In brief: Advise your client – pension credits
From 6 October 2008, pensioners looking to backdate their pension credit will only be eligible to make a claim for up to three months, rather than the current 12 months. The new three-month limit, introduced by the government in December 2007, will also apply to housing benefit and council-tax benefit.

In brief: A sign of the times
To some it’s just another road sign, but recently it has raised the hackles of the more politically-correct, becoming the subject of some contention.

In brief: Disability discrimination by association – a carer’s right
Millions of carers across Europe have been afforded greater protection from discrimination at work by virtue of the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) landmark ruling in Coleman v Attridge Law (Case C-303/06). The ECJ has paved the way for carers to claim disability discrimination protection even though they themselves do not have a disability.

In brief: Be aware – financial abuse of the elderly
These days we are increasingly aware of issues of child abuse and domestic violence: topics that have received huge amounts of press attention, and rightly so, in turn generating awareness, campaigns and support. The issue of elderly abuse, however, particularly in a financial context, remains a little-spoken-about area that has only begun to be highlighted in the past few years.