Tesco has launched an online, DIY legal service under the tagline 'Lawyers can be expensive - why not see if you can handle the problem yourself?'
The Legal Store is a collection DIY kits, CD-ROMs, online forms and books, covering areas such as making a will, getting divorced, letting property, rights at work and starting a business.
Tesco.com Chief Executive Laura Wade-Gery said that the store has been introduced to demystify the law.
'Many customers tell us that they find law daunting or difficult - perhaps one of the reasons why more than half of the UK population die without making a will. That can be a problem. For example, if you are an unmarried couple you won't necessarily inherit your partner's estate. By making products simple and easily available on the web, our legal store will help many people get the legal protection they need,' she said.
The Law Society welcomed the service, describing it as an 'innovative addition to the legal services market'.
Chief executive Janet Paraskeva said, 'Tesco.com's legal store will help to demystify the law for many people and encourage them to seek legal advice and help. It is better that they go to a reputable source of legal information than cowboy providers who style themselves as legal advisers but are unqualified and unregulated. For example, more than half of adults in England and Wales don't have a will. We hope the service will encourage them to use a solicitor to have one made.'
Nonetheless she warned against relying exclusively on Tesco: 'for all but the most simple transactions people should use a solicitor to receive expert and experienced advice and the surety that they will have redress from the Law Society if anything goes wrong. We are glad that the legal store points people to our Find a Solicitor service on the Law Society's website.'
Tesco's Legal Store can be found at
www.tescolegalstore.com.
Topic: Tesco launches online DIY legal service (Read 864 times)