Top five reasons why you need to make a will
Karen Killick, wills and life planning solicitor at DMA Law, looks at why it is absolutely essential to make a will. People find all sorts of reasons to avoid making a will, but it is one of the most important things you can do and can help to avoid a huge amount of stress and…
Hit film Baby Driver shines spotlight on tinnitus
Baby Driver is one of the hottest films of the summer, and offers a timely reminder of the impact that tinnitus can have on people’s lives. Baby Driver, starring Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx, is about a young getaway driver who suffers from Tinnitus. In order to ‘drown out’ the noise he hears, he plays music…
Is it illegal to leave your dog in a car on a hot day?
Even with a window left open, the temperature inside a car can quickly become as hot as an oven. When it’s 22 degrees outside, a car can reach an uninhabitable 47 degrees within 60 minutes. The US state of Nevada recently made the headlines for raising the penalty for leaving a pet in a hot, locked car…
What can we learn from the rise in TV debt shows?
It’s not difficult to have noticed the huge rise in debt- or poverty-based TV programmes recently, especially on Channel Five. One example, the show Can’t Pay, We’ll Take It Away, follows High Court enforcement agents as they attempt to reclaim debts from people and businesses. They usually accept payment, or seize goods to cover the debt….
How do you claim your 30 hours’ per week free childcare?
Currently the Government provides 15 hours per week of free childcare. You may have heard by now in the news that those 15 hours will be doubled to 30 hours per week when the new scheme goes nationwide, which will be in September this year. What you may not be aware of is that the…
Tough new speeding fines aim to clamp down on dangerous drivers
Drivers who are caught breaking the speed limit excessively will face harsher penalties in England and Wales from today. Previously, drivers caught speeding faced a fine of up to 100% their weekly income, but the new guidelines stipulate that drivers can now be fined 175% of their weekly wage. A cap of £1,000 remains (increasing…
Still too many people die on UK roads
The latest figures show that there are almost 2,000 people killed on UK roads each year, with over 25,000 either killed or seriously injured. It’s a shocking number and represents a two per cent increase on the previous year (in line with a 1.4 per cent increase in the amount of traffic on our roads). The new…
List of unclaimed estates shows why everyone should make a will
Every day, people in the UK die without having left a will, and it can create huge problems, as we have discussed on this blog before. Making a will is often seen as a tricky subject to discuss, either because it feels morbid, or because people don’t want to appear as if they are angling for…
Why your car insurance premium could be set to rocket
Your car insurance could be set to increase because of a change in the law that affects the way compensation payments are made. It’s a very complicated issue, but it is based around something called the ‘discount rate’ which is applied to compensation payments. When someone who has been seriously injured in a crash is awarded their compensation,…
Changes to DMA Law: business as usual
From 1st February 2017, DMA Law will be operating its business as a limited company (DMA Law Limited) rather than as a partnership. There will be some slight practical changes – our partners will now be known as directors and shareholders of the company, for example – but as far as you, our clients, are…