Bartletts Blog

The Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story exhibition opened on 22 October at Liverpool’s Lady Lever Art Gallery and runs until 5 March next year. With the gallery celebrating its centenary year, the exhibition showcases the jewellery and story of this world-renowned brand, which grew over 200 years from a family jewellery business in Liverpool to become one of the world’s leading purveyors of stunning jewels. Boodles is the only high-end jewellery brand to hail from Liverpool, and has remained in the same family for over two centuries.   

Boodles’ origins lie in a family jewellery business established by the Kirk family in 1798, which was later acquired by Boodle & Dunthorne. By the late-19th Century, the brand had acquired a reputation for fine jewellery and metalwork in the flourishing Liverpool jewellery industry of the time. Liverpool was then one of the wealthiest cities in the world, with an affluent merchant class desiring and well able to afford good quality jewellery, and Boodle & Dunthorne was at the heart of the industry’s development. In 1921, the brand opened Boodles House on the corner of Lord Street and North John Street (where Bartletts Solicitors is also based) which remains the company’s headquarters today.

Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story features breathtaking pieces of both historic and contemporary jewellery, charting the brand’s development from its early years as a city jeweller in Liverpool, to the peak of luxury jewellery craftsmanship and design. Visitors can explore the level of craft that goes into creating Boodles pieces, including the sourcing of precious stones and metals and the painstaking manufacturing process.  

Visitors to Pure Brilliance: The Boodles Story are invited to pay what they think the exhibition was worth, with contributions helping National Museums Liverpool to continue to stage exciting and memorable exhibitions and events. You can find out more about the exhibition and the Lady Lever Art Gallery on the NML website:

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/lady-lever-art-gallery/exhibition/pure-brilliance

During 2019 to 2020, an estimated 15.4 million households in England were owner-occupied – 8.3 million homes (54%) were owned outright (no mortgage), 6.9 million (45%) were bought with an ongoing mortgage (yet to be paid off), and 202,000 (1%) were bought through shared ownership.

Despite this, UK home ownership rates are falling and have been for quite some time – especially among adults of prime working age. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), a third of 35-44 year olds were renting in 2017. This is a significant increase since 1997 when just one in ten 35-44 year olds were renters.

So are Brits more or less eager to buy rather than rent, compared to the rest of the world? In our latest Guide provided by Comparethemarket, we take a look at the challenges both home buyers and renters face in the UK and across the globe. We’ll explore attitudes to homes to see where Brits stand on the great ownership vs renting debate:

Owning your own home: A global look at home ownership and renting

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When someone dies, they may leave behind debts. These are paid out of the estate left by the person who passed away. The estate is essentially the value of everything the deceased leaves behind when they die. The executor – the person responsible for handling the deceased’s estate – will normally use any assets from the estate to pay off the debts. They’ll need to apply for probate, which is the legal right to deal with the deceased’s estate, before they can pay off the debts. They must also estimate the value of the estate before anything else is done, in case inheritance tax needs to be paid.

If there isn’t enough money in the estate to pay off all the debts, the debts will likely be prioritised so the largest are paid off first. Once the money runs out, any remaining debts will typically be written off.

The time after a bereavement can be difficult, especially if you’re also having to deal with a whole heap of debts left behind. Find out what happens to debts when someone dies and who is responsible for paying them off in the latest of our series of Guides provided by UK price comparison website Comparethemarket:

Debt After Death – a Complete Guide

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A viral video showing a motorist colliding with a cyclist on a zebra crossing in Bradford has divided opinion, and shows just how difficult it can be in apportioning blame for accidents of this type. In the 11-second video, the rider begins to cycle across the zebra crossing just as a motorist drives over it without stopping. Seconds later, a second vehicle also fails to stop at the crossing and collides with the bike’s front wheel, causing it to veer off course and the cyclist to swiftly jump off his bike to avoid falling as the motorist drives off.    

The question that divided social media users was whether the cyclist, motorist or both parties were at fault for what could have been a tragic accident. Many pointed to rule 81 of the Highway Code which states with reference to cyclists: ‘Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across’. The cyclist had clearly broken the Highway Code by failing to dismount and walk his bike over the zebra crossing, in which case both motorists would have been obliged to stop as they would for any other pedestrian. Further criticism included the fact that the cyclist did not wait for the traffic to stop before crossing, as well as his lack of high visibility clothing and helmet.

Other viewers believed that the second driver, in particular, was not paying attention and should have seen the cyclist and had time to stop at the zebra crossing, thus avoiding the collision. Motorists also owe cyclists a duty of care, and are obliged to drive safely and take reasonable care to avoid putting other road users at risk. In this instance, a careful and competent driver should have seen the cyclist on the zebra crossing and stopped to let them cross, rather than recklessly endangering him by failing to stop and causing a collision.

The consensus therefore was that both parties were at fault, though the degree of respective culpability and hence legal liability was hotly disputed. Often in the case of collisions involving cyclists and motorists, both parties are to some extent to blame, and this is the main reason why cyclists injured at zebra crossings and junctions should engage solicitors with experience and expertise in this area of law to obtain the best possible outcome.

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/road-accident-claims/when-can-a-cyclist-claim-against-a-motorist.html

The tragic death of Awaab Ishak at his family’s housing association property in Rochdale in December 2020 has been labelled a ‘defining moment’ for the housing sector at the child’s inquest, with the government further stating that providers are being put ‘on notice’. This includes Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), the housing association responsible for the home where Awaab died from ‘chronic exposure to mould’. 

The inquest concluded that the two-year-old’s death was the result of a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to damp and mould at his home on the Freehold estate in Rochdale, ultimately leading to respiratory failure. The property was judged to be inadequately ventilated, which was a prime reason for excess damp, condensation and mould spreading, and was also described as ‘unfit for human habitation’ by experts. 

The inquest heard that no action had been taken by RBH to treat and remove the mould, despite the child’s parents having reported the disrepair issue three years before Awaab’s death. Concerns had also been expressed by health professionals that mould at the property could have an impact on the child’s health, but this similarly failed to lead to repair work being undertaken by the housing association.

Conditions at the family’s home do not appear to be unique, with Sky News revealing that RBH has received 106 formal complaints from tenants about damp and mould in their properties over the last 12 months. This may considerably underestimate the scale of the problem according to a former RBH employee who spoke to Sky, but it is clear that damp and mould poses an ongoing health risk to numerous housing association tenants, not only on the Freehold estate, but all across the country.

Find out more about suing a housing association for disrepair, including damp and mould:

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/accidents-at-home/suing-a-housing-association-for-injury.html

How can you prevent road rage? If you’re involved in an accident caused by road rage, are you covered by your car insurance policy? What if you’re the aggressive driver at fault?

Our new Guide, provided by UK price comparison website Comparethemarket, answers all those questions and more, whether you feel frustrated on the roads, or you’re worried about the behaviour of other drivers:

Understanding and Preventing Road Rage: An Essential Guide

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Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils (the local government association for Greater London) recently announced that they are extending the UK’s largest e-scooter rental trial in the capital for at least another year, in response to recently updated Department for Transport (DfT) guidance that allows local authority trials to continue until at least May 31, 2024. The extension also follows the UK government’s announcement of plans for forthcoming legislation to create a new ‘low-speed, zero-emission’ vehicle category, which would include e-scooters and seek to fully integrate them into the urban transport landscape.     

London’s e-scooter rental trial was launched in June 2021 and has since grown rapidly, with a reported 4,425 e-scooters now available to hire across the city and almost two million journeys taken thus far. The main aim of all the e-scooter trials currently operating across the country is to use the accumulated data to learn more about e-scooters, and thereby shape future policy regarding their use on UK roads and in other public areas, particularly in terms of providing an affordable, green and sustainable urban transport alternative.

In this context, TfL stated that high safety requirements and operating standards will be further enhanced for the next phase of the capital’s e-scooter trial. They will be based on the experience to date, both in London and other cities and countries, as well as customer and stakeholder feedback and improvements in e-scooter technology.

Public safety is clearly the central priority, and riders will require public liability insurance if and when privately-owned e-scooters become legal to use on public land, including public roads. Currently, pedestrians, cyclists and other road users have little chance of legal redress if they are involved in an accident with a private e-scooter, although rental e-scooters are covered by insurance taken out by the operator.

Find out more about responsibility for e-scooter accidents and claiming compensation for being injured by an e-scooter rider:

https://www.bartlettslaw.co.uk/road-accident-claims/who-is-reponsible-for-an-escooter-accident.html

As regular readers of our blog and social media will be aware, we regularly cover exhibitions and events at National Museums Liverpool’s venues, particularly the Walker Art Gallery, World Museum, Museum of Liverpool and Merseyside Maritime Museum.

While National Museums Liverpool’s museums and galleries are free to visit, there is also the option of becoming a National Museums Liverpool member, which apart from offering a range of exclusive benefits also helps with every aspect of maintaining and running the organisation’s seven unique and world-renowned museums and galleries.

Membership benefits include unlimited free access to all exhibitions across the organisation’s venues, as well as to the Planetarium and The Old Dock Tour. Members enjoy priority booking, meaning first access to presale tickets for what are often highly-anticipated blockbuster exhibitions, and are always the first to know about what is happening via regular e-newsletters containing news, exhibitions and free event listings. An Exhibitions and Events guide is also delivered directly to all members.

In addition, special members-only events are held regularly, often focusing on a new exhibition at a particular venue, and sometimes featuring talks and Q&A sessions with invited speakers. Members also have the chance to explore exhibitions outside of normal opening hours while enjoying a complimentary tea or coffee, and are entitled to a 15% discount at the cafes and  restaurants spread across National Museums Liverpool’s museums and galleries, as well as in the gift shops and online shop. 

Annual individual adult memberships are currently priced at £40 or £30 for concessions (60+/Student), while joint adult memberships are available for £70 (£50 for concessions). Family memberships (one adult and up to three children) cost £45 or £75 for up to two adults and three children). You can find out more and become a member on the National Museums Liverpool website:

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/join-and-support/membership

Art of the Terraces is a major first-of-its kind exhibition opening at Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery in two weeks time (5th November), and running until 12th March next year. The exhibition explores the culture of football ‘casuals’ – fans who originally combined hooliganism with expensive designer brands, while exerting a powerful influence on a generation of young people from the late 1970s onwards.  

Art of the Terraces showcases the fashion, music and art that defined the football culture of the casuals, as well as the numerous encounters between rival groups of fans over the years. Perhaps the movement’s most important legacy is in the fashion domain, with the current worldwide mass popularity of sportswear worn as leisurewear originating in the trend set on UK football terraces over 40 years ago.

Liverpool is closely linked to the casuals movement, with many tracing the subculture’s roots to Liverpool F.C. fans returning from European fixtures like the 1977 European Cup quarter final with the latest French and Italian designer sportswear brands. The trend for continental European fashions caught on among rival fans, particularly because expensive-looking clothing and footwear helped casuals escape the attention of the police, who at the time paid more attention to skinhead fans. Ironically, by the late 1990s, the police were increasingly on the lookout for fashion brands seen as part of the casual ‘uniform’.

The Walker Gallery’s Art of the Terraces exhibition explores the work of the contemporary artists and designers who have been influenced by the casuals movement over the last 40 years, celebrating a cultural scene that was outside the mainstream, but still managed to define an era and generation:

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artoftheterraces

Being able to share the road in a considerate manner is one of the most important parts of being a driver. We all have a responsibility to look out for each other, whether that’s checking for motorbikes in cities or horses on country lanes.

In order to do this, every driver learns about The Highway Code when they’re taking their first driving lessons. Whilst it might be fresh in your mind as a new driver, after a while it can be hard to recall who should be doing what.

There’s also occasional updates to the rules. In our newly published Guide provided by UK price comparison website, Comparethemarket, we help you understand what’s changed in the Highway Code recently, what you should be doing as a driver, and what you should do if something goes wrong:

Share the road: cyclist and pedestrian safety awareness for drivers

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