Not many of us would have ever heard that a policy of insurance is one of  “uttermost good faith” – this provision is being more and more implied rigidly by insurance companies in the event of a claim.

You may have thought you were insured when you weren’t.

How many of us remember on the renewal of our car insurance to notify our friendly insurer that we or our partner received points for speeding or something more serious over the last 12 months. Failure to notify could lead to being uninsured in the event of an accident and worse could lead to further penalty points on the driving license and even disqualification.

In this country there are over 3 million individuals who have criminal convictions they would rather forget about.  You can’t. If  you or a member of your family has any criminal convictions and particularly for an offence of dishonesty then non-disclosure could invalidate both home building and contents insurance. You have been warned.

We at Letchers Solicitors can help you sort out the problems you may get yourself into – please contact michael.stocken@letchers.co.uk or jane.hemmings@letchers.co.uk

This is a substantial change to the current system. The aim is to filter out those cases which could be settled through Mediation.

Clients attending an Assessment Meeting will not only be provided with information about Mediation, but also assessed for public funding to pay for the mediation process.

Even clients paying for Mediation will find the cost of the process about half that of instructing their own solicitor to pursue an application in the traditional way.

Mediation is quicker, less formal and stressful, the clients keeping control of the process.

Letchers Family Mediation Service has a public funding contract with the Legal Services Commission and will have two Mediators. Michael Stocken who is an Accredited and Recognised Mediator was trained by Resolution in 1998. He has also been trained to carry out consultations with parties children if Mediation clients feel it would be useful to assess their children’s views. Hannah Dominey a family solicitor with Letchers Solicitors is shortly to have completed the first stage of her Mediation training.

Letchers Family Mediation Service can be contacted on mail@letsmediate.co.uk alternatively a contact form can be completed on the Services website of www.letsmediate.co.uk.

Michael Stocken is always available for telephone enquiries on either 01425 471424 or 07767457547.