Legal Professional Privilege is this now under threat? What with the new interception powers (RiPA) and more, the Legal profession are concerned that legal privilege maybe under threat.. See here >> http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/news/press-releases/lawyers-call-for-statutory-protection-of-lawyer-client-communications/ 'Lawyers are under a legal and professional duty to keep their clients’ affairs confidential. But LPP is particularly important because it prevents a third party – including a state official – from gaining access to and making use of lawyer-client communications without the client’s knowledge and consent.' In October 2015 the Law Society said this >> 'Joint press release from the Law Society and the Bar Council The statutory protection of legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients should be high on the agenda when parliament debates major new surveillance legislation next month. The Bar Council and the Law Society have called for legal professional privilege to receive statutory protection in the forthcoming Investigatory Powers Bill.' Do you want to know more then please feel free to read the attachment... PDF from here >> https://tinyurl.com/jaumllq

Hi everyone. I first joined this website back in late 2011 when l received a PCN from Vehicle Control Services LTD for extented stay in a retail park. Back then l ignored all the threatening letters etc, and never made contact with the company. All threats etc stopped. Today l received a letter from Rossendales Collect, Professional Debt Collectors, saying that my PCN debt has been passed onto them by vehicle control services as l have ignored previous requests for payment. The outstanding amount is for £100. Only reference to the PCN is a reference number. I received 2 PCN's in 2011, which l ignored and don't know if this reference number is for either one of the original Charges or for something new that l don't know about. All original letters etc from 2011 have since been thrown away so l am unsure what this charge relates to. Question is, do l ignore this letter too, or make contact with Rossendales and question the charge. If l do the latter, will this open a can of worms, as Rossendales have their own baliffs etc. ? Any help/advice much appreciated.

Hi all, This is my first post here so I apologise in advance if I miss any key points out. I'm looking for some advice with regards to numerous problems I've had with my Professional Training loan I took out with Natwest about five years ago. Bit of Background This has become something of a long story so please bear with me. I took the loan out for £20k, around £30k by the time interest went on (can't remember exact amounts, it was a long time ago) to put me through Law School. About 3 - 4 months after I took the loan out, I found out that NatWest were not going to offer the loan any more and as such the 'graduate specialist' that I had been assigned to help with problems I had was reassigned to another area of the bank, and I was told she could no longer help me, I had to deal with the graduate area of the call centre. Problems 1. As far as I (and my parents, who were in the initial loan meeting with me) can remember, I was told my repayments would be around £150 - £190, and they would confirm this with me in writing nearer the time of my payments commencing, towards the end of my year's loan deferral while I was studying. I put in a call to the call centre around October (loan payments due to start in January) to check the amount as I hadn't heard anything, and was told again £150 or so. I wrote this on the back of a notepad I had as I hadn't had anything in writing from them. First payment for £299 goes out in January. Obviously this is almost double their lower estimate of £150. When I queried this, I was told it was an 'administrative error' and that the lady who had given me the £150 figure had not factored in the interest. When I put in a complaint, I was told that unless I could produce it in writing they would not take my complaint any further. Funnily enough, both times, these figures were given to me verbally, and the only recourse the bank would offer was to increase my overdraft. I have been struggling along but making the £299 payments for the last 4 or so years having decided that I would just get on and manage. 2. This product came with a year's payment holiday while I was studying, with the option of an extra 3 months if I went to a particular Law School (which I did). I initially turned down the extra 3 months on the basis that it would be an incentive to get a job. I got a job straight out of college, but unfortunately had to move out of my rental accommodation on incredibly short notice (landlord sold the house out from under me) which floored my finances around November time (again, repayments officially due to start in January). I went into my local branch and put in the request for the extra 3 months payment holiday I was told I could have. Nobody knew about this, and after lots of to-ing and fro-ing we finally established that, yes, I could apply for it. I went through the paperwork with a lady in the branch and she told me she would submit it and I didn't need to do anything further. I heard nothing further from them, and as stated above my first loan payment went out unexpectedly in January, instead of April as I was expecting. Calling back into the branch, the lady I spoke to there could remember me filling in the paperwork and she said she sent it off, but the admin centre denied all knowledge, claiming to have never received it. Another complaint made and I was told there was nothing they could do, once they had started the loan payments they couldn't delay them again. Again, they offered to increase my overdraft rather than solve the problem. 3. When I took the loan out, I was told it wouldn't affect my ability to get a mortgage as it was classed as a 'Student Debt'. Now my partner and I are trying to buy our first property together, and following a meeting with a mortgage adviser, was told that this loan does indeed count against me and most banks will not touch me as long as that loan is outstanding. I have about six years of repayments left - and we simply cannot wait that long to get a house. Yet another complaint to the bank and I was told this was obviously another 'admin error' from someone who didn't understand the loan fully, and again, if I can produce written evidence they will consider my complaint. Yet again, no written evidence. I am absolutely at the end of my rope with the bank and the 'admin errors' I keep encountering, they don't seem to appreciate that their 'silly mistakes' are causing me huge stress with my finances. Can anyone give me any advice as to where I go from here? Thanks in advance and sorry for the rant

Hi All, I employed the service of a Solicitors firm and believed I was dealing with a Solicitor however on investigation this was not the case. I have also uncovered a number of false representations by this individual. Today I contact the Solsitiors office and requested proof they have professional indemnity insurance and they have refused my request. Does anyone know if I have a right to see this proof? Thank You

In 2010, my local Council issued an ASBO against me because I had a dispute with a neighbour. My barrister tried but in vain to raise in Court that the Council had failed to follow its own procedures when the asbo was applied for. When Council's apply for an asbo they need to meet certain criteria which they failed to do so. Before an asbo is issued, you are supposed to receive a verbal warning, then a written warning, then you are asked to sign behaviour contracts; I was never sent no warnings etc etc. Does this make the asbo legal? The asbo has since expired without me breaching it; need I say more!! However the said neighbour prior to the asbo being issued, had been arrested for death threat which she denied of course, and before then I had also suffered threats of violence, and harassment. I was repeatedly refused the right to make statements, and so was my partner. I have also raised concern that some of the evidence used to obtain the asbo was not 100%; the complainant had lied on at least 4 statements, had lied during their section4a interview. The police dont want to know. I cost me £7000 to defend this joke of an asbo and I therefore want to seek if I can sue for damages. Does anyone know of any good solicitor who can do this on a no win no fee basis. Thanks!!

Hello everyone, I'm getting tangled with a bit of a situation with my estate agents over the professional cleaning of the property my flatmate and I have now vacated. The contract says: "To return the property and the contents at the end of the tenancy in the same clean state or condition as they were at the commencement of the tenancy and to ensure the property and all fixtures and fittings have been professionally cleaned. A copy of the professional cleaning invoice may be asked for as proof." The estate agents suggested we let them deal with the professional cleaning after we moved out, calling their cleaning company. Since the estimate they presented seemed more expensive than the average tariffs proposed by other cleaning companies, we arranged our own professional cleaning team to come in and carry out the cleaning before we vacated the property. However, the estate agents still disputed the "cleanliness" of the property. We were not provided an official list of what further cleaning was necessary and, although our cleaners were available to come back and complete the cleaning for free, the estate agents arrange the further cleaning with their company, without letting us arrange further cleaning from our cleaners. This happened despite the fact that I went to talk in person with the estate agents right when I was notified that further cleaning was required, in order to arrange our own cleaners to come back. I was made to wait and could not speak directly with the property manager as she was apparently too busy at the moment. While I was waiting, they arranged for their own cleaners to come and clean, which I was notified only when they had already started cleaning and I was told that telling them to stop cleaning then would incur into a service canceling charge that my flatmates and I would have to pay anyway. This seems quite unfair to me, especially considering that we respected the contract. I was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to proceed on this situation. I am afraid that the estate agents will want to charge us with the further cleaning, taking the amount out of our deposit, so there won't be a way for us to stop this payment. This is my first post here, I'd like to thank everyone for their help, I've read a few threads and this community seems to provide an invaluable service to people who encounter this kind of problems.

Apologies if in wrong section. Has anyone had any experience or advice of applying for a professional & career development loan. Seriously considering looking at funding for a city & guilds in painting & decorating course.I was made redundant in June & i am struggling to get work in my field & thinking of changing & improving my career options with a view to eventually being self employed. Just need some advise on funding or loans but the latter could be tricky as my credit file will be poor. Many thanks in advance Middxx

Hello, I think this is the right place for this slightly oddball problem. I am a member of a trade association, a local association but with broader implications. I'm a member primarily because being so is more or less the only way to be allocated work in my chosen part-time field. The association acts like a clearing house where organisations that require the services of people such as me give the vacancies to the association. It then "allocates" jobs to it's members in a manner decided by "the committee". The association, in my opinion, is a monopsony, belonging to it is the only way of getting work. It's also very cliquey - if your face fits you get the better appointments; annoy the "committee" and you may as well be dead. That's the preamble, now my problem: Over recent years I've had a few spats with them where I've berated them for poor organisation, unfair work allocation, etc. There has also been the odd occasion where I've confidentially informed the association of problems with a client employer and they've breached confidence by putting my concerns to the employer as though it was a complaint by me, which it wasn't. I've then been unfairly blamed for fallout between the association and the employer. In January they emailed me stating that due to my "attitude" I would not be given any more jobs. I emailed the chairman querying this decision and asking for reasons. The chairman, following my discussion with him, capitulated and said that I would be offered jobs. A week later I received a letter telling me I had to attend a disciplinary hearing citing untrue vague allegations, nothing specific - it's this coming Friday. Up to now I have no information about exactly what issue or issues they hold against me. I asked that copies of any documents or other evidence that the hearing would refer as well as specific details of the "charges" to be given to me by 14th February. Nothing has appeared. Yesterday I emailed again stating that I had heard nothing. I've had no reply at all. In my opinion it's grossly unfair to expect me to attend a hearing blind and then to be able to answer whatever complaints they have against me and I'm thinking of telling them that I'll not attend on that basis. However, that may be counter-productive for me. Does anyone have any experience in this sort of thing? Where do I stand legally? etc. What's best for me to do? I'm really feeling picked-on and badly treated here but I'm floundering to know what to do. If they give me no work then I'm going to be several hundred pounds out of pocket. I will also lose touch with this particular work environment which would be detrimental for my future prospects. I have done nothing wrong and I have no idea what they are going to accuse me of. Can anyone offer me any advice please?

My landlady is asking for the house I rent off her to be 'professionally cleaned' before I move out? Is this normal?

Hi While studying for a qualification, I was student member of a professional body (this cost me nothing - I assume the training organisation paid). One of the perks of this was being able to upgrade to a full membership for one small fee (under £50), compared to the usual membership of nearly £200. I completed my qualification, waited until I had my certificate, and then upgraded my membership online - it all went smoothly and I paid by debit card Then I received an email saying that, as I'd completed my qualification, I was no longer a student member, and would either have to pay the full fee, or they would refund my reduced fee. However, I'm wondering if they can change their mind like this - they allowed me to upgrade online - is that a contract made? I was still a member of some sort when I upgraded, as my login details etc. still worked. It seems to me that they hadn't got round to updating their database, removing those who were no longer valid student members. I would have happily accepted that I missed out, had they not allowed me to upgrade in the first place, but as they alllowed me to log in, complete registration and took my money, is in not their problem that they hadn't removed me from their database of members? I would still like to be a member, but I'm not sure I can afford the full fee. Does anyone have any ideas where I stand as regards my rights in this matter (before I respond)? I'd be most grateful for any information Thank you