The Department for Work and Pensions cannot recover welfare benefit payments through the courts where the claimant is not at fault, the Supreme Court has ruled. Between March 2006 and February 2007 the DWP wrote to over 65,000 claimants telling them it could sue them, if they did not return overpayments made as a result of administrative errors. The benefits involved included income support, incapacity benefit, disability living allowance, jobseekers’ allowance and child benefit. In The Child Poverty Action Group v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2010] UKSC 54, the judges said it was common ground that the…
The arrest of expat WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for alleged sex offences has highlighted aspects of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) agreement which enable all EU member states to extradite defendants without producing any evidence in support of the charge. Born in Queensland, Australia, Mr Assange is very much an expat. Having moved 37 times by the time he was 14, and many more times subsequently, he is almost a global citizen – a condition occasionally favoured by wealthy expats who seek to avoid paying tax in any particular jurisdiction. Tax-dodging expats often discover, however, the arm of the taxman…
A European Parliament move to revise EU law in order to improve legal certainty in cross-border family disputes concerning children has been welcomed by a leading expert in international family law, Rodney Hylton-Potts of Hylton-Potts Legal Consultants. Robert Matthews reports Analysis Rodney Hylton-Potts considers cross-border family disputes involving children to be a legal area that needs tackling. MEPs have recently agreed that such disputes and the protection of children’s rights, especially of those with separated parents, are matters that the EU needs to address. As he points out: “At present, we have directly conflicting national laws on outcomes, jurisdictions, stays,…
The Last Chance Tax Saloon HMRC has offered taxpayers one last chance to declare overseas assets – take advantage while you still can. The world is becoming a smaller place. Swiss banks ‘voluntarily’ disclosing information; bank data ‘going missing’ – tax authorities whether in the UK or elsewhere are having a field day! The major nations have declared war on tax havens. You must face up to dealing with undeclared assets overseas for peace of mind, and ensure you do not leave your heirs with a mess. December 2009 saw the door close on the widely publicised voluntary disclosure amnesty…
A Shepherd’s Bush hairdresser who made fraudulent housing benefit claims over 19 years has been jailed for a year and will have to pay back £360,000. Matilda Kwapong claimed she had been evicted from the home she bought in Ealing in 1988, and in 1990 was given a two-bedroom council flat which she then rented out to help repay her mortgage. She also claimed housing benefit and council tax discounts, despite running a successful hairdressing salon in the railway arches at Shepherd’s Bush Market. Kwapong was only discovered when one of her tenants also tried to claim housing benefit last…
Equality Act 2010 Brings in new rights for employees, namely disability discrimination rights, and rights for people who are discriminated against indirectly, such as carers who look after elderly parents or who are affected by bullying at work. Allowing offensive jokes about disability, sex and gender reassignment at work or criticising dyslexics will leave employers facing substantial claims. The old discrimination legislation protected employees who are discriminated against on the ground of a protected characteristic, including sex, disability, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age, the level of protection available varied. The new law introduces much wider protection for…
A traveller who financed his children’s private education using £31,000 obtained in a benefits fraud was jailed for 18 months yesterday. Matthew Newland, 41, from Lyne, near Chertsey, Surrey, drove a BMW car and paid £10,000 a year for his daughter to attend a prep school and £7,000 a year to educate his two sons, a jury at Guildford Crown Court was told. Newland claimed incapacity benefit, disability allowance, housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support, despite earning nearly £90,000 a year as a roofer while living in a static caravan owned by his mother-in-law. Newland admitted five charges…
Asked by Channel 4 News to comment, leading motoring expert lawyer Rodney Hylton-Potts said: “At issue is whether a celebrity status should be relevant to sentencing. The story starts back in 1967 when Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, were jailed for 3 months for minor drug offences. A famous Times leader referring to ‘Breaking a butterfly on a wheel’ was believed to be very influential in persuading the Court of Appeal to overturn the sentences, and release them. Judges, a magistrate, however are human, as they should be, and their deliberations are in private. There can…
HM Revenue and Customs have made mistakes in codes resulting in unwelcome tax demands, and interest is being claimed. What sounds unfair usually is. At Hylton-Potts for a fixed fee of £195.00 including VAT, we can challenge these extra payments for you, only to have them written off. Contact the experts – For more information or a free legal opinion telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or [email protected].
New EU procedure will give choice to international couples over which country’s law will govern their divorce. Selena Masson speaks to Rodney Hylton-Potts, a leading expert on international divorce, practice and procedure of Hylton-Potts Legal Consultants, about the use of this procedure. EU member states are using a new enhanced co-operation procedure to introduce new rules allowing international divorcing couples to select which country’s law will apply to their divorce. Rodney Hylton-Potts says: “For the first time in EU history, member states are using the enhanced co-operation procedure, to push forward with rules allowing international divorcing couples to choose which…
