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Sometimes we need to make a financial decision that is of such importance we decide to pay for professional advice. This may be from an accountant, a tax specialist, a pensions expert, a mortgage consultant, an independent financial advisor, a land valuer or surveyor, or even a lawyer offering financial or tax planning services.

By seeking professional input, we aim to arm ourselves with the information needed to ensure that the decisions we make are well-informed and that they are geared towards helping us to safeguard or improve our financial fortunes rather than making them worse.

So where do you stand if you discover, possibly months or even years down the line, that the advice you have been given may be wrong or inappropriate and where it is likely that your financial interests have been harmed as a result?

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting the UK’s landlords hard, with soaring inflation, interest rates and energy prices all exponentially adding to the cost of renting out property.

As a landlord, you may be tempted to simply bump up the rent for all your tenants to cover your rising costs, but there are rules and restrictions involved in doing this and the consequences of getting it wrong can be harsh.

Dawn Kiddy outlines the circumstances in which you can increase a tenant’s rent, describes your options if disputes arise in doing so, and explains how you go about terminating a tenancy if required.

If you are a landlord a good letting agent is worth their weight in gold, relieving you of a lot of the stress that is involved in managing all aspects of your rental property.

However, when things go wrong and they do not perform as they should it can have a severely damaging effect on your business, your reputation and your pocket.

Dawn Kiddy, Dispute Resolution Solicitor with Petersfields LLP outlines what a letting agent does, what duties they have, what might go wrong and what you can do if things do go awry.

Finding out that your loved one has decided to leave a gift of money or property to a charity in their will can sometimes come as a surprise, particularly if the charity is not one that was known to be close to their heart. It may also be quite distressing if the unexpected gift effectively operates to deprive you, or another relative, of some or all the inheritance you hoped to receive.

With many people struggling to get on the property ladder, or to afford a home to rent, it has become increasingly common for mortgage lenders and landlords to ask borrowers and tenants to find someone who is willing to act as a guarantor for them – in other words to settle their debts if they are unable to do so.

A personal guarantee may also be requested to secure a loan, particularly where the applicant has a poor credit history, or even to secure the debts of a private limited company.

With an increasing number of people struggling to get on the property ladder, it is not surprising that there has been a corresponding rise in the number of properties being bought by friends who have pooled their resources, or by parents who have agreed to bankroll their child if they agree to take on a lodger to help pay the mortgage.

‘While these sorts of arrangements can work well when everyone knows where they stand, there can be problems if no formal agreement exists to determine the circumstances in which a jointly owned property can be sold or when someone invited to be part of a house share on an occupancy only basis can be asked to leave,’ explains Dawn Kiddy, a dispute resolution lawyer with Petersfields LLP  in Cambridge and Haverhill.