Due to continued growth we are setting up a new team of part-time Claims Advisors in our York office.  If you’re customer focused, target driven and looking for a new challenge take a look at the details on our careers website.

Minster Law are hoping to raise £100,000 for Macmillan Cancer support this year.

Having announced Macmillan Cancer Support as our charity of the year, we began the donations with £10,000 after staff had voted to aid the charity with a higher profile and more awareness.

Jenny Wain, Senior Communications Manager presented Macmillan manager; Sally Millington with a cheque for £10,000. This followed on from a day of cake and pizza selling to staff of which contributions from proceeds are to be donated.

The fundraising is in response to Minster Law’s determination to have a positive influence in the community and its focus on corporate responsibility.

Macmillan provide practical, medical and financial support for people who have been diagnosed with cancer and work to improve cancer care for patients.

Insurance companies have controversially announced the introduction of a new policy which offers its clients the opportunity to reduce premiums by fitting a sat-nav which tracks their driving performance.

It is suggested that better drivers would receive cheaper premiums rates by fitting a black box that would record; speed, braking, cornering and types of roads used at which time of day.;

The information would be sent from the black box directly to the insurer to help them build a picture of your performance as a driver.

The system is initially aimed at the younger drivers who might be able to use this as a way of bringing their premiums down and could save up to a suggested amount of £850 per year.

The announcement has been met with controversy by those who suggest it might be like driving with a “spy” in the car. Those who are worried about this should be aware that only drivers giving their consent would have the boxes fitted.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Minster Law have made a significant investment in our legal library tools, in the form of Lexis Nexis and Kemp on Lawtel.

Lexis Nexis is a library complete with a collection of practical, step-by-step guides, useful legislation, cases, forms and precedents that supports our teams in tackling client matters appropriately and effectively.

Kemp on Lawtel is an online version of Kemp quantum reporting, giving direct access to a database of over 4,500 quantum reports, covering both court awards and out of court settlements.

This investment demonstrates our commitment to delivering excellent client care through the provision of the right resources and training to our Legal teams.

We have launched a new dedicated careers website!

The website has been designed to provide an insight into what it is like working for Minster Law. Not only can you find out more about our vacancies, you can also see how we are growing and why there is always so much recruitment activity.

We are very proud of the opportunities and career development we offer at Minster Law and want everyone to know about it!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR CAREERS SITE

Minster Law has raised over £5,600 for the Will Aid Campaign 2010. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those clients that took part in the scheme and help raise money for such a worth while cause.

Simon Eyre-Wood of Minster Law comments: –

“..the campaign was a huge success and my thanks goes out to all those who took part. This is a cause we truly believe in and I am pleased to say have contributed to since 2009. Each year we have surpassed the previous years figure which only goes to show the worth while nature of the campaign and the generosity of our clients.

Given the success of the 2010 Will Aid Campaign Minster Law shall be participating in the scheme once more this November and shall be taking appointments for time slots for November from October onwards.

If you have an enquiry about making a Will either under Will Aid or now please contact us here

Legal Services Board (LSB) is to launch a formal investigation into the regulation of both will writing and probate in response to a recommendation from its consumer watchdog.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) recommends that a relatively free market in will-writing services should remain but all providers, including solicitors, should be obliged to satisfy regulators that they are competent, follow a code of conduct and allow complaints to the Legal Ombudsman.

The LSB asked the panel to consider the longstanding issue of regulating will-writers last year following concerns raised by consumers within the unregulated will writing industry including the preparation of poor quality wills and even lost wills where companies disappear without trace. In 2010 Scotland moved to regulate will-writing companies and earlier this year the Law Society launched a campaign calling on the government to make will- writing a reserved activity in England and Wales in order to better protect consumers.
The report also calls for training standards for solicitors to be raised and for the Office of Fair Trading to lead an enforcement campaign targeted at the ‘minority’ of will-writing companies responsible for the worst sales practices.

A mystery-shopping exercise this year identified the same proportion of wills prepared by solicitors and will-writing companies were failed by the panel’s expert assessors. Although only a sample of 101 wills was taken will-writing companies and solicitors were equally culpable. Simon Eyre-Wood of Minster Law’s Private Client Department comments ‘these findings showed practitioners had cause to be concerned as to the regulation of the industry and highlights the need for the introduction of tighter controls across the whole market. The consumer should be free to choose who to instruct in matters of Wills and estate administration but in doing so should be confident their best interests are always maintained and the person they have employed is suitably qualified for the task at hand’.

As a result of the report the LSB have called for a statutory investigation into how best to protect consumers in the will-writing, probate and estate administration markets and examine whether a specific activity should be added to the list of reserved activities. This would mean such services can then be only be provided by persons authorised by approved regulators.

What are your thoughts as to the above?

Over the last year we have been trialling a new and innovative way of communicating with our Clients. We have introduced an online Client Portal which enables Clients to track the real time progress of their claim with us online. We are confident that this will enhance the level of service we are able to provide to you, as you will be able to see exactly what is happening with your claim, 24 hours a day.

Throughout the trial period, access to the Portal was limited to a certain number of our Clients. We felt this was an important part of the trial whilst we were developing the Portal and making sure that we got it right.

Currently access to the Client Portal remains limited, but the good news is, the trial has proved to be a great success and we are now working hard to develop online access for all of our existing Clients which is something we hope to bring soon.

If you are an existing Client who has already received your welcome email inviting you to log in to the Portal to Track Your Claim online, then simply click this link which will take you straight to the Portal log in page.

Minster Law have introduced an online Client Portal enabling you to track the real time progress of your claim online.

You can see exactly what is happening with your claim, 24 hours a day.

Access is currently limited to a certain number of our Clients, we are working hard to develop online access for all relevant claims; something we hope to bring soon.

If you are an existing Client and you have received your welcome email inviting you to log in to the Portal to Track Your Claim online, simply click this link which will take you straight to the Portal log in page.

If you are have difficulty logging into the Portal, simply use the ‘Request Password’ option on the log in page and a new password will be automatically emailed to you.

According to Motor Industry experts, car manufacturers are winning the war against thieves.

During the last seven years car thefts levels have fallen by around two-thirds.

The majority of thefts during this time were of vehicles which were older than three years.

Last year 107,000 cars were stolen, down on figures from 119,000 in 2010 and hugely down on the 600,000 a year which were stolen 20 years ago.

Changes in technology to cars has meant it is increasingly difficult for thieves to succeed. The technology improvements have focused on security systems including alarms, locks, immobilisers, toughened glass and tracking devices.

In response to the toughened measures, thieves are beginning to design their own high tech methods, and the industry admitting it needs to constantly design new security systems.

What has been your experience?