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Welcome to
Chebsey & Co. Solicitors
Chebsey & Co is a well established award winning firm of solicitors in South Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire & North East Somerset with offices in Beaconsfield, Burnham, Croxley Green, Windsor and also at Bath, as Bath Law.
Chebsey & Co has been built on a culture that is creative, supportive and straightforward. We thrive on the diverse nature of our clients' problems and finding ways to support your objectives.
We have expert solicitors who can provide specialist advice on a wide range of legal issues relating to both private and business/commercial matters in the UK and Spain.
We believe that our team of high quality and motivated solicitors have the right blend of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to achieve your particular objectives in a professional and efficient manner.
Our vision is to provide all our clients with an exceptional service in a law firm that is excited about personal commitment and thinking beyond boundaries. We are Lexcel accredited. We won the 2010 OPP Awards For Excellence winners of the "Best Lawyer" category (the first year that the category was awarded) and were also awarded Silver in the category of "Best Lawyer" in the 2011 OPP Awards for Excellence.
Our Latest News
Spain voted the Best Place to Buy Property Abroad in 2012 - 26th January 2012
The February 2012 Edition of A Place In The Sun Magazine is out today and names the 10 Best Places to Buy Abroad in 2012. We are delighted that Spain was voted number one by the readers. Further details can be read at aplaceinthesun.com
You can read our guide on buying in Spain at Our Spanish Department Page.
You're Taking The P... 24th January 2012
Police investigations are under way at Snaresbrook Crown Court following reports of “tampering“ with the food provided to Judges and barristers! Scotland Yard detectives and the local council are jointly investigating suggestions that food from the kitchens contained urine! The kitchen is currently being staffed with temporary replacements whilst enquiries continue.
2011 Satisfaction Questionnaire results now in - 17th January 2012
All companies that provide a service should monitor how good that service is. We do this by sending out Satisfaction Questionnaires to our clients at the end of a case. Not only do we monitor these throughout the year but also analyse the statistics at the end of the year and compare them to previous years. We have now finalised compiling the statistics for 2011 and are delighted with the results.
The Satisfaction questionnaires are broken down into several different areas with clients being asked to rate our service in each area as either Poor, Satisfactory, Good or Excellent.
In 2011 98.42% of people who replied rated our overall service as “Good or Excellent”. This is slightly up on the 2010 figure but more pleasingly there was an increase of 7.38% to nearly 90% in the number of people who rated us “Excellent” rather than “Good”.
Overall 95.57% of people rated our communication as either “Good or Excellent” with 4.87% more people rated our communication as “Excellent” in 2011 compared to 2010.
The helpfulness of our staff improved slightly in 2011 compared to 2010. “Helpfulness of legal advisers” has improved slightly (by 0.01%) to 97.10%, and 1.53% more people rated us “Excellent” rather than “Good”. “Helpfulness of support staff” improved by 1.44% to 96.82%, and there was a jump of 7.38% in the number of people who rated us “Excellent” rather than “Good”.
Overall we are delighted with the results. The results at the end of 2010 were fantastic and somehow we have managed to improve on those in 2011. Whilst some of the overall results haven’t improved much it is clear that more people are now rating our service as “Excellent” rather than “Good”.
Needless to say we won’t be resting on our laurels and will continue to strive not only to keep up this level of service but also attempt to improve on it in 2012 (even though that target is getting harder to achieve every year!).Secret Diary - 13th January 2012
The Times has recently revealed that a secret diary that could have cleared a convicted murderer was held by the police while he remained in jail, protesting his innocence. Eddie Gilfoyle was jailed for life in 1993 for murdering his pregnant wife by hanging her and making it look like suicide. But The Times has learnt that a locked box containing her diary and personal papers revealed a previous suicide attempt and a traumatic past though it is unclear when they came into possession of the box. If a review of the case finds that evidence was not disclose to Eddie Gilfoyle’s legal team the police need to be held accountable.
If you believe you have an action against the police, please refer to the page on this website for further information.
John Terry and a Football Banning Order? - 13th January 2012
If found guilty of the charge he faces that he used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour which was racially aggravated then not only does John Terry face a maximum fine of £2,500.00 but more importantly for his football career in England and Wales he could be made the subject of a Football Banning Order for a minimum of 3 years.
The primary restrictions imposed by a Football Banning Order are to prohibit the person subject to the Order from attending regulated football matches in England and Wales and also requiring the person to attend at a police station in relation to a regulated football match outside England and Wales.
So if John Terry is made the subject of a Football Banning Order would he be able play in Premier League, Champions League or England away fixtures?
Spanish Tax - 10th January 2012
The new Spanish government, headed up by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, has announced some emergency measures aimed at tackling Spain's budget deficit. The measures were announced by the Agencia Tributaria on 31st December 2011 and published on 4th January 2012. There is a range of measures implemented and these have been made as an interim emergency measure as the full budget has been postponed until February. The most interesting announcements as far as British people buying and owning property in Spain are concerned are;
A small increase in the Impuesto Sobre La renta De No residents from 24% to 24.75% for the years 2012 and 2013. This tax is calculated annually and is based on 2% of the official value of the property (i.e. you will now pay 24.75% of 2% of the official value of the property). As such the small increase is unlikely to affect many people too much.
Capital Gains Tax is increased slightly from 19% to 21%. If you are looking at buying a property in Spain you should take advice before you buy to try and put into place measures to reduce down Capital Gains Tax as some of the options available to you have to be put into place before you buy. If you are selling then the Capital Gains Tax in Spain only applies to any increase from the time that you bought.
The rate of tax on new properties has been kept at the same rate that it was at the latter half of last year when it was reduced down from 8% to 4%. This was originally introduced to help stimulate the property market and was intended to return to 8% on 1st January 2012 but the lower rate has been extended until 31st December 2012.
A further announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Soya Saenz de Santamaria on 5th January confirms that the Spanish Government is to tackle tax fraud head on in a drive to bring in more tax. Measures will include personal and corporation taxes being more closely scrutinised and more regular visits by tax inspectors to workplaces to make sure that all workers are being paid through the books rather than cash in hand.The full budget is expected to take place in February and we will bring you further news of announcements at that time or as and when they are made if before.
Sobering Statistics - 6th January 2012Two recent statistics regarding driving whilst using a mobile phone and the legal drink driving alcohol limit have been revealed recently.
A freedom of information request revealed that more than 171,000 drivers were given a £60 penalty fine over the past year for using a mobile phone whilst driving.
Separate research from Confused.com has revealed that 50% of drivers are unaware of the legal alcohol limit. A further 31% did not know that that alcohol can affect individuals differently and that factors such as weight, stress levels, gender, age and whether they have recently eaten impacts upon alcohol levels
If you have been caught either driving whilst using your mobile phone or over the legal alcohol limit then contact our Motoring Law Department to discuss how we can assist you.New Director - 6th January 2012
The Directors of Chebsey Law Limited are pleased to announce that Jack Khurana joined the Board of Directors with effect from the 1st January 2012. He joins the existing Directors – Keith Chebsey, Caroline Dunne, Alistair Bertrand and Jo Dix. Jack is Head of the Litigation and Employment Department and will continue with this role as well as his new duties as a Director.
Keith Chebsey, Chairman and Director of Chebsey Law Limited said “The appointment further strengthens the management team at Board level and is yet one further step in the ongoing development of the Firm, essential in the challenging business times for the UK that currently exist.”
Jack Khurana said “I am delighted to be appointed to the Board of Chebsey Law Limited and relish the challenge of driving the business forward to even greater success.
Spanish Lottery Scam - 20th December 2011
In a few days time probably the most famous lottery in the world will be drawn in Spain. The Sorteo de Navidad or Lotería de Navidad (Commonly known as "El Gordo", which translates as "the Fat One") is the big Spanish Christmas Lottery that has been going on since 1892. At the end of December and early January we always have various people contact us to ask us to help them with their big lottery win in Spain.
Unfortunately because the prize fund is so big a series of scams associated with the lottery have been developed and every year we speak to people who have fallen for, or are about to fall for these scams.
The scams work by getting you to pay some money up front to claim your prize. This is normally for "taxes", "insurance", "delivery costs", "administration fees" or something like that. Often you are told that there is a very short period of time to pay these costs in order to claim your prize.
You can avoid these scams by keeping to some simple rules;
1. If somebody contacts you to tell you that you have won - it is a scam. The organisers do not have your contact details to contact you and neither do they know that you have that ticket.
2. If you are told that you have won but haven't got a ticket - it is a scam. It is quite simple – if you haven't bought a ticket you haven't won. Random strangers do not buy you a ticket as part of a syndicate that you are not part of.
3. If you are asked to pay fees up front before receiving your prize - it is a scam. The body that runs El Gordo (Loterías y Apuestas del Estado) does not require fees to be paid up front from you if you have won and neither does the Spanish Tax man.
