In an announcement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron assured compensation would be accessible under the Riot Damages Act for homeowners and businesses with properties wrecked by the violence and theft during recent riots. The Riot Damages Act addresses to any “house, shop or building” which has been damaged, or had its contents damaged, by “any persons riotously and tumultuously assembled together.” If you are not protected by any policy, you can [...]

1. Moving from paper to online VAT Returns and paying electronically You have to submit your VAT Returns online and pay any VAT due electronically if either of the following applies: you registered for VAT before 1 April 2010 and had an annual VAT-exclusive turnover of £100,000 or more for the 12 months ended 31 December 2009 you registered for VAT on or after 1 April 2010 (regardless of your turnover) In the case of [...]

VAT is not applicable on every item. There is immunity to something from the burden of the VAT. These things are either: Exempt ; outside the scope of VAT Value-added tax Added Tax (VAT) is a tax that’s levied on most goods and services that VAT-registered businesses provide in the UK. VAT is also imposed on goods as well as some services that are imported from countries outside the European Union (EU), and brought into [...]

The fortunes of businesses in the UK service sector diverged further over the past three months, the CBI said today (Thursday). While business and professional services saw another quarter of modest growth in both volume and value of trade, consumer services firms saw an unexpectedly sharp decline in both. The latest quarterly CBI Service Sector Survey was conducted between 27 April and 18 May, and covered 175 firms. They are divided into Business & Professional [...]

If you haven’t already, you might want to consider social networking as your next important marketing and sales tool. With the advent of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites, businesses are discovering that having a business page on one or more of these sites is a boon to business. In addition, when you have a presence on a social networking site, you can learn about your target audience, create customer loyalty practically effortlessly, receive [...]

Part 1: The Regulatory Objectives sets out the eight regulatory objectives, which guide the Legal Services Board (the Board), the approved regulators, and the Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) in exercising their functions. Part 2: The Legal Services Board sets out the structure and functions of the Board, including its duty to act compatibly with the regulatory objectives, to assist in the maintenance and development of standards in regulation, education and training and to establish [...]

The new vehicle insurance law means that the registered keeper of a vehicle must keep it insured unless they’ve made a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). If you’re not insured and haven’t made a SORN, you could face a penalty. From the end of June 2011 Insurance Advisory Letters (IAL) will be issued by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to the registered keepers of uninsured vehicles. This will be following a check of the Motor Insurance [...]

You need to think attentively about who you will choose as an attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney. There are also important legal requirements with reference to appointment of attorney. You must be sure that the person you appoint knows you well enough to make decisions on your behalf that are in your best interests. You must be able to trust them. When appointing an attorney you should analyse: • how well the person [...]

You might want to consider making arrangements so your affairs are looked after if you lose mental capacity. By making legal arrangements, you can make sure that your best interests are looked after even if you can’t make decisions for yourself. Types of Lasting Power of Attorney You can appoint attorneys under a Lasting Power of Attorney to make different types of decisions for you. A health and welfare Lasting Power of Attorney appoints someone [...]

The Mental Capacity Act replaces Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA) with a new and different type of power of attorney called a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). This means that you cannot make any changes to an existing EPA or make a new one. However if you have an unregistered EPA that was made before 1st October 2007, it can still be used and your Attorney will still need to register it with the OPG if they [...]