Personal Injury

What is "No Win - No Fee?"

If you don't win we don't get paid. In Personal Injury Claims if you win you keep 100% of what you get.

What happens if I lose?

If you lose your claim you don't pay our costs. We will arrange insurance to ensure that you do not have to pay any disbursements incurred on your behalf or your opponent's costs.

How do Beers get paid?

The general rule in Personal Injury Claims is that the loser has to pay the winners costs. We recover your legal costs from your opponent.

"Win or lose it is unlikely to cost you anything to bring a claim."

Does "No Win - No Fee" apply just to Personal Injury Claims?

We also offer "No Win - No Fee" for Employment Claims.

You will not pay us if your claim is not successful.

In successful cases our charges are usually calculated as a percentage of any sum you may recover. We will agree this with you in advance.

How long will my claim take?

It is difficult to estimate how long your claim will take to resolve. Many simple claims can be resolved within months but they more usually take a year to 18 months. More complex claims will take longer to resolve. The time frame really depends on how quickly you are recovering and how complex your claim is. Your claim cannot be settled until medical experts are able to assess what the future is likely to hold for you in respect of the time frame for recovery or any residual problems you may suffer - obtaining the best evidence to assess your claim properly is vital.

For more information contact our PI Team on 01752 246000 or email: info@beersllp.com

Power of Attorney

What is a Power of Attorney?

Simply a legal document that authorises another person (the attorney) to act on your behalf during your lifetime.

The power can be general or limited to a specific transaction.

Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPA)

If you become incapabable of managing your affairs because of mental incapacity an ordinary Power of Attorney becomes invalid. It is usually better to make an Enduring Power of Attorney which remains valid even if you become mentally incapable. An EPA enables you to decide who will look after your affairs if you can't.

Whom should I appoint as my Attorney?

You can choose whoever you like to be your attorney. You can have more than one and you can decide whether you want your attorneys always to act together, or whether they can act separately. You may want to choose a relative or close friend. Or you may want to appoint a professional attorney such as a solicitor.

For more information please contact Michael Hasler on 01548 855005 or email:michael.hasler@beersllp.com or Michael Hembrough on 01548 855007 or email: michael.hembrough@beersllp.com

Financial Management

What is "Management of Affairs"?

Older people now have to cope with more decisions on financial matters than ever before. They may receive income from a variety of sources. Pension and benefit entitlement has become extremely complex as more people own their own homes or have other valuable possessions.

We can ensure that you are receiving your full income entitlement by way of pension and state benefits. We will help you with any savings and investments to try and achieve goals consistent with your needs.

We can arrange to pay your domestic outgoings, deal with any liability to tax and ensure that your property and possessions are insured.

It depends on your personal circumstances and how much or little help you require....

For more information please contact Michael Hasler on 01548 855005 or email: michael.hasler@beersllp.com or Michael Hembrough on 01548 855007 or email: michael.hembrough@beersllp.com

Wills and Trusts

The process involved in making a Will need not be complicated, but it does need to be expertly handled in order to ensure that it is effective in the way you expect.

Most people begin with plenty of questions - on tax, the rights of unmarried people, co-habitees and those in civil partnerships, the guardianship of children, changing a will, trusteeship, or how to contest a will - but we can soon put their minds at ease with simple clear advice, responsive to their situation.

And making a tax efficient will can save you a lot of money in the longer term. Why pay 40% tax to the government?

Conveyancing

What are searches and why do I need them?

A search is a formal enquiry of a body that may hold information about a property. For example, the Local Authority holds information about the permitted use of your property, whether the roads and drains are adopted (otherwise you may find that you are called upon to pay for their maintenance).

In areas affected by tin or coal mining it is obviously important to ascertain whether a property is close to or likely to be affected by mining works.

If you are taking a mortgage to assist in connection with your purchase your lender will insist that certain searches are undertaken.

We will advise you if we think that further and more detailed enquiries should be carried out.

Why does it take so long?

In theory there is no reason why any transaction should take a long time.

We have bought and sold property in a matter of days.

There are usually about 8 to 10 weeks between the acceptance of an offer and the completion of a deal. However, the property chain can often create delays over which nobody really has much control.

At such times, legal representation plays a vital part in keeping you aware of the changes and of the parts other people, for example solicitors, surveyors, your lender and estate agents, are playing.

Even when deals progress smoothly, we will remain instrumental at each legal stage from pre-contract research and valuations to post-completion and transfer of deeds.

Beers has the most up to date IT systems available to enable us to progress your property transaction as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Why does it cost so much?

When you instruct us to act on your behalf we will provide you with a detailed estimate of the total cost of the transaction.

You will see that the costs charged by Beers are a fraction of the overall cost, the balance being taken up with the cost of Searches, Taxes and Land Registry Charges over which we have no control.

What happened to my deeds?

There aren't any. The days of parchment and seals have gone. Title information in respect of most property is now held at the Land Registry in electronic form. As each new unregistered property transaction takes place the deeds are "dematerialised".

Do I need a Survey?

If you are taking a mortgage in connection with your purchase the lender will require a valuation report.

This is not a survey and will not highlight any structural or other defects in the property. Its purpose is simply so that the lender can be satisfied that the property is worth the amount being borrowed.

If you have any concerns about structural or other problems associated with a property you may wish to have a full structural survey carried out.

About Home Information Packs (HIPS)

From 1st August 2007 sellers will need to provide a Home Information Pack, or a HIP, for the sale of four bedroom properties and larger.

Research carried out by Which? Magazine recently revealed that approximately £350m per annum is spent on house sale transactions that fall through because e.g. a survey reveals flaws that render buyers unable to secure a mortgage.

The government therefore proposed that the HIP would contain all of the important information about a property which is generally only revealed once someone has made an offer and incurred the expense of instructing surveyors and solicitors. It was hoped that the provision of the property information at the outstet would speed up the selling process and reduce the number of abortive transactions although the costs to the seller would have increased because of the need to include a Home Condition Report in the HIP.
It was intended that the seller should provide a Home Condition Report (a survey commissioned by the seller) as part of the HIP. In face of much resistance and lobbying by Mortgage Lenders the requirement to include a Home Condition Report has now been abandoned. It would seem therefore that the anticipated revolution in buying and selling property is now some way off. As the HIP programme evolves, we will be able to advise more thoroughly on the implications for both buyers and sellers.

For more information call us on 01548 857000 or on 01752 246000 or email: info@beersllp.com

Disclaimer: The information on this website is of necessity generic in nature. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be regarded as such. Beers cannot accept liability for actions taken by individuals in reliance upon the information published on this website.