Ensuring effective redress for consumers

One of the strongest drivers for the reform programme for legal services was a perception of failings in complaints-handling. The system for making a complaint was complex and difficult for consumers to navigate, as well as slow to reach resolution. This had the effect of damaging the ability of clients to obtain redress when the service had fallen short, whilst also damaging public confidence in lawyers.

Recent research published by the LSB gives a sense of the challenge in this area. It gives an indication of the number of complaints that are never brought forward, drop-out rates at stages of the system, as well as levels of satisfaction amongst consumers. The research also suggests that consumers are not being provided with sufficient information on how to go about making a complaint and when they do get the information, many do not find the procedures easy to understand. This new evidence helps us assess current consumer protections and how they are improving as the reforms embed.

Complaints which are abandoned also deny us the chance to learn from what they have to tell us about the service and the market. For providers, patterns in complaints can inform steps to improve the product. For regulators, they can help us identify and act to address systemic failings in the market.

For these reasons, we are working to ensure there is an improved customer experience of legal services - providing swift and effective redress if things go wrong.

The reforms

The reforms have focused on the stages of making a complaint:

Action at the ‘first-tier’ (in-house) stage

If a consumer has a complaint about their lawyer’s service, they should always complain to that lawyer first. This relies on consumers being informed of their right to complain when agreeing the terms of the service, as well as being told how to go about making the complaint. To this end, the rules we have made on sign-posting set out standards we expect approved regulators to ensure across providers.

We have also developed a set of outcomes that consumers should reasonably be able to expect from complaints handling from their legal service provider, such as that complaints should be dealt with swiftly with the offer of appropriate redress where necessary.

At the same time, approved regulators need to collect and analyse data to ensure that their own complaints frameworks are adequate and capable of identifying emerging regulatory risks.

Legal Ombudsman

If consumers are not satisfied with the outcome of the complaint at the first-tier they have the right to refer the matter to the Legal Ombudsman, which opened for business in October 2010. The body was created under the Legal Services Act 2007 to make sure users of legal services can go to an independent and impartial Ombudsman to resolve disputes involving their lawyer. Simplifying the system, it operates as a single body for all consumer complaints. The LSB is responsible for monitoring the robustness of the Office for Legal Complaints’ oversight of the Legal Ombudsman scheme and we are able to set performance targets. We focus on timeliness of handling, cost efficiency, quality and consumer satisfaction.

Relevant contact

For more information please contact Regulatory Project Manager , who can be reached on 020 7271 0055.