Month: May 2022

With millions of Britons booking long-awaited overseas beach holidays this year, as Covid restrictions on international travel finally ease, many women will be booking bikini and similar waxing treatments at their local beauty salon in order to look their best beside the sea and around the pool.

While waxing treatment safety standards at beauty salons have improved markedly in the past decade or so, there are still a number of unavoidable dangers involved in waxing procedures performed on intimate areas of the skin by poorly trained or inexperienced beauticians, which may result in relatively serious injuries and profound distress.

After the wax product and waxing paper are applied to the required area of skin, the paper should be removed swiftly in the direction of the hair growth, which will normally cause short-lived pain and redness. However, the sensitivity of the skin around the vagina and inner thighs means that if the waxing strips are removed incorrectly, for example, too quickly, too forcefully, or at the wrong angle, they may tear the skin, potentially resulting in bleeding, scarring, damage to hair follicles, and both physical and emotional suffering. 

A woman’s skin may also be burned if the wax is overheated when applied or spilled accidentally onto exposed areas, which can result in redness, blistering, scarring and infection. The most serious risk is the possibility of an allergic reaction to a waxing product, which properly conducted skin patch tests (at least 48 hours before a waxing treatment appointment) are supposed to prevent. An adverse reaction of this kind can cause burning skin rashes, blistering and potential hospitalisation depending on the severity of the reaction.

While the negative outcomes from bikini and similar waxing treatments outlined here are thankfully rare, our solicitors have represented hundreds of women in claims against beauty salons for these types of injuries over the years. Apart from the physical pain and suffering, there is also the embarrassment that waxing injuries in intimate areas cause, as well as the loss of enjoyment of an impending holiday which may subsequently need to be cancelled. All these factors will be taken into account when calculating the size of the compensation award due to the injured party.

You can find out more about bikini and other types of waxing injuries in the dedicated beauty treatment injuries section on our website:

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/hair-beauty/compensation-for-a-bikini-waxing-injury.html

This Saturday, 21st May, a new blockbuster exhibition, The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics, opens at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. In partnership with the National Portrait Gallery which has lent almost 70 artworks, the exhibition presents the five Tudor monarchs, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and explores the dynasty’s reign over England from 1485 to 1603. This was one of the most dramatic periods in British history, encompassing conflict with Scotland, France and Spain, conquest and colonisation in Ireland and America, piracy and trade, the Reformation, and an artistic and literary renaissance.

The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics exhibition features around 100 objects and artworks in total, and it is the first time that so many of the National Portrait Gallery’s renowned Tudor portraits have been lent for exhibition. Apart from the five monarchs, other iconic figures from the period featured include Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Mary Queen of Scots and William Shakespeare. Some historically underrepresented aspects of the period will also be explored, including Black Tudor history and LGBTQ+ history.

Other highlights include a portrait of Jane Seymour, after Hans Holbein the Younger, from around 1537, which is being exhibited outside of London for the first time, the Westminster Tournament Roll, produced in 1511 to celebrate the birth of Henry VIII’s son with Catherine of Aragon, the Bacton Altar Cloth, which is believed to be the only surviving example of Elizabeth I’s clothing, and the Armada Maps, drawings illustrating the dramatic defeat of Spain’s so-called ‘Invincible Armada’ off the south coast of England in 1588.

Sandra Penketh, Executive Director of Galleries and Collections Management at National Museums Liverpool, commented: “This exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery provides an opportunity to see some of the most iconic Tudor portraits in the world, here in Liverpool. It’s difficult to overemphasise what a rare and special moment this will be, and we can’t wait to share it with our visitors”. 

Tickets for The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics are available to book online, priced at £13 for adults, £12 for concessions, £6 for children aged 6-17 and free for younger children. You can find out more about the much-anticipated The Tudors: Passion, Power and Politics exhibition and book tickets below:

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/walker-art-gallery/exhibition/tudors-passion-power-and-politics

Legal advice from conveyancing solicitors with local knowledge and experience can be critically important in safeguarding the interests of a buy-to-let property purchaser. The tenancy agreement will need to be assessed to make sure that the terms are acceptable, and that no unwelcome surprises will impact the buyer over the duration of the lease. Legal paperwork will need to be examined, and searches and enquiries carried out, to check whether, for example, any service charges are due on the property, or whether any restrictive covenants or other obstacles exist limiting the buyer’s intended use of property.

Apart from examining and advising on the lease terms and related legal documents, a conveyancing solicitor will also be able to advise landlords on Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) issues. Since April 2016, individuals, companies and trusts are obliged to pay a higher rate (currently 3% extra) on the purchase of additional residential properties. However, there are certain exemptions and methods of reducing a landlord’s exposure to SDLT. The purchaser will also need to decide on whether to buy a property as an individual or through a company or trust, which can have important consequences for their annual tax liability.

Further issues arise when a landlord buys a tenanted property and takes on the existing tenancy agreement. The legal validity of the agreement will need to be confirmed, safety checks carried out to make sure the property is suitable for renting, and documents examined to ensure compliance with regulations on landlords and identify possible debts on the property, such as financial liability for past breaches of covenants. The deposit will also need to be transferred to the new landlord and protected in a government-approved tenancy deposit scheme, and H.M Landlord Registry’s register updated with the appropriate registrations of interest.

Our firm has decades of experience of buying and selling residential properties in the city of Liverpool and across Merseyside. We offer competitive fixed fees, no obligation free quotations and no hidden costs. Get in touch with our conveyancing team for legal advice on buy-to-let property transactions that you can trust:

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/residential-conveyancing-solicitors-liverpool-city-centre.html

The number of Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) arrangements in England and Wales continues to rise, with 691,746 applications to register received in 2020/21 according to the Office of the Public Guardian. While this represents a substantial decrease from the 917,553 applications received in 2019/20, it is worth remembering that only 43,113 LPAs were registered in the year 2008/09. Furthermore, in August 2014 the total number of registered LPAs was just over one million, while there are now over 5.3 million registered in England and Wales.  

The dramatic rise in LPA registrations over the last decade is in large part due to the increasing number of people affected by dementia and related conditions (including Alzheimer’s disease), which account for roughly 70,000 deaths in the UK every year – the country’s leading cause of death. The mortality rate has more than doubled since 2010, with reasons including the ageing population, more effective treatment of other conditions such as heart disease and the growing dementia diagnosis rate. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, there are currently around 900,000 people living with dementia, a figure which is projected to rise to almost 1.6 million by 2040.

When a person loses their mental capacity after developing a dementia condition such as Alzheimer’s disease, another person, normally a family member, will need to make decisions on their behalf. For this reason, many people choose to set up a Lasting Power of Attorney following a dementia diagnosis to ensure that their best interests are safeguarded as the condition progresses. Once mental capacity is lost, it can be a costly and complicated process for a third party to assume responsibility for a person’s finance and property and/or health and welfare affairs. A Lasting Power of Attorney arrangement therefore represents a sensible, practical and cost-effective means of planning ahead.

Find out more about our fixed fee LPA legal service:

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/power-of-attorney.html