Legal issues: Gary Rycroft
Solicitor Gary Rycroft provides more expert opinion on your legal problems.
We asked Gary to take a look at some of the questions you have been sending into the programme this week.
Sharon says that she is struggling to get a mortgage because of fraudulent activity on her account several years ago. How can she get her mortgage through?
Mortgage Lenders use financial criteria including your own financial history to assess if they want to lend you money. Fraud on your account would be a negative factor. If you have been refused a mortgage find out why. Ask the lender, or you may wish to obtain a your own "Credit Score" to see where you are strong and where you are weak on the factors lenders look at. If the historic fraud was not of your doing, get evidence to prove that and get the negative score updated. Also, you could try to make yourself a better prospect in other ways, such as increasing the deposit you have available or looking at a cheaper house to reduce the loan to value ratio.
Carol from Coventry was injured in no-fault car accident. But the third party insurance company is refusing to pay out because she has private healthcare. Is this fair?
I can understand your dismay, but in law the point of an accident claim is to redress any loss suffered by the injured party. In this case, your potential loss (the cost of medical treatment) is mitigated because you have health insurance which gives you an entitlement to treatment at no cost to you. So the insurance company picking up the losses caused by their insured are quite happy - and quite right in law - to piggy back on that benefit you enjoy. If you had no health insurance and needed medical treatment not available on the NHS or otherwise free, you could include the cost as part of your claim.
David from Aylesbury said that someone backed into him on a roundabout. His insurance company has wrongly marked it as his fault and now he has been marked as high risk. What can he do?
You need hard evidence that the accident was not your fault, either from eye witnesses or maybe a Police Accident Report. Then you can address this directly with your insurance company and get the negative impact of this removed from your insurance history. This is not fair.
Anne wants to know if online auctions are safe to buy a house through.
My personal view is that online auctions to buy a house are risky in the sense that like any auction, if you are successful and make the winning bid you are both committing yourself to sign a contract and pay deposit there and then (usually 10% of the agreed price). In addition under the contract you will be legally bound to complete the purchase and pay the balance of the agreed price within a defined time frame, which is usually 28 days. So you would need to have cash or a definite mortgage offer on the house concerned lined up. All this means that if you make the winning bid you then in contract law tied in and may only change your mind and withdraw on pain of losing your deposit and in addition maybe at risk of the person selling the house issuing a legal claim against you for additional losses incurred by them.
Auctions are for experienced buyers and those who have already taken expert legal advice and had a survey or otherwise satisfied about the physical state of the property. The legal phrase "buyer beware" applies to all property transactions but with an auction the process of becoming aware must be done before the auction. The added risk with an online auction is you or your professional advisors may not be able to physically inspect the property before you find yourself bidding and potentially becoming legal bound by contract to buy it. Always, always take advice from an solicitor who is expert in property law before you embark on an auction process which could result in you signing a contract to buy a house.
Jan severely injured her back when she tripped on a mat in a supermarket. The store has admitted full liability but only offered Β£200. Should she take them to court?
This offer of compensation seems very low. You need to find a solicitor who is expert in personal injury claims. Make sure it is a solicitor who is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and not just a Claims Handler or other unregulated lawyer, as only solicitors offer enhance consumer protection and a right of redress if you are unhappy. A solicitor should set our precisely what the cost to you will be and explain how your legal and other expenses may be reclaimed from the other side. Your appointed solicitor will arrange a Medical Report to assess the extent of your pain and injury and how long it will be and what treatment you may need until you are fully recovered. Only then can the value of your claim be fully and properly assessed.