Q:  I have an ongoing personal injury claim and I am concerned about how my claim might be affected by the coronavirus. My Solicitor advised me that the Defendant admitted liability and medical evidence would need to be obtained. Is this going to be possible at the moment? I am keen to settle my claim quickly as I am suffering from financial hardship.

Lawyers at one of the region’s top law firms say they have been astounded to receive calls from self-employed people who are being threatened with eviction for non-payment of rent they simply cannot find whilst awaiting the promised end of May government aid.

A personal injury lawyer at one of the region’s top law firms has voiced concern that cancelled medical assessments due to the COVID-19 shutdown could cause cash-strapped claimants to settle prematurely.

Q:  Two years ago, I was involved in a road traffic accident. A van crashed into the side of my car on a roundabout and I suffered a fracture to my elbow which needed an operation.

Q.  My 30-year old son has a severe learning disability and is currently living in a specialist Care Home. I think he is under something called a DOLS which I’ve been told means he is deprived of his liberty and has to stay in the Care Home because he can’t make his own decisions. However, the current COVID19 crisis has meant that I am unable to visit him and can only communicate via skype.

A leading Court of Protection lawyer with one of the region’s largest mental health teams has expressed ‘huge concern’ for the mental wellbeing of vulnerable patients, and their families, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A regional law firm that ranks among the top 500 law firms in England and Wales has warned that the current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted an increase in the number of invalid Wills being made.

Q: We are in our thirties. We downloaded forms off the internet and wrote Wills when we bought our house together, but never considered setting up Powers of Attorney as we thought such things were for the old, sick and vulnerable. Now COVID has made us all vulnerable and we are wondering whether we should each set one up?

Q: Since the lockdown began my partner has been going out every day to the supermarket and bringing back booze which he sits and drinks. Then he gets nasty with me. He has always been verbally abusive towards me, but this is the worst ever and now he is hitting me too because he knows he can get away with it as I am stuck in the house and no-one sees me. I have thought about calling the police when he is at the supermarket, but even if they come what can happen while we are in lockdown? I am terrified I would just make things worse for myself. What can I do?

Q: Recently my father died and my stepmother, whom I got on well with, died a month later. I had helped them write a Will after they married six years ago, using an online guide we found, so I know they both left their estates to one another and then to me. However, having searched the house I cannot find it. Now my stepmother’s sisters are claiming the Will would have been invalid anyway, as I was the only witness to it as well as being a beneficiary. They claim that the entire estate is therefore theirs. Is this correct?