Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun!

Apparently my diary is lying to me. It is telling me that it’s August (or at least it is at the time that I’m writing this blog) but that cannot be right because according to a well known high street chain of coffee shops, it’s much much later. They’ve just emailed me to promote their latest range of Autumn drinks which are on sale now. I know we can debate exactly when Autumn starts, but I’m in the office in a t shirt and jeans with the air con on and we’re about to start the summer bank holiday weekend so by anyone’s reconning, it’s definitely not autumn yet.

So someone has got their dates wrong.

Which is not uncommon in my world.

Calculating dates and times might sound like something that is very straight forward, but actually it can be a minefield. What’s more, the consequences of getting it wrong can be huge, particularly if you miss a deadline perhaps to cancel a contract and now you’re tied in for another year.

Things to watch out for include

Do you include the day of service. Usually no. So if it arrives in their office on Tuesday, you would usually start counting your days from Wednesday.
Do you include weekends. That depends on whether it’s a contractual obligation or a court ordered obligation. It might also depend on the time frame – if you have to give two days notice, it’s unlikely that the two days would include a weekend.
What about bank holidays. They are usually treated the same as weekends, but I did recently see a contract that specifically excluded Jewish holidays as well as bank holidays, so watch out for special provisions.
How do you make sure it’s served on time. Well there’s nothing as certain as personal service, but if you are doing it yourself (rather than using a process server) take photographs in case they deny receipt. I’d never go for anything that needs to be signed for, as it’s too easy for the recipient to simply refuse to sign and then you’re in trouble.
And don’t forget to make sure you get the address right and that it goes through the letter box of that property. Leaving it on the windscreen of a car nearby is not sufficient – yes I have actually seen that happen.

If you’ve got an issue over timing, and you’ve got the time for a chat, come and join me for a pumpkin latte in Starbucks because apparently it’s nearly Halloween!!!

Kleyman & Co Solicitors. The full service law firm. Good at knowing the difference between the seasons!