Court of Appeal illustrates that when someone dies without making it clear who should inherit their estate, this can result in a prolonged court battle and an outcome that may be very different from what the deceased person intended and...

When one member of a cohabiting couple dies, it can come as an unpleasant surprise to the bereaved partner to discover that not all of their late partner’s estate will pass to them in the absence of a will. It is only when this happens that many people...

With car fuel having leapt in price in recent months, the amount of VAT which can be recovered on fuel used for business purposes is also rising. There are three ways in which car fuel can be dealt with for VAT purposes: ...

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has handed down its ruling ( Coleman v Attridge Law ) on whether the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) properly implements the EU Equal Treatment Framework Directive . Sharon Coleman, who...

A case in which a tenant won a recent case against its landlord using the unfair contract terms legislation, seems to have given tenants whose leases contains unfair exclusion clauses, improved weaponry in such disputes. In the case in point, the tenant was...

A recent case found the court considering whether a hot-air balloon, which carried passengers on pleasure trips, was an aircraft under the law. The case involved a man who was injured in 2003 when the balloon he was travelling in landed heavily. ...

Following one of the largest ever investigations under the Competition Act 1998 , the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a Statement of Objections (SO) against 112 firms in the construction sector in England that it alleges have engaged in bid...

The new Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) is due to commence operations in October 2009 and will be responsible for vetting the millions of people seeking to work with children or vulnerable adults. The ISA was established in January 2008 by the...

Under Section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 , all employees are entitled to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies involving a dependant, and not to be dismissed or victimised for doing so. The emergency must...

Tax law in the UK permits a person (or a couple who are married or civil partners) to have only one home designated as their ‘Principal Private Residence’ (PPR). The importance of this is that any gain on a PPR is exempt from Capital Gains Tax...

Under the Points Based System (PBS) for immigration most people applying to come to or remain in the UK to work or study who are not nationals of the European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss nationals will, in addition to having to meet the criteria set by the...

Construction contracts usually provide for payments to be made in stages, with the amount payable being based on the amount of work certified as complete at the appropriate time. Where project milestones are not met, the contract will normally provide that...

Divorce can be highly confrontational and can involve a great deal of negotiation conducted by correspondence on the part of solicitors and their clients. This necessarily takes a great deal of time and can make, what is already a stressful process, even...

Following persistent criticisms of Home Information Packs (HIPs), Housing Minister Caroline Flint has announced new proposals 'to improve the quality and flow of information consumers receive through the HIP'. A ...

The Court of Appeal has overturned the High Court’s ruling that a boy who suffered brain damage after he was kicked in the head while playing on a bouncy castle should be awarded compensation that could have amounted to £1 million. ...

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has been given the power to impose substantial fines on organisations that deliberately or recklessly commit serious breaches of the Data Protection Act (DPA). The new power is granted under the...

Companies can now execute documents under deed without having to have the document signed by two officers (directors or the company secretary) or affixing the company’s seal. Now, provided it is allowed under the company’s...

Much has been made of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) changes, regarding the taxation of business assets, due to the abolition from 6 April 2008 of ‘taper relief’. However, the CGT position regarding non-business assets has also changed significantly...

A marriage carried out under foreign law will not be recognised as valid in England and Wales if it could not have been validly contracted under English law. This was the conclusion of the court after a Bangladeshi couple sought an order...

Currently, restaurants operate a wide variety of practices when it comes to dealing with tips and the Government does not regulate as to how they should be managed. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR)...

Rogue debt collectors face tough new rules in a Government bid to improve consumer protection in this contentious area. This is because of changes to the Consumer Credit Act 2006 (CCA) which have recently come into effect. Chief...

The danger of cohabiting without making an express agreement as to how the title to property is to be held has again been underlined by a recent case. It concerned a woman who had lived with a man for several years in a house which was...