Gill Laing

Once a CCJ (County Court Judgement) has been put in place, it will be noted on your credit record for a period of 6 years. At the end of the 6 years, the CCJ will automatically be removed from your credit record, regardless of whether you have repaid the related debt or not. The creditor will no longer be able to enforce the repayment conditions set out in the CCJ. The existence of a CCJ on your credit record will undoubtedly affect your credit rating, making it difficult for you take out a mortgage, apply for credit or in some…

A CCJ (County Court Judgement) is a court order issued to a person or business that has failed to pay money owed to another party. CCJs apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the process is referred to as enforcing a debt by diligence. A CCJ generally must be preceded by some form of notification of the debt to the debtor as well as notice from the creditor that a claim is intended to be made to recover the sum owed. Where the creditor is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act, it is a legal requirement that a…

The Manual Handlings Operations Regulations 1992, later amended by the Health and Safety (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2002, places a legal requirement on employers to avoid dangerous manual handling, to assess any risk of injury from manual handling, to train all employees who are involved in manual handling at work, and to reduce any risks as far as is ‘reasonably practicable’. Managing risks of manual handling in the workplace Incorrect manual handling can lead to both immediate injuries and the development of long-term illnesses and conditions. Employee injuries, whether immediate or long term may result in: an injured employee taking time…

A conditional fee agreement, or CFA, is an alternative funding arrangement for those not wanting or able to fund legal representation up front. Commonly referred to as ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements, a CFA is an agreement with a solicitor that provides for their fees and expenses, or any part of them, to be paid conditional upon a particular set of circumstances – typically, if the case is won. In this way the solicitor accepts some, or all, of the litigation risk. The expectation would be that the losing party would then cover the legal costs. Conditional fee agreements are…

Employers are legally required to carry out a fire risk assessment in the workplace and put resulting fire safety measures in place to ensure the safety of their workers and the general public in the case of a fire. This requirement is in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in England and Wales, and Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Fire Safety (Scotland) Regulations 2006 in Scotland, and in some instances, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002. The fire risk assessment should be a key part of the overall risk assessment…

Under UK employment law in accordance with the Working Time Regulations (1998) and Health and Safety Executive requirements, workers and employees have a right to take regular and uninterrupted rest breaks at work, with variations depending on age and categories of position. [toc] These statutory periods of rest are split into three categories: rest breaks taken during a working day, for instance, a tea break or a lunch break the period of rest between each working day, i.e. the amount of time between ending one working day and beginning the next how many rest days you are entitled to take…

The Particulars of Claim provide the claimant’s statement of case in personal injury and clinical negligence claims. They set out the factual and legal basis upon which the claimant is seeking to claim against the defendant. Particulars of Claim are required under the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) to start the claim proceedings. What is included in Particulars of Claim? Under the CPR, the Particulars of Claim must contain the following: A concise statement of the claimant’s case and the facts upon which they rely. If the claimant is seeking interest, a statement to that effect and the basis, (and where…

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) sets out the guidelines and requirements of responsible parties, such as employers, to record and report work-related incidents. Who is responsible for reporting under the RIDDOR regulations? Any employer who is in control of and responsible for a work premises is required to report on workplace incidents that happen both on site and wherever employees may be working. In addition to this, any person who is in control of a premises, but not the overall employer, such as a site manager, must report workplace incidents under the RIDDOR regulations.…

A Practice Direction contains practical advice on how to interpret the Civil Procedural Rules (CPR). In England and Wales civil litigation is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (‘CPR’). These represent a single code of rules setting out how a claim is to be conducted by parties in civil proceedings. The rules apply across all types of civil dispute with the aim of making the claims process quicker, simpler and less adversarial. The rules are, however, extensive and further supplemented by a number of Practice Directions and Pre-Action Protocols. There are a number of Practice Directions relating to the individual…

The law on whistleblowing is there to ensure that if someone sees something wrong in the workplace, they are able to raise this within their organisation, or to a regulator, or wider, without jeopardising their job security. What is whistleblowing in the workplace? Whistleblowing is the term used when an employee or worker reports certain types of wrongdoing, typically some form of dangerous or illegal activity that they have seen at work. In other words, they ‘blow the whistle’ to either senior management or the authorities on what they have witnessed. The whistle-blower is protected by law and should not…

As an employer, if you fail to take reasonable steps to ensure a safe working environment, and an employee is injured or suffers illness as a result, you may find yourself defending a claim for compensation. The following guide looks briefly at the law relating to employers liability claims and, in turn, what steps can be taken to avoid being sued. The legal basis for employers’ liability As an employer, you have a common law duty to take reasonable care for the safety of your employees, in particular through the provision of: a safe place of work proper plant and…

The following guide sets out how to make a SAR request and what you should expect from the organisation you’re requesting the information from. What is a SAR request? By law you have a right to find out if any company or organisation is using or storing your personal data, and to be provided with copies of that data. This is commonly referred to as a subject access or SAR request. This right of access allows you to establish exactly how and why your personal data is being held, and whether your data is being used lawfully under the Data…

A breach of a child arrangements order is where one party has failed to comply with a condition specified in that order. This may be a relatively minor breach, or a culmination of breaches, for example, failing to adhere to set times for contact to take place. The breach may, however, be much more serious, for example, preventing any contact from taking place whatsoever. What do I do if there has been a child arrangements order breach? A child arrangements order is an order of the court regulating the arrangements as to where a child will live and with whom…

Under the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992, employers are required to keep the temperature in the workplace to a ‘reasonable’ level. In practice, what would be classed as ‘reasonable’? Minimum working temperature There is no set minimum working temperature, however, the Workplace regulations suggest that the general minimum working temperature should be 16 degrees Celsius, and in a situation which involves regular and active physical effort, the working temperature should be kept to a minimum of 13 degrees Celsius. These temperatures are not legal requirements and it is the responsibility of the employer to assess their workplace to…

There are a number of reasons why you may seek a paternity test, from a dispute over child maintenance to securing child contact through the courts. Whether you have decided to get a paternity test for peace of mind, or a test has been ordered by the Child Maintenance Service or the courts, this guide answers some of the most frequently asked questions about paternity testing. What is a paternity test? A paternity test is a way of scientifically confirming or disproving the father of a child. Typically, a paternity test will require a sample from the father and the…

The professional negligence pre action protocol applies in the event a claim is made against a professional as a result of their alleged negligence or equivalent breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty. What is the professional negligence pre-action protocol? In England and Wales civil litigation is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (or CPR). Together with accompanying practice directions, these represent a single code of rules setting out how a case is to be conducted by the parties in civil proceedings. Annexed to the CPR are a number of pre action protocols. These protocols set out enforceable standards…

The majority of workers, whether employed on a part time or full time basis, are entitled to holiday pay each year, including most agency and freelance workers, under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (amended in 2003), Employment Rights Act 1996 and the ACAS Codes of Practice. How much holiday pay are you entitled to? To calculate how much holiday pay your are entitled to under law and ACAS holiday pay guidance, you first need to be clear on your legal annual holiday entitlement and your working year. Legal holiday entitlement The legal minimum holiday entitlement for workers covered by the…

Divorce is the formal process by which a marriage is officially brought to an end by the court. The party to the marriage who files for divorce is known as the petitioner, while the respondent is the individual petitioned against and therefore responding to those proceedings. By filing a petition to terminate the marriage, the petitioner is asking the court to dissolve the bonds of matrimony, together with all legal duties and responsibilities that marriage entails. The court, however, must first be satisfied that there are grounds for divorce. Grounds for divorce Under section 1(1) of the Matrimonial Causes Act…

The Claims Portal is an online tool for securely processing low value personal injury claims in road traffic accidents, or employers’ and public liability claims. Strict Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) apply to running such claims, requiring parties to follow specific procedural steps and imposing tight deadlines within a framework of low fixed costs. Within this strict procedural context, the Claims Portal provides a swift and secure electronic communication system for the exchange of all relevant information and documentation between the lawyers and insurers. The Claims Portal was introduced to ensure that low value claims can be dealt with quickly and…

While a child arrangement order is most commonly sought by one or both parents following a separation, there may be circumstances where the non-biological parent of a child, another relative or the child’s legal guardian may seek to change an existing order. This may be because one or both parents or legal guardians have passed away, or they are deemed unfit to care for the child. But making an application to vary a child arrangement order is rarely a straightforward process. (If you need to make a child arrangement order in the first instance please read our article: How to…