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Judge Rinder — The Sun's legal expert

I adopted a cat from a pet charity and now the original owner says they don't want to give her up

Q — RECENTLY, I adopted a cat from a well-known rescue centre. She came complete with a microchip. Two weeks later, I received a letter from a microchip company saying the owner did not want to relinquish ownership of the cat.

I went back to the charity who said that it had found the chip and tried for seven days to contact the owner but with no luck. I adopted her six weeks later.

The centre then sent the chip number to get me registered as the new owner. This prompted the first response from the original owner.

This was about three weeks ago and, so far, the original owner has not contacted the charity about getting her back. Where in law do both I and the original owner stand? Janet, Luton

A — This is a bit of a legal mess I’m afraid. It seems to me that seven days is a reasonable amount of time for the original owners to have responded to the charity. Even if they were away or had changed their details, these people failed to contact the charity to reclaim the cat for (by now), over two months.

There is no clearly prescribed law setting out when an animal charity is entitled to adopt a lost pet but, in this situation, it seems to me that you are, in all likelihood, legally entitled to treat the cat as yours.

I would write to the charity asking it to forward your email on to the original owners making clear that you believe that the cat is legally yours and that, in the event the original owners wish to claim her, you invite them to make representations as to why they believe that you have obtained the cat unlawfully. I suspect this will solve the issue.

Q — LAST year my neighbour told me he had plans to put up a new fence. I said I did not want the fence to be any higher than it already was as it would block out the sun on half of my garden and we would no longer be able to grow vegetables.

But the finished fence is very high – more than 6ft. It makes our garden very dark. We cannot sit out there in the summer and it’s quite impossible to grow anything.

Is there anything we can do? James, Kent

A — The law is not especially helpful to you in this case because it appears that the height of the fence your neighbour has built is within the planning rules. Although your neighbour must not cause a nuisance to your property (such as leaving your home in the dark) I doubt this applies to your veg patch.

Given that this is a shared fence I would – despite the agreement – offer to contribute something to having the height reduced.

Despite your verbal agreement you don’t have an enforceable contract in law, so I would strongly urge you to do all you can to resolve this with your neighbour with as little conflict as possible.

If you can’t sort it out then your best bet is legal mediation.

• Judge Rinder regrets he cannot answer questions personally. Answers intended as general guidance. They do not constitute legal advice and are not a substitute for obtaining independent legal advice.

Mel Hunter — Reader's Champion fighting for your rights

I'm steaming mad over iron

Q — I BOUGHT a steam iron station from Lidl with an anti-calc cartridge to protect it from limescale.

The cartridge needs to be replaced when full and I have tried many times to buy this item at Lidl but it is never in stock.

The iron cost £59.99 and cannot be properly used until I get the replacement part.

I was told it should be in stock sometime in 2019, which isn’t satisfactory, but I can’t get any further answers. Catherine Docherty, Lanarks

A — I was sure your case would be straightforward to iron out. You had a receipt and had asked for the replacement. Neither Lidl nor the German company it directed you to for warranty issues produced this.

In my dealings with Lidl over several weeks, no indication was given that it would be able to supply the missing part in the near future. As such, your year-old iron was unfit for purpose. Lidl therefore owed you a refund and I told them so.

Finally, Lidl agreed, paying you back the £60 for the iron plus a coupon to use in store.

Q — NEARLY a year ago, I used a PPI firm to get Capital One to agree to a payment due to my late husband. Unfortunately the cheque I got was in his name, so I can’t cash it.

I sent the company his death certificate and our marriage certificate, as requested, but still nothing has been done. Margaret Carmichael, Dumfries & Galloway

A — With neither the PPI firm that you were paying a huge commission to, nor Capital One helping you with this, you called on me.

I asked Capital One to look into your case again and it sprang into action, sending a cheque made out to you for nearly £600. You were delighted.

Q — LAST July I made two separate bookings with Ryanair to travel from Birmingham to Dublin – one for my own family and the other for friends.

Before our trip, Ryanair changed its baggage policy. Initially it said we’d all have to pay extra for our bags, later agreeing by email that, as we had booked prior to the changes, there would be no ­additional charge.

Our friends travelled the day after my family, on the first day of the new baggage charges, and had to pay £80.

On our return trip all of our bags were checked in and no one had to pay any more.

A Ryanair representative confirmed that our friends were entitled to get the £80 refunded. She said it would be very simple to resolve. But following complaints, web chats, emails and expensive phone calls, this is proving to be anything but simple. We’ve had no response and no refund. Geraldine McLeish, Birmingham

A — From November 1, 2018, Ryanair brought in a new baggage policy – all passengers had to pay to take anything but a small handbag on board.

The budget airline agreed to allow you and those you booked for to take a 10kg bag each, free of charge. This backfired for your friends, but a refund seemed impossible.

The day before I contacted the airline, Ryanair washed its hands of your complaint. But three days later – with me on its case – it changed its stance.

• Do you have a consumer issue? Email: readers.champion@mcb777.site

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