Category: Blog

Today, Inside Housing has released an article highlighting London Borough’s breach of Home Standard. The article outlines that the London Borough has ‘breached the Regulator of Social Housing’s (RDH) Home Standard because of a lack of assurance that it has complied with statutory health and safety requirements across areas including fire, gas and electrical safety.’ The audits completed highlighted the following in their findings for Ealing Council: Out of date fire risk assessments No evidence of monitoring remedial works for: electrical, asbestos and water safety The above can result in potentially serious issues to its Ealing Council tenants. In a …

In January 2015 an IFA believed to be working for Abrams Ashton & Co Financial Services Limited advised and recommended that the client transfer his pension to a quantifying recognised overseas pension scheme (QROPS), the Metro International Retirement Annuity QROPS managed by Castle Trust and Management Services Limited to facilitate investments into Aspiro Research, Disruptive Technology, Energy 10, Consilium and British Land Property Fund. The client had two pension funds with Sunlife of Canada and Siemens he was not a sophisticated investor and should not have been advised to transfer out of his pension two schemes however due to the …

In or around April 2014, our client received pension transfer advice from an independent financial advisor ‘Abrams Ashton & Co (Financial Services) Limited to transfer a pension into a QROPS pension scheme, namely the Metro International Retirement Annuity QROPS, that was to be administered by Castle Trust Management Services Limited. The client was previously a member of the Friends Life pension scheme and had a pension for the sum of £61,043.48 that was transferred to the QROPS managed by Castle Trust & Management Services and was subsequently invested into Consillium Strategic Land Fund, Disruptive Technology Inc. and Aspiro Research and …

A Croydon mother has been awarded £2,000 in compensation after living with damp and mould in every room in her two-bedroom house in Garrick Crescent. Our client had also reported: A leak under her sink A damaged sink unit No extractor fan in the kitchen A broken extractor fan in the bathroom A broken, leaking boiler Our client been complaining to her housing association, ‘Orbit Group’, for four years and having been ignored, she felt there was no alternative than to seek legal advice from ourselves. The mother, who has been living in the house for 13 years in total, …

In March this year, P&O Ferries announced that there would be hundreds of redundancies made, The BBC reported that over 800 staff were due to be made redundant, with over £36.5 million being offered in compensation packages.  The out of the blue announcement had led to mass protests and increased worry for employee’s future. Today, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) have warned current and former employees from transferring out of P&O defined benefit pension schemes. In light of the above redundancies, it has been advised that employees of P&O Ferries seek …

Upon reading the latest news update on Inside Housing, this story highlights the numerous reasons as to why we urge members of the public who rent from social or council landlords. This is a prime example of why seeking legal advice is usually the best route when pursuing housing disrepair issues in the home. In this story in particular there were “significant and avoidable” delays in dealing with the repairs. It also found that the landlord’s record-keeping had “extensive issues”. We have come across similar circumstances whereby landlords are ignoring their tenants pleas for repairs, and simply not abiding by …

The Pentre-based mothers, one of which has sadly passed away, both received compensation for this nuisance plant encroaching onto their land. An 87-year-old widow and her late neighbour have received £20,000 in compensation after battling with Japanese Knotweed which had been growing in their back gardens for approximately 15 years. The pensioners first sought legal advice from ourselvess in 2019 after being unaware of the severity of the growth in their gardens. With their terraced houses – that are located in Pentre, Wales – being on a mountain, and their back garden gradually ascending in height, the widows weren’t able …

A dad-of-two who has been left £13,000 out of pocket after a failed property investment ‘scam’ has issued a warning to others. Jonathan Bradshaw had invested £37,691 in a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) in 2012. This had been due to mature by 2017 with a promised annual return of 15 per cent, but the fund soon collapsed meaning administrators were called in, and the care home manager saw his pension pot disappear overnight. Now Mr Bradshaw has managed to claim back £40,225 in compensation, with £18,000 of that total going to the legal firm which fought his case. The 49-year-old …

Sarah Kearney has been promoted to the role of director at the practice. Mrs Kearney was formerly head of litigation here at High Street Solicitors. The civil litigation specialist qualified in 2012 and started working with us as a solicitor in 2019. She was then promoted to head of department, followed by head of litigation where she managed 40 members of staff. Appointed on International Women’s Day, March 8, Mrs Kearney is the only female director at the firm. She said: “Having been with High Street Solicitors since 2019, I’ve seen the firm enjoy substantial growth and continue to thrive …

Following from our successful recruitment evening we hosted last week, here is a few words from our Recruitment Consultant Georgia: It was an absolute pleasure to host High Street Solicitors Recruitment Event last Thursday. The event took place at PINS Social Club, Liverpool and we were joined by over 70 guests, all interested in a career at HSS. The night consisted of networking, bowling, good food and a few drinks. We wanted to do recruitment with a twist, and what better way to do it?  All of our attendees had the opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals who have a …

We have started accepting CVs with its application process starting in April for training contracts at the firm with two successful candidates starting their contract in August. Two candidates will be successful in undertaking non contentious and contentious work at our office location. Law students are encouraged to apply by sending their CV to Sarah Kearney, Head of Litigation and Operations and the Training Principle of the firm, on sarah.Kearney@hssolicitors.co.uk who will review applications and invite candidates to start the application process in April. There are two Training Contract positions available and successful candidates will undertake both non contentious and …

On Wednesday 16th February, it was reported on Inside Housing that two men had been taken to hospital due to injuries sustained by a gas explosion. Tyne and Wear Fire Fighters attended the Housing association property that was located on Wickham Street, Sunderland. The explosion had occurred at a block of Gentoo Group flats just before tea time. Gentoo owns over 29,000 properties across Sunderland. The Sunderland Echo stated that residents where describing the scene looking like a “war zone” or like a “bomb has hit the site”. Images show the level of damage the explosion has caused to the …

The most recent Spotlight report looking into damp and mould, found that the complaint handling by social landlords were inadequate. Richard Blakeway, head of the Housing Ombudsman, stated that the inevitability of damp and moulds occurrence should not be the case or in the mindset of landlords to expect this from tenants pleas. The report in question analysed 410 ombudsman inspections. The findings highlighted key areas of repairs that required critical complaint handling. The report has focused on various issues such as: General repairs Heating Hot water Cladding The Housing Ombudsman Service, produced a report in October 2021, a ley …

Heads of Department will welcome potential employees at Pins Social Club on Thursday 10th March from 5.30-7.30pm. We have now moved to new premises, our new location is based in the large 14,875 sq ft offices on the 3rd floor aof1 Tithebarn Street. Investing into the offices and creating a space to encourage its dynamic 75-people workforce, the management at High Street Solicitors has created a dedicated team-building area, as well as a training room for new staff to be nurtured in and grow, as well as a newly renovated large kitchen and dining area so that the team can …

Argent Wealth Limited, which was also commonly known as and traded as Orchard Financial Planning and Morley James Asset Management has recently defaulted. The advice firm in question related to the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). Many BSPS clients where provided with negligent pension transfer advice, which led the Steel workers to move their defined benefit pension into another pension scheme. Many of these schemes proved to be high risk with the firms falling illiquid. This therefore meant that BSPS clients lost their retirement fund, along with the benefits or interest they could have acquired had they of stayed put in …

It has been reported that a school in Worcestershire has endured a mix up of Covid test results. This resulted in parents receiving the results of other children’s tests. The breach occurred after students underwent asymptomatic testing for coronavirus at The De Montfort School in Evesham; which commenced after the Christmas break to begin the new term. The head teacher at The De Montfort School, Ruth Allen, confirmed that the data breach had taken place while the test results were being uploaded to the school’s network. Allen stated “Unfortunately, whilst uploading results, a data breach occurred that affected a small …

Our client, a father-of-two has received £85,000 in compensation after being wrongly advised to transfer his pension into an unsuitable overseas scheme. The Mirror recently published this story to heighten the awareness of high risk pension transfers. The 68-year-old former senior executive had over £800,000 saved in defined benefit and individual pension schemes – money he’d accumulated throughout his career. But in 2017, he was wrongly advised to transfer this money into a qualified recognised overseas pension scheme, known as (QROPS). A QROPS can be the right choice for people who have left the UK to emigrate permanently and intend …

Today’s latest news which has been released on City Wire, confirms that the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) have asked for firms to complete a survey on their work relating to the BSPS (British Steel Pension Scheme). This request have been sent to over 2,500 firms in preparation for the redress scheme for those clients that received negligent transfer advice. The survey asks for the following: How many clients were advised (BSPS clients) Valuations of the transfers that were completed Number of complaints received in retrospect of the advice Whether the insurance on these claims cover BSPS claims The redress is applicable …

It has been stated on MoneyMarketing.co.uk, that approximately 43% of all claims account for complex areas of claim, which would be an increase of 26% on 2021/22. Complex claims take longer to process, which therefore means specialist staff are a requirement to calculate such compensation owed. An update released today (12th January 2022) the lifeboat fund have said that the annual budget to support such means will need £95.5 million pounds. This is an increase of 5% in running costs for the 2022/23 budget. The budget is utilised mainly for pension-related claims, in conjunction with an array of financial products …

In December 2021, images were released by Metro newspaper which shows a cabinet abandoned outside Priory Medical Centre in Warwick containing index cards with patient’s personal information. According to the Metro newspaper, many of the index cards found in the unlocked cabinet contained individual’s names, date of birth, addresses and NHS numbers. It is confirmed that the medical centre had closed in June 2021 and moved to a new surgery around the same time. It is uncertain how long this information had been stored outside the medical centre although, Metro newspaper suggests that the information may have been ‘left for …

Our Client Mrs Balogun, had been complaining to London Borough of Newham Council since December 2019. She received a sum of £4,500 in compensation after seeking legal advice for Housing Disrepair on her two-bedroom London flat in Rowland Court in Canning Town. Mrs Balogun instructed ourselves to act on her behalf. We work on a number of Housing Disrepair cases, where social or council landlords are not keeping their rental properties up to the correct legal standards. In this instance for Mrs Balogun, we successfully secured £4,500 in compensation for living with mould, damp, a broken living room door handle …

A Security Researcher named Monie has recently confirmed a British classified site Gumtree.com has suffered a recent data leak after the researcher revealed that he could access sensitive personally identifiable data of advertisers simply by pressing F12 on the keyboard. When pressing the F12 key in a web browser, the application will allow you to open the developer tools console, this then takes you to view a websites source code, monitor network requests, and view error messages produced by the website. Gumtree.com is a British based site used for online classified advertisement and is one of the top 30 websites …

Royal London accepted defined benefit (DB) transfers from an IFA which lost its permissions halfway through the process, despite the provider and trustees knowing about the restrictions. There has been new evidence unearthed which has highlighted an issue from a former IFA (independent financial advisor) namely Capital and Income Solutions. The IFA was continuing to make DB transfers that were completed up to four months after the IFA lost its permissions to do so. These transfers in question were from the Tayside Pension Fund, a local government pension scheme in Scotland, to Royal London. Royal London stated that the cases …

The Financial conduct authority has begun legal proceedings against the directors of Estate Matters Financial, due to negligent pension transfer advice for defined benefit pensions in particular according to City Wire. A defined benefit pension, also known as a DB pension scheme is a scheme where you are paid based upon how many years in service you have worked for the employer for in conjunction to the salary you earned. DB pensions have historically been provided by both private and public-sector organisations. Although it is said that final salary pensions are in decline, millions of people still hold them according …

Our client David Rowland transferred over £400,000 into a QROPS pension scheme called Sovereign Centaurus A retired IT consultant who was poorly advised to transfer his pension worth over £400,000 into a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme has won £85,000 in compensation. Dave Rowland, 68, who lives in Alicante with his wife Carol, was mis-sold investment advice which resulted in him moving his pension that was worth over £415,000 to an unsuitable investment scheme, losing thousands in interest. Mr Rowland’s original pension was split between a Defined Benefit Pension of £265,612. This pension scheme is based on the number of …

We are currently acting on behalf of this client who is pursuing a Housing Disrepair claim. This is the type of disrepair some of our clients are having to endure before they resort to seeking legal advice. It a legal requirement for Landlords to keep rental properties to a legal standard abiding by the Landlord & Tenant Act & The Fitness for Habitation Act. This story is a clear example of a landlords failure to do so. A vulnerable tenant from Hackney whose house has been declared ‘a risk to his life’ has shared photos showing the shocking extent of …

In March 2017 our client received pension transfer advice from an independent financial advisor ‘Omega Financial Solutions’ to transfer a defined benefit pension in to an unsuitable QROPS scheme with Momentum Malta based in Malta. The client was a member of the Nationwide defined benefit scheme and had a pension for the sum of £89,987.74 and this was transferred to the Momentum Malta QROPS and subsequently invested with Quilter International into numerous unsuitable bonds which did not suit her risk profile. Omega Financial Solutions therefore gave our client unsuitable advice to transfer her defined benefit pension. After the transfer the …

Gary and Sharon McDonald own Tame Valley Pub in Dukinfield, Manchester. A husband and wife who own the popular Tame Valley Pub have been awarded £8,000 from Tameside Council for Japanese Knotweed encroachment, growing onto their property, which includes both a beer garden and private garden, the deadly plant had spread from neighbouring land owned by Tameside Council. Gary and Sharon McDonald, both 51, turned to Liverpool-based High Street Solicitors after having plans drawn up to build a house on their property. They were prevented from proceeding with the build due to the Japanese Knotweed encroachment which is renowned for …

A Gloucester mother of three who complained about damp, mould and broken appliances in her rented city flat has won compensation of more than £1,800 from her landlords, Sanctuary Housing. The woman, who does not want to be named, took legal advice after failing to get Sanctuary Housing to make the improvements she wanted, say her solicitors. After complaining about her flat’s disrepair to Sanctuary Housing since October 2019, she sought legal advice from Liverpool-based law firm High Street Solicitors, who organised for expert reports and surveys to be carried out,” a spokesperson said today (July 19). A settlement was …

The tenant couldn’t use the third bedroom as the hole in the floor made it too dangerous. A tenant of Hornsey Estate has been awarded £2,500 after living in inhabitable conditions. The flat, which had disrepairs including a cockroach infestation in the kitchen, damp, mould, a broken fire alarm and a huge hole in the floor of the third bedroom, will have its the issues resolved thanks to Liverpool-based law firm High Street Solicitors. Kathleen Napier, a mother-of-three, sought legal advice from High Street Solicitors after complaining to Islington Council since February 2018. The firm ensured the works are brought …