Legal Jargon

Quantum is an assessment of the value of a claim – how it is calculated.

In the context of legal action to establish a financial settlement following a divorce, a questionnaire is a document designed to obtain further information about the other party’s financial circumstances. The court will set out a date for these to be filed before the first hearing, along with other specific documents. At the first hearing the judge will generally consider whether all the questions are reasonable or whether some can be deleted, and set a date for replies to be provided.

A search to see if a property is affected by the naturally occurring radioactive gas radon, which, if found above the safe level, may require preventative action such as enhanced ventilation.

Changes employers must make to give an employee with a disability the same chance as anyone else to secure a job and fulfil the role.

Someone who is returned to hospital either from s17 leave, a Community Treatment Order or conditional discharge.

The repayment of an existing mortgage or a loan.

A charge levied by a lender on the early repayment of a loan. Redemption penalties are common in mortgage loans and must be specified in the mortgage offer before it is signed. Lenders expect to make a certain level of profit on their loans through the interest they charge. If a loan is repaid early, it means that interest will be charged for a shorter period and the loan will be less profitable for the lender. Redemption penalties may also be charged on overpayment of mortgages i.e. when a borrower overpays their monthly mortgage payments beyond a specified level, usually 10%.

The situation where an employee loses their job due to factors such as the level of work available, or for a reason not related to them. Redundancy usually carries a payment to the employee, often calculated according to how long they have been with the employer, to help compensate them for losing a job for reasons beyond their control and unrelated to their performance.

Property that has been registered at the Land Registry.

A qualified doctor, such as a GP or psychiatrist.

The Rehabilitation Code 2015 is a framework for lawyers and the counterparties to a personal injury claim to work together to ensure that the injured person’s health, quality of life, independence and ability to work are restored as quickly as possible. The aim is to restore the individual as far as possible to the position they were in before the injury and/or to minimise the ongoing impact of the injury on the person’s life. The code calls for this process to begin before/alongside any claim being settled, both to accelerate the individual’s recovery and also to minimise any settlement required.

Paying off one mortgage loan and taking out another, usually with a different lender, on the same property. Property owners often remortgage to take advantage of a change in interest rates or when a period of discount/fixed rate comes to an end.

A modest rent that levied on some freehold properties by the original landowner, for example a landowner who has sold land to a developer. Rentcharges are sometimes created simply to generate profit but may be used as a way to ensure requirements about the property are complied with. Rentcharges extinguish automatically on 21st July 2037 or 60 years from the date of which the Rentcharge first became payable, whichever is later. However, under the 1977 Rentcharge Act, property owners can buy out or redeem the Rentcharges attached to their property.

The document filed by the claimant in order to respond to issues raised by the defendant in a Defence and/or Counterclaim.

A repudiatory breach is a significant breach of contract which goes to the core of the contract and potentially deprives the other party its benefit. It gives the innocent party the right to treat the contract as disregarded and entitles the innoncent party to refuse to be bound to its terms.

An initial payment to a builder or developer or their agent to reserve a new-build property.

If you are convicted of a motoring offence, the court may endorse your driving licence with penalty points. Different numbers of points are awarded for differing levels of offence:

– Speeding (3+ points)
– Driving without due care and attention (3 to 9)
– Using a mobile phone while behind the wheel (3 to 6 points)
– Parking in a dangerous location (3 points)
– Drink / drug-driving offences (3 to 11 points)
– Failing to stop after an accident (5 to 10 points)
– Driving an uninsured vehicle (8 to 10 points)
– Driving while disqualified (6 points)

A full list of offences and points is available at https://www.gov.uk/penalty-points-endorsements / endorsement-codes-and-penalty-points Points remain on your licence for a period of at least four years and as much as 11 years in the case of points for drink or drug driving or causing death by careless driving. If you accumulate 12 or more points within a three-year period, you may be disqualified (‘banned’) from driving for a period of six months or more.

Where some or all of one party’s pension is given to the other party as a pension in their own right.

In practical terms, peppercorn rent means the leaseholder pays zero ground rent to the freeholder. All new residential leaseholders are created with peppercorn rent. The phrase originates from the concept that a leaseholder would pay a nominal rent to the freehold owner in acknowledgement of their continuing right over the property in the sum of a single peppercorn – the type that you would usually grind up in a pepper mill.

A PPO is an order from the court that stating that the defendant, rather than handing over compensation as a lump sum, should pay an annual amount, frequently in addition to an initial lump sum, to the claimant for the duration of their natural life.