Strictly Law Everyday UK law, clearly explained.

Strictly Law

Everyday UK law, clearly explained.

Latest Articles

The Business Card Is Not a Warrant: When an Employee’s Assent Binds the Company
Business Contracts

The Business Card Is Not a Warrant: When an Employee’s Assent Binds the Company

A sales manager signs a supply agreement; an administrator confirms a variation by email; a branch employee accepts a quotation. None has board approval, yet the company may still be bound. This explainer sets out how apparent authority works in UK contract law and how SMEs can check authority before a casual yes becomes enforceable.
The Chat That Became a Contract: Why Casual Messages Deserve Formal Attention
Business Contracts

The Chat That Became a Contract: Why Casual Messages Deserve Formal Attention

Texts, emails and WhatsApp exchanges can satisfy the legal tests for a binding agreement, even where neither side intended a formal document. This explainer sets out when informal messages cross the line, the evidence that matters in a UK dispute, and practical habits for keeping routine chat from creating unintended obligations.
Negotiation Without a Net: How ‘Subject to Contract’ Can Fail the Business That Relies On It
Business Contracts

Negotiation Without a Net: How ‘Subject to Contract’ Can Fail the Business That Relies On It

The words ‘subject to contract’ are often treated as a guaranteed shield against premature liability. In practice, they are only as strong as the conduct that surrounds them. This guide explains where the phrase protects a small business, where it can be outflanked, and how to keep negotiations from turning into an accidental contract.
The Six-Year Shadow: How Limitation Periods Quietly Decide the Fate of Contract Debts
Disputes

The Six-Year Shadow: How Limitation Periods Quietly Decide the Fate of Contract Debts

A debt can be beyond argument on the merits and still be unenforceable because too much time has passed. This explainer sets out how limitation periods work for everyday UK contract debts, why a single friendly email or a token payment can start the clock again, and what both sides should record before putting anything in writing.
If the Sole Trader Falls Silent: A Continuity Plan for One-Person Businesses
Family Law

If the Sole Trader Falls Silent: A Continuity Plan for One-Person Businesses

Illness, an accident or a death can leave a one-person business frozen in place: clients unable to reach anyone, files locked in a laptop, invoices unpaid and accounts unreachable. Because a sole trader has no separate legal identity, the business does not carry on by itself. This guide sets out the documents and records that bridge the gap.
Still Yours Until Paid For: Making Retention of Title Work in Practice
Business Contracts

Still Yours Until Paid For: Making Retention of Title Work in Practice

A retention of title clause is often the only thing standing between an unpaid supplier and a queue of unsecured creditors. But the clause that reads well in your terms and conditions is not always the clause that survives an administrator's scrutiny. Here is how the mechanism works, where it fails, and what to fix before you need it.
When the Company Stops Paying: Directors, Lenders and Personal Guarantees in 2026
Business Contracts

When the Company Stops Paying: Directors, Lenders and Personal Guarantees in 2026

A personal guarantee can turn a limited company’s borrowing into a director’s personal liability. This guide explains all-monies and continuing clauses, what to negotiate before signing, and how to respond when a lender makes demand.
The Label Is Not a Force Field: Protecting Settlement Talks in UK Disputes
Disputes

The Label Is Not a Force Field: Protecting Settlement Talks in UK Disputes

The without prejudice label is often treated as a guarantee of confidentiality, but UK courts look at substance rather than headings. This opinion-led guide explains the difference between genuine settlement talks and open correspondence, common mistakes, and a practical protocol for protecting negotiations.
Lines on a Plan, Not Posts in the Ground: A Practical Guide to Neighbour Disagreements
Disputes

Lines on a Plan, Not Posts in the Ground: A Practical Guide to Neighbour Disagreements

Fences, hedges and title plans often tell different stories. This plain-English guide explains what boundary paperwork actually proves, how to build a useful evidence trail, and when mediation or formal action is the sensible next step.
The Concentration Risk in Your Ledger: When a Major Customer Stops Paying
Business Contracts

The Concentration Risk in Your Ledger: When a Major Customer Stops Paying

A single large customer can flatter turnover while quietly creating existential risk. This guide sets out the early signals of payment distress, the contractual tools available to SMEs, and the point at which polite chasing should give way to formal recovery.
Reading the Small Print Before It Reads You: A 2026 Contract Review for SMEs
Business Contracts

Reading the Small Print Before It Reads You: A 2026 Contract Review for SMEs

A contract can look routine while quietly transferring cost, risk and control away from your business. This review sets out five clauses that deserve particular attention in 2026 and offers a practical checklist and negotiation language for SMEs.
Before the Claim Form: Deciding Whether a Pre-Action Letter Earns Its Keep
Disputes

Before the Claim Form: Deciding Whether a Pre-Action Letter Earns Its Keep

A letter before action can resolve a debt or boundary dispute without proceedings, but it can also be an expensive way of announcing a weak claim. This disputes guide sets out when pre-action correspondence is worth the fee and how to avoid empty threats.
The Safety Net That Isn’t: What Unmarried Couples Must Arrange for Themselves in 2026
Family Law

The Safety Net That Isn’t: What Unmarried Couples Must Arrange for Themselves in 2026

There is no such thing as a common law spouse in England and Wales. Unmarried partners can share a home, a family and a life without gaining automatic rights on separation or death. Here is what the law does not provide—and what couples should put in place instead.
Payroll, Policies and Proof: A Small-Business Guide to the 2026 Employment Reforms
Employment Law

Payroll, Policies and Proof: A Small-Business Guide to the 2026 Employment Reforms

Employment reform is not only a payroll problem. It reaches into contracts, shift scheduling, leave requests and dismissal decisions. This practical checklist helps small businesses prioritise the changes that matter before the next pay cycle.