Landlord wins dispute with tenant over service charge for insurance
September 5th 2019By Natalie Tatton Solicitor A landlord has won a dispute with a tenant over service charges for insurance dating back nearly 15 years. The case involved a tenant who held the lease of a flat in a building comprising of three flats and a commercial unit. Under the lease, the tenant covenanted to contribute one-sixth of the building’s specified costs and expenses, including insurance, through the service charge. Between 2005…
Family Business Network announces exclusive insight event with Chairman of prominent family-owned Cumbrian business
August 29th 2019The Family Business Network has announced an exclusive evening event; ‘An Audience with Peter Hensman OBE’, which is set to take place at the Percival Lecture Theatre in Ambleside on Wednesday 11th September. Peter Hensman OBE is widely known and respected throughout Cumbria and beyond for his role as Chairman of one of the county’s largest tourism and leisure businesses, Lake District Estates. With a compelling history dating back to…
More additions to ‘Good Work Plan’ to protect low-paid workers
August 20th 2019By Claire Davies Director The government has introduced a new set of additions to its ‘Good Work Plan’ which aims to increase the rights of workers. Some of the key elements of the scheme include: workers to be given enhanced rights to tackle unscrupulous employers who do not comply with the law a new body that will enforce holiday pay for vulnerable workers and ensure agency workers are not underpaid…
Agency worker not entitled to same hours as permanent employee
August 15th 2019By Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR An agency worker has lost his claim that he should be entitled to the same number of working hours as a permanent member of staff. Dominik Kocur was employed by recruitment company Angard Staffing Solutions, who provided staff for Royal Mail. Kocur regularly worked alongside permanent members of Royal Mail staff, performing similar duties. However, whereas the Royal Mail workers were guaranteed…
Couple can sue PwC for professional negligence despite time delay
August 12th 2019A couple have been granted permission to take accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to court in a professional negligence claim. Sir Christopher and Lady Anne Evans hired PwC in 2001 to advise them on ways to avoid capital gains tax on the disposal of shares. They were encouraged to use a “round the world” scheme, which involved the trust becoming resident for part of the tax year in a jurisdiction that did…
Landlord was entitled to give tenant only two months’ notice
August 5th 2019By Mark Aspin Director & Head of Dispute Resolution The Court of Appeal has ruled that a landlord was within his rights to end a tenancy agreement without giving his tenant the six-month notice period required under the Housing Act 1988. The tenant, Sarah Bamber, had agreed a seven-year tenancy on the property, which included a 12-month starter period. During this starter period, the agreement stated that the tenancy could…
Buyer of insurance firm compensated for warranty breach
July 29th 2019A company has been compensated for a breach of warranty after it bought an insurance firm. David Tew Associate Solicitor reports on this recent case. The case involved a firm that sold policies related to motor or household insurance. When it was sold in 2014, the seller provided warranties that the company accounts were accurate and a fair representation of the company’s financial situation. The agreement stated that the seller…
Parental leave is not equivalent to statutory maternity leave
July 25th 2019By Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR Two recent cases involving fathers taking paternity leave have highlighted a defining difference between parental leave and a mother’s statutory maternity leave. One male employee who worked for a technology firm sued for sex discrimination after his employers insisted he should not be paid at the same rate as mothers on statutory maternity leave. A similar case saw a policeman claim sex…
Property owner must pay £81,000 for work completed on cancelled job
July 22nd 2019By Stephanie Johnson Associate A dispute between a property owner and builder has been settled by the High Court, with the owner ordered to pay for work completed, even though he was not happy with it and the job was cancelled. The parties had entered into a JCT minor works building contract for work to be done on the owner’s property. However, after some initial work had been completed, the…
Ambulance staff entitled to have overtime included in holiday pay
July 18th 2019By Joanne Stronach Head of Employment & HR A court ruling in a dispute between ambulance workers and the NHS could affect employers across all sectors when it comes to factoring overtime into holiday pay. The dispute centred on whether ambulance staff were entitled to have an average amount of their voluntary overtime pay included when calculating their holiday pay. The Employment Tribunal ruled in favour of the NHS Trust,…
