Q: I suffered quite severe personal injuries in an accident. My insurance company has helped me through the process of making a compensation claim and I have now had an offer of £20,000 which I am about to accept. The insurance company doesn’t however seem to know whether or not this will affect my state benefits. Please can you confirm the situation?

Q: I bought two rental properties to supplement my retirement income. I am not a ‘professional’ landlord though and am currently struggling to get my head around all the new landlord responsibility regulations. Could you please give me a break-down of the new requirements?

Q: Please can you clarify the new working time rules that have come into force? I work for a landscaping firm that does pub garden installations. The jobs can be anywhere in the country and we only know a week in advance where we have got to go. Could be Scotland, could be Land’s End. I know they brought in some new regulations about time for travelling to jobs being counted as part of the working day but my boss doesn’t seem to have made any adjustments to the length of our working day on the job, or to our pay. Can he get away with this?

The head of one of the area’s largest solicitor family law teams has been granted membership of the Law Society Advanced Family Law panel.

Q: I have been in dreadful pain for the past three years with my hip. Initially I was told it was not bad enough to warrant a replacement. When I eventually got to see a consultant who considered it had become bad enough I was devastated to find out that I could not have the operation for another eighteen months due to lengthy waiting lists. 

Q: I am about to sell my property and have noticed some Japanese Knotweed growing in my garden. Can you explain my obligations and responsibilities regarding this?

Q: I have chosen two close friends as godparents for my 9 month old daughter. Does this mean that the people I have chosen will automatically have the right to care for her if I die before she reaches adulthood?