In 2007 there was a well over 250,000 reported road traffic accidents in the UK, which are, according to the Department of Transport, the most common reason for a personal injury claim.

The creation of road traffic laws designed to protect motorists from any potential accidents that could occur whilst out on the road. Personal injury claims are quite a common occurrence for any driver that has suffered due to a road traffic accident through no fault of their own. If you are involved in a road traffic accident and sustain an injury it is always in your best interest to speak to a solicitor who specialises in personal injury and road traffic law.

Motorists that are involved in road traffic accidents and need to make personal injury claim, they must first prove to their insurance company that they were in no way responsible for the accident. Road traffic law states that you are legally required to stop your car if you have been involved in a car accident with another driver. Here are some reasons for needing to stop:

• If the road or surrounding area has been damaged
• If someone is injured, either you, the other party, or anyone else
• If someone’s property or vehicle has been damaged in the accident

Any failure to follow these rules would mean that any personal injury claims that are made on your part could easily become disputable and invalid.

For drivers that are involved in an road traffic accident that wasn’t their fault, a personal injury claims solicitors will be able to help them seek the proper financial compensation for any damage of inconvenience that may have been suffered. It is possible to claim compensation for any potential losses that you have suffered because of the accident, these can include:

• Any injury or distress that is suffered because of the incident.
• An insurance claim that could affect your insurance premium.
• A loss of earnings, including the period following the accident in which you may be unable to work due to your injury.

Personal injury claims allow people who have been injured in a motor accident to regain any financial loss that was incurred because of the injury to the victim of the accident. It is recommend that you seek a professional personal injury solicitor who will be able to assist you getting the compensation you deserve. This would be calculated by the level of damage and inconvenience that you have suffered.

For more useful information about road traffic law and personal injury claims please have a look at the following websites:

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Road_Traffic_Law/Motor_Accidents

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport

Employment law is something that has the potential to affect any one who is an employer or employee of a business, at any time during their life.  It is a complex area of law that continually undergoes changes as individuals’ rights and legislation develops. To understand one area of employment law may be possible but to try and understand all relevant areas, all nooks and crannies of employment law would be very difficult. Statistics suggest that the majority of us will at some point through our working career come across areas where employment law is relevant. Understanding the potential route to take within this can be a difficult undertaking. The process can be made much simpler by the use of an experienced employment law solicitor.

Employment law solicitors can make what seems a muddled and complex area much easier. Solicitors in the specialism of employment law, have extensive experience in handling matters on behalf of both employers and employees in all areas of employment law.

There is a vast array of areas in employment law that any individual may be able to have a case for an employment tribunal. The following show a list of the areas that solicitors in the area frequently deal with:

• Unfair dismissal: This refers to the actions of the employer in terminating the employees contract for any unfair reason, solicitors are well equipped with experience dealing with such issues.
• Employment rights: There are vast areas under employment rights both for the directors of a company, the managers and the employees themselves.
• Health and safety: All precautions and procedures must be in place and understood by everyone involved in a business otherwise claims can be made here.
• Workplace discrimination at all levels, sex, race, age and disability
• Redundancy: Solicitors often have to deal with claims of unfair redundancy. Legitimate redundancy cannot be claimed upon.
• Gross misconduct: Solicitors here deal with the actions of individuals within a business.
• Maternity issues: This covers all areas within maternity, whether maternity leave or maternity pay.
• Disciplinary proceedings: The disciplinary proceedings within employment must be of a set standard, any disciplinary proceedings outside the usually norm can be brought in form of the employers tribunal, through the help of a solicitor.

It is unexpected for an employer or employee to have a vast knowledge in the area of employment law, if any at all. It seems ridiculous to me that employers need not have any knowledge of employment law to start up a business and employ people. It is something that is meant to just be picked up as they go along. However, in such a legal complex field where claims can be made from all angles, I would certainly want to have a relative knowledge base before employing people in to my business.

The fact that both employers and employees will rarely have any understanding of the ins and outs of employment law results in the substantial need for an employment solicitor. If a claim to the employment tribunals is to be successful, the advice and expertise of an experience solicitor is essential.

It is important to remember that under employment law it isn’t just the employees that can make a claim. This is a common misconception. The employers are able to make claims against the actions of their employees too, should this be the case. Whatever the situation, the advice is to always deal with any employment problems with the assistance of a solicitor. It will make the process simpler and more efficient and much less stressful for the individuals involved.

I am a legal writer who specialises in employment law, if you would like more information about employment law solicitors I suggest you have a look at http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Employment_Law and http://www.direct.gov.uk

The recent capitulation of the major high street banks in the long running legal battle between the British Bankers Association and the Financial Services Authority has paved the way for consumers to continue reclaiming billions of pounds in Payment Protection Insurance mis-selling cases. In essence, the Financial Services Authority, the city regulator, had proposed to introduce new rules which would tighten up PPI selling standards retrospectively, and which would also require businesses which sold Payment Protection Insurance to conduct a thorough review of the way in which they had marketed and sold PPI and write to consumers who were at risk of mis-selling, informing them that they may have a case for a refund. The banks objected to this new regime and launched a legal challenge in the High Court, but with the matter now disposed of once and for all it should now be easier for consumers to claim the compensation to which they are entitled.

However, an alarming number of consumers may lose out on the compensation which is due to them because they mistakenly believe that the new regulations introduced by the FSA and the banks’ defeat in their recent legal battle with the Financial Services Authority mean that they will receive an automatic refund. Many consumers overestimate the degree to which the FSA’s new regulations will force financial services companies which have been engaged in mis-selling to issue unsolicited refunds, holding the view that they will be contacted if they have a valid compensation claim.

In truth, the FSA’s regulations on retrospective reviews leave each financial business a great deal of leeway in deciding how to assess which consumers are most at risk of mis-selling and therefore need to be contacted. It is in the interests of each financial services provider to minimise the number of consumers who are invited to make a claim for mis-selling and so it is likely that restrictive criteria will be adopted. For example, high street banks have recently issued press releases indicating that when reviewing past sales to determine whether or not they should write to consumers instructing them that they might be entitled to a refund, they will ignore any customers who have already made a complaint of mis-selling which has been rejected by the bank. This means that many consumers who complained under the old rules will not have their cases reassessed under the FSA’s new more robust package of regulation.

If you have had a loan, mortgage, car finance agreement or any other kind of credit and you suspect that you may have been mis-sold a payment protection insurance policy then you should not delay – it is important that you make a claim as soon as possible because strict time limits apply, and you should not presume that just because the PPI company does not contact you to invite you to make a claim you are not eligible. Make sure that you do not miss out on your entitlement to compensation.

For some more information about mis-sold PPI and to get help with your claim I suggest you have a look at theses helpful websites:

http://www.claimsfinancial.co.uk/missoldppi.aspx

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Missold_PPI_Claims/How_to_Claim_Back_PPI

Professional negligence is a term describing a situation where the services of a professional are below the standard that can reasonably be expected by the person that employed the professional, leaving them feeling as if they have been misinformed or that work has not been what was promised. Professional negligence will have occurred if the work performed by the professional is seriously below the standard of other people offering the same service.

To make a valid claim the person who hired the professional will need to have sustained some form of loss, usually financial loss or ill health, which can be traced directly back to the act of professional negligence.

The loss must have taken place as a direct result of the service provided by the professional. Professionals that are most commonly accused of professional negligence are accountants, solicitors, surveyors, project managers, planning consultants, financial advisors and architects. While negligence is most commonly found in these sectors, any work that has been done by an individual claiming to be a professional and that has been executed in a way that has caused a loss to the person employing them, can be accused of professional negligence.

There are a limited amount of solicitors that deal with professional negligence claims. This is because it is quite a complex area of law to study. Therefore, if you are looking to claim for professional negligence you should attempt to find a solicitor who specialises in the area to ensure that they are able to deal with your case in the most appropriate way.

The most common form of claim that comes up are the ones that involve legal professionals. It is sadly not uncommon for people to be given legal advice that is inappropriate and results in them making poor decisions and suffering because of it. The other most common areas of professional negligence claims are the ones that involve miss sold financial products such as mortgages or medical advice that causes person harm. 

If you wish to make a negligence claim you will need to establish a duty of care; if you have a contract with the person you are filing against, this should be referred to. If you do not have a contract, the professional may already be liable for negligence as they should have provided you with a contract before they started work.

It must at this point be established that the duty of care has been breached. This can be proved only be submitting evidence that shows that the services provided were below the standard that any reasonable person would expect from someone claiming to be a professional in that field.

The last step will be that you must prove that you have suffered a loss due to the poor service that you received. You will need to provide solid evidence that you were worse off after the service was received and that this loss was as the direct result of the negligence. You will be unable to make a claim if you just received a bad service but did not suffer a loss due to it.

More information on professional negligence can be found here:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/courts/procedure-rules/civil

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Professional_Negligence

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Under the Companies Act 2006, directors have a duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence, performing to the level that would be exercised by a reasonably attentive person with both the general knowledge, skill and experience that can reasonably be expected of a person at their level.

Where there is specialist knowledge required, there is a higher standard expected of the directors. These tests are called the objective and subjective tests. A court would have to take into account the functions of each individual director, including their specific responsibilities and the circumstances of the company when applying these tests.

Consequently there is a basic level of ability that is required from all the board members of a company, and a higher standard expected of those with some particular skill and experience. However, a non-executive director may not have thorough knowledge of the business’s affairs, and will not have access to all the information available to management, but they may have the broader experience and be expected to use that to investigate and test. This does not mean that non executive directors are able to get away with improper conduct; they will be expected to meet the standard of a reasonably skilled professional.

If you are a company which is owed money that is not being paid, the most sensible way to recover this debt is by going to the small claims courts. Before doing this, you must first consider whether you are likely to win your case. Most cases for debt recovery by firms and companies involve money owed for work done and/or goods delivered without the relevant payments being met by the clients. These types of claims are not often disputed, as courts generally will order for payment straight away. However, if it is thought that a customer may dispute the claim, or you are not sure whether the case would result in success, it is wise to consult a solicitor on the matter.

It is always a worry that a company will be unable to retrieve money which is owed to them. A court however, cannot help if the customer has no money, assets or anything of great value to make up the expense owed to you. If the customer is another limited company, it is worth thinking about whether there are any assets in the company’s own name that could be claimed as part of the repayment.

For more information about business law I suggest you have a look at these sites:

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Business_Law

http://www.bis.gov.uk/businesslaw

Outside of the world of the internet, it has been well established how a contract should be formed based on case law through the years, and how a contract is then concluded, for some time. Commonly known, the conclusion of a party is when both parties sign the contractual document setting out the agreed terms and conditions. It is also well known that a contract can be agreed upon verbally but if either party then turns around and denies the existence of any contract between the parties, it is far more difficult to establish evidence to the contrary and proving that an agreement was made between the parties.

Four elements need to be established before any kind of valid contract can be made and they are; consideration, intention to create legal relation, offer and then acceptance. Consideration means that each party will benefit in some way by the contract that is being entered into. The intention to create legal relations is generally apparent in all cases, because of the fact that both parties have entered into negotiation. The tricky part to establishing a legally binding contract is the offer and acceptance part. An offer is when a party offers something to the other party to buy, but it must be of a particular item, including the specific nature of the item, the price to be paid, how it is to be delivered and when payment is due. This is often confused with an invitation to treat. It must be remembered that you cannot accept an invitation to treat and therefore cannot conclude a contract.

Usually the act of the two parties signing a document containing the terms and conditions relevant to the item offered and possibly any exchange of correspondence is legally considered acceptance of said document. Acceptance would usually determine the time the contract was entered into, the terms of the contract and which jurisdiction the contract is relevant too. This is very common, as most contracts state which jurisdiction the law will relate to just in case there is a dispute on the horizon. Online acceptance is slightly different that a hard copy contract, but the general legal principles are no different. There are essentially two ways to concluding a contract online and that is by email and on the web.

The exchange of physical correspondence can in modern times be replaced somewhat by the internet and electronic mail. It must be that the email accepting the offer must have the same terms as the email giving the offer, therefore a contract will be concluded by a second email, but inevitably questions will always arise as to the validity of the acceptance. Outside the web, the first letter posted to a party after the offer accepting that item is the once which is deemed to be the acceptance which will be the successful one. However, when it comes to online contracts, it has not been determined exactly what constitutes the same as posting a letter. It usually depends on the individual case or situation to determine when an acceptance has been reached.

For more information about business law I suggest you have a look at these websites:

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Business_Law

http://www.bis.gov.uk/businesslaw

A Will is one of the most important documents that you will ever need to have written up and kept securely. It is a document which contains instructions as to what should happen to your assets and possessions when you die. It also notes who you wish to provide for financially and if you have any preferences to funeral arrangements. A person who has a valid will in place needs to have it securely stored so that it can also be found promptly and easily by those who have survived you. The time following the death of a loved one is obviously traumatic and may incur a large amount of work in making the proper arrangements following the death and bringing the deceased person’s affairs to a close. To help your loved ones through this process, your Will should be secure from loss or tampering but easily accessible to those it concerns.

If your Will was drafted by a professional you may not even have a copy of it. It is therefore worth asking the firm or company that drafted your Will to forward a copy so you can keep it in the house and notify the appropriate people as to its whereabouts. However, if keeping a copy of your Will at home is not practical there are several places that it can be stored securely. The first is with your solicitor, who may well already offer storage of your Will free of charge or for a nominal fee.

Your Will could also be stored by a bank or other company offering safe deposit boxes or similar secure storage arrangements. Banks are a good place to leave your Will as your loved ones will have to notify your bank of your death anyway, so will be able to locate your Will in the process. However, this is less common after major bank closures thanks to the current economic climate. Recently, systems have been put in place to store Wills electronically secure software for a fee. In the event of the death, the executor named in the Will can apply to access the legal document. Once it has been accessed it will be deleted from the system.

If the executor of a Will is refusing to show you a copy you may be able to obtain one from the probate registry office, if a grant of representation has been issued, or should seek legal advice if you think they are acting dishonestly.

For more advice about Wills I suggest you have a look at these websites:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Wills

Employees have the right to take a minimum amount of paid holiday each year, which is called statutory holiday. The number of days paid holiday employees are entitled to vary depending on the type of employment contract, but the right to some form of paid holiday is held by all workers, including those who work full-time, part-time, agency workers and casual workers. The only people who are not allowed statutory paid holiday are self-employed people, with a few exceptions and those who are under the school leaving age. The rules on statutory holiday apply to all employees regardless of how long they have worked somewhere.

The statutory holiday is 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year for full time employees. That is 28 days holiday including bank holidays. This was only recently changed on April 1st 2009, before then it was 4.8 weeks holiday. Entitlement for part time and other workers is calculated on a pro rata basis.

As an employee, you will have a contract of employment which may give you the right to take more than the statutory amount of paid holiday, but 28 days is the minimum legal requirement for all full time employees. The entitlement under your employment contract for more time off is called contractual holiday. Employment law does not state how much contractual holiday you should get, or whether it should be paid or not. This is at the discretion of the employer.

Employees who are not entitled to the standard statutory holiday are those who work in the armed forces, police and civil protection services. What will generally happen with these people is that your employment contract will give you the right to contractual holiday, which means you may have a few more days than the standard 28 days holiday per year.

As stated before, you are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday per year which is called statutory holiday. The maximum amount of statutory paid holiday you can be entitled to is 28 days and this applies even if you work 5 days a week.

Employees do not automatically have the right to have time off work on bank or public holidays, with or without pay. Conditions such as these must be included in the employment contract, which should outline procedures and expectations for working on public holidays if appropriate. In these cases the employer can ask the employee to work a bank or public holiday or give the employee unpaid time off for bank and public holidays. The employee will not lose the right to take full statutory holiday at some other time during the year. The employer can give the employee time off for bank or public holidays which is either unpaid or will count towards their holiday entitlement for the year.

For more information about employment law I suggest you have a look at these websites:

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Employment_Law

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees

As an employer you should ensure that employment contracts are written up for anyone working for you for any length of time. An employment contract should outline the basis of your relationship with your employee and their rights and responsibilities during the term of employment. The contract should be written up and signed as soon as your new employee accepts the offer of employment. This will protect both you and your employee should any problems or disputes arise in the course of employment.

While an employment contract does not need to be in writing to be valid it is advisable to do so. This will make it easier to prove that an agreement has been made than simply relying on what was said. As an employer, you must provide your employees with a contract within two months of them starting work. This should include the main terms and conditions of their employment. You may want to consider giving new employees a rundown of the terms and conditions of their contract before they start work to ensure that they are fully aware of their rights and what you expect of them.

There are some basic terms included in all employment contracts whether expressed in writing or not. These are that trust and confidence will be maintained through cooperation, that you will act in good faith towards each other and that care will be taken to ensure that health and safety regulations are observed in the workplace. It is possible for implied terms to become part of an employment contract as they are supported by the behaviour of those working in the company and through company rules, particularly if an employee has been made aware of them at the start of their employment.

The written statement that you provide to your employees should cover basic things such as names and dates when the employment contract will be valid. It should also include a section about pay and working hours. You should go into as much detail as possible as this will help you to resolve problems easily when things go wrong, for example if an employee gets sick, you should have a sickness procedure in place regarding time off and pay.

You will only need to provide employment contracts for people who are directly employed by you, for example any outside contractors that you bring in to carry out certain tasks do not need employment contracts to do them.

If you breach an employee’s employment contract they have the right to take legal action against you. Standard procedure would be for them to discuss any issues that they might have with you in the first instance, many disputes can be resolved in this way. If this fails, the employee can take you to court to seek compensation for any losses that they suffering due to your breaking of their contract. The same process follows for employers if am employee breaches their contract.

For more information about employment law I suggest you have a look at the following websites:

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Employment_Law

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees

Compared to the courts procedure and the legal fees that entails, solving disputes using alternative dispute resolution techniques such as arbitration can be simple and cost effective. Entering into arbitration means that any decision the arbitrator comes to will mean that it is binding on the parties involved in the dispute. It is a way to come to a settlement by a third party reviewing the case and imposing a decision.

There are other forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation which is a form of settlement negotiation organized by a impartial third party called a mediator and conciliation. Arbitration is usually used for the resolving of commercial disputes, such as under consumer and employment matters as arbitration will be facilitated by the contract terms in employment and commercial relationships.

The process of arbitration can be entered into either voluntarily by an individual or it can be mandated through the use of compulsory arbitration, although an individual must have voluntarily agreed that arbitration will be used to settle a dispute of this kind should one arise. Further to this an arbitrator’s decision can then either be binding or non-binding, which is very similar to mediation. However, the difference between arbitration and mediation is that a mediator will try and help the parties find an agreement to continue a good working relationship, where as a non-binding arbitrator decision will not be involved in the settlement process at all and will only identify who is liable for the dispute and where applicable show an indication of the damages payable. It must be remembered that arbitration is not the same as judicial proceedings, alternative dispute resolution, expert determination or mediation.

Arbitration is generally favored as a form of dispute resolution because of its numerous perceived advantages to the process of litigation. When the dispute is quite technical, arbitration is good because you would be able to appoint an arbitrator with a reasonable level of expertise in that area, which in litigation, judges cannot be chosen. The arbitration process is much quicker than going to court through litigation and is then cheaper and more flexible for companies. Arbitration for companies is a very good option as the proceedings and decision are not open to the public as they are confidential, which means reputations will be upheld.

Like any form of dispute resolution however, arbitration is not in any way perfect. It can become quite complex and may be subject to pressures from law firms representing influential and prosperous parties. If in the event that arbitration is mandatory and therefore binding, the parties unfortunately waiver their rights to go to court and have a judge decide the case if the party is unhappy with the result from arbitration.

For more information about alternative dispute resolution I suggest you have a look at these websites:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/c_alternative_dispute_resolution

http://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/Litigation/Alternative_Dispute_Resolution_ADR