Know where you stand, in plain English.

If the work was done and the invoice is due, that money is a debt you can recover.

Money you handed over is recoverable if it was a loan rather than a gift, and the evidence usually already exists: the bank transfer, the messages around it, any part-repayments.

Persistent late payment by a business customer is not a fact of life, it is a debt with a price on it.

A freelancer is a business in the eyes of the law, which is good news: your unpaid fee is a commercial debt carrying statutory interest at 8% above base rate plus fixed compensation.

The small claims track handles most money disputes under £10,000.

Contract disputes are decided by the words on the page and the record of what each side did, in that order.

A breach of contract entitles you to damages that put you where you would have been had the deal been kept, and a serious enough breach lets you end the contract too.

Unpaid or docked wages are usually an unlawful deduction claim in the employment tribunal, and the deadline is short: three months less one day from the deduction, paused while ACAS early conciliation runs.

A dismissal is unfair unless the employer had a fair reason and followed a fair process, and tribunals examine both.

A settlement agreement is only binding once you have had independent legal advice on it, and the employer almost always pays a contribution for that advice.

Redundancy is only lawful if the role is genuinely disappearing and the process is fair: a sensible selection pool, objective scoring, real consultation and a look at alternative roles.

The Equality Act protects nine characteristics including sex, race, disability, age, pregnancy, religion and sexual orientation, from day one of employment with no service requirement and no cap on compensation.

There is no standalone bullying claim, but that does not mean no remedy.

If there is no written partnership agreement, the Partnership Act 1890 fills the gaps with defaults that surprise people: equal profit shares whatever each side put in, no power to expel a partner, and any partner able to dissolve the whole firm by notice.

The main weapon for a mistreated shareholder in a private company is the unfair prejudice petition: where the company's affairs are conducted in a way unfairly harmful to you, the usual outcome is your shares bought at a fair value.

Director fights are rarely one dispute: the same person is often director, shareholder and employee, and each hat carries different rights and different removal mechanics.

Your deposit had to be protected in a government-approved scheme within 30 days of payment, with prescribed information given to you.

Since 1 May 2026, no-fault section 21 evictions are abolished in England under the Renters' Rights Act.

Your landlord is legally responsible for the structure and exterior, heating, hot water, sanitation and gas and electrical safety, and the home must be fit for human habitation, which serious damp and mould can breach.

Under the regime in force since 1 May 2026 there is no section 21 shortcut: possession for arrears runs on grounds and thresholds, with the mandatory ground needing at least three months of arrears and four weeks' notice.

Commercial leases are their own world: the lease's wording governs, and the traps are procedural.

Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.

Buy from a dealer and the Consumer Rights Act applies in full: the car must be of satisfactory quality for its age, mileage and price.

Building work must be carried out with reasonable care and skill, in reasonable time, and at a reasonable price where none was fixed.

A paid-for service must be delivered with reasonable care and skill and within a reasonable time.

Book a package and the organiser is legally responsible for the whole holiday: flights, hotel, transfers, the lot.

Arrive three or more hours late at your destination on a UK or UK-departing flight and fixed compensation applies: £220, £350 or £520 by flight distance, per passenger, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather.

Two different beasts share the windscreen.

Divorce is now no-fault: one or both of you states the marriage has broken down irretrievably, nobody proves blame, and the process runs online through a 20-week reflection period and a six-week final stage, roughly seven months minimum.

The law's only question is the child's welfare, not parental scores.

Neighbour disputes are the cases where winning can cost more than losing: legal fees outrun the strip of land, and a formal dispute must be disclosed when you sell, denting the price.

A demand is not proof.

Solicitors, surveyors, accountants and advisers owe you reasonable skill and care, and they carry compulsory insurance against failing in it.

Will disputes run on two distinct tracks.

A defamation claim needs a statement published to others that seriously harms your reputation, and for businesses that means serious financial loss, a deliberately high bar.