Corporations Benefit From Laws, Not You

Let’s examine the reality of a situation and use an example to justify the meaning of many things in society. Your brother just graduated from college and had landed a job as a highly-paid architect. He receives praises and word from your parents. However, you are in college and are in need of an apartment to live closer to your school. Your brother also needs the same. Your parents will prioritize your brother because he becomes the new breadwinner of the family. You? You just have to bear with what options are left for you and you completely understand that your brother pays for your tuition and is the priority.

In an economy, corporations make the bills run and circulate all over the UK. This is not just the UK, but in any country whatsoever. If you think of it, laws are built around corporations so that they can promote proper competitiveness to raise an economy. Consumer rights are prioritized because if consumers lose confidence in the corporation’s products, we end up with a lower economy.

Sometimes, government policies will clash with ideals. The UK tapping into the Muslim finance market signifies a goal to increase the economic output of the country, and some money into the pockets of politician friends. The recent UK Rail Union Vs. Privatized RailFranchises case marks the trend that ‘friends’ and ‘breadwinners’ of the government prioritize the profitable returns, never the individual’s concerns.

This is not a bad thing, but this is a reality that most people, especially the common person, will have to deal with.

Possibly, We Won’t Be Seeing More No Win No Fee Claims Companies?

I admit, a claims management company was invaluable for getting me the compensation I needed for a medical negligence claim. Indeed, they are very helpful, but they are turning out to be quite large nuisances especially in terms of cold calls or text messages. However, recent news suggests that claims handlers have a lower population today than during 2008 to 2011.

According to a government-sponsored research, CMCs have dropped in population by 50% in 2013. Authorities attribute this to the peaking of PPI complaints and £13.3 billion finally paid back to consumers from the current £25 billion PPI bill. This might also be due to the new independent medical board ensuring the quality of injury and negligence claims to rescue insurance companies from raising their medical premiums due to fraudulent claims.

No Win NoFee* compensation claim handlers had been the primary suspects for introducing fraudulent or non-existing PPI claims and injury compensation claims, namely whiplash. But according to the survey, most of the claims handlers succeed in 97% of all approved and existing cases for PPI claims and injury compensation.

It is possible that that spike in CMCs in the previous half decade was fuelled by consumer legal contempt against their banks. But then again, the UK has a “compensation culture” that will always help consumers, and help CMCs, gain legal ground and increase in population.

Laws Protect Individual Expression, and the Freedom of Other People, Or Does It?

I’ve read this article from a Dubaian ex-prisoner regarding self-expression and it gave me some insight on modern laws.

Individuals have their own ways of expressing themselves. The more freedom people have, the happier they are. In a romantic relationship, people enjoy each other’s company because they’re free to become who they really are as there is acceptance from both sides. People can love their governments better if they have more freedom to express themselves.

However, not everyone can accept an individual, which is why there are laws in place. These laws protect the integrity of another person, especially in cases where there is behaviour or expression that cannot be accepted by the majority of people.

In the modern world where the internet exists, anybody could express themselves, much to the chagrin of people who do not appreciate these forms of expression based on culture, beliefs, religion and other ways of thought. Laws protect people from this particular form by raising issues that defame their own image. It is a right of an individual to protecthis or her own image by litigation.

However, the law is only accessible to people with power. Governments can shoot down individuals who do not agree with the status quo using laws. It is a direct violation of human rights if the government does not respect the wishes of the majority in certain cases and if it expresses itself with harsh laws that vindicate individuality.

In a sense, the individual protection by law could be trampled with by power, which makes laws both a protective wall, and a wall that also serves as a prison of the individual.

Culture, Law and the Future of the World

The passing of new bills can shock an entire nation or even the whole world if it proves to be controversial, and what the world dubs as “controversial” is something that oppresses a value held by the common person. The common thought in society is called culture, its rituals the public will consider as tradition and these practices are passed on to generations who accept it.

Culture closely ties itself to the laws created by a country. In the Middle East, Islamic law and the law of the land are the same. In the case of an Afghan man granted asylum by Britain to avoid a death sentence on his return to Afghanistan for abandoning his faith, is a sign that tradition and religion indeed overwhelms the local government.

While many atheists and humanists may argue that religion is only a belief and the state is an entity that has a paradox in protecting the individual but respects the choice of the majority through democracy, tradition is a mass societal movement and thought and if religion is embedded, the state cannot remove itself from such.

The involvement of culture, religion and tradition makes it difficult for individualistic ideas and understanding to be protected by law. Sadly, regardless of an ideal society splitting law and religion, the reality is that tradition declares the law, and tradition includes religion. Unless people are willing to lay down their religion into schools of thought as is philosophy or other beliefs, then the future of the world will continue to root itself in its tradition.

Transparency International Recommends Tighter Laws Against Corruption

Transparency International UK’s report indicates that the UK is the safest place corrupt individuals could store their illegally-acquired properties and assets because it has an almost 1% detection probability going through the country. The report, published during the United Nations’ International Anti-Corruption Day, included recommendations from the watchdog to the United Kingdom.

The report indicated that a new law be introduced that would allow UK authorities to seize suspicious assets obtained by a public official. If the amount of the assets exceed the income of the public official, these could be seized and held. The official will have to prove that their assets were acquired legitimately to get them back.

According to UK’s previous financial watchdog the Financial Services Authority, almost £23-45 billion pounds were laundered into the United Kingdom on a yearly basis. According to TI-UK head Robert Barrington, the UK’s detection rate for stolen and laundered money in the UK is very low and will need great improvement.

The report also recommended that the UK should make use of the private sector to help detect suspicious asset movements in and out the United Kingdom to ensure sanctions be made to those who facilitate the movement of such assets.

Another is to ensure that the recovery team is properly resourced and should follow the example of Switzerland and Canada, whose governments allow authorities to freeze public officials’ suspicious assets when it is considered a ‘non-functioning judiciary’.

A full summary of the report could be found here.

PPI Complaints Expected to Increase in Number

With more than a million complaints being handled by the Financial Ombudsman in the first half of 2013 and enduring 266,238 PPI complaints from September, the organisation expects more PPI complaints to come in by the following year. Experts also agree on the estimation.

The Lloyds Banking Group’s recent addition of £750 million for their PPI refunds is a significant factor for experts that more PPI complaints are expected by the financial industry for the following year. Lloyds currently has the largest half of the mis sold PPI refund bill, currently situated at £8 billion in total.

Experts also expect the other high street banks, RBS, Barclays and HSBC, to publish their third quarter financial results and add more to their PPI refunds. With increasing numbers of PPI complaints, the total PPI refund bill by 2014 is expected to exceed £20 billion.

The Financial Ombudsman said that a great chunk of the financial industry’s refund bill goes to administrative costs, namely the payment for handling contractors and to the FOS. The FOS charges £900 in total for every complaint for mis sold PPI respective of its bank.

If you are planning to make a claim, click here for more information about PPI claiming and legal consultation.

How to Make a Good Motor Accident Compensation Claim

Motorcycles are lightweight and fast, which makes them both appealing and dangerous for many drivers. If you’re a motorcycle driver, it is best you know how to make a good motor accident compensation claim in case you need it.

1.    Scenario

Most motor accidents could injure you quite severely especially if due to a bad fall or collision. If you still have the strength, use a mobile phone with a camera to survey the damages and keep them on record. If you know you were not at fault, use these images in your defense.

2.    Medical Check Up

It is important that you get yourself to a hospital and have a medical professional examine you. Medical professionals can treat your injuries, indicate the pain and suffering you underwent and the possible future consequences of your troubles, all recorded on a medical certificate.

3.    Surveillance Reports

If your accident happened on a highway or a upper-class neighbourhood, you could consult with local camera operators if they caught your accident on camera. This is highly useful in proving that you were not at fault during the accident.

4.    Legal Help

Claims management companies and no win no fee legal solicitors could advise you on the best way you could reclaim your compensation. Most of them could also ensure a good out-of-court settlement.