As much as we all hope that buying or selling our home will be a smooth process unfortunately, at times, problems can arise.
In December last year the Legal Ombudsman (LeO), a free and impartial service which investigates service complaints against lawyers in England and Wales, was told by the Office of Legal Complaints (OLC) that it must focus on addressing the backlog of cases and reducing average customer waiting times going forward.
While CLC-regulated firms generate just 4% of complaints handled by LeO, these delays are unacceptable, and we have previously called for action – such as outsourcing work – to help clear the backlog.
While the ombudsman insists it is making progress on clearing the backlog of customer complaints it is more important than ever that consumers take all steps possible to avoid any issues arising.
Cause for complaint? Here’s the first step
It’s important to note that the vast majority of transactions proceed smoothly with no issues. However, if you do encounter a problem, it’s likely it will be related to communication, advice, behaviour or costs.
In the first instance, we would advise that you raise the matter with the conveyancer who has been handling your transaction. It’s best to address any issues as early as possible to prevent the situation escalating. For clarity, and to put on record how and when you raised concerns, it’s best to do this in writing either via email or post and to be very clear that you are making a complaint.
If you haven’t heard from your conveyancer in a time frame you consider reasonable, or if you have and aren’t satisfied, the next step is to write to the practice. Every firm should have its own procedure for dealing with complaints and in larger organisations may have a dedicated point of contact for this. It should be part of the information you receive from the firm when you first instruct them and it should also be available on the firm’s website.
When writing, you should request confirmation that your complaint has been received and how long you should expect to wait before receiving a response. This may vary, but the industry standard is a week in which to receive an acknowledgement and 28 days for a response / resolution.
What happens next?
Hopefully, your complaint will be dealt with satisfactorily by the firm. However, if you feel that the response hasn’t addressed your concerns you can escalate your complaint. For service complaints (about delay, lack of information, poor service in general) this should be to the Legal Ombudsman. For more serious matters about the conduct of an individual conveyancer or firm, you should contact the relevant regulator, the CLC or the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA).
You must have made a complaint to the conveyancer or practice in question and received a response before you are able to escalate matters to LeO.
You must make sure you have all the relevant details such as names, dates and details of your correspondence that clarifies your instructions, details of the complaint being made and any losses you may have incurred as a result.
Regulators such as the SRA or the CLC deal with complaints about the honesty or ethics of your lawyer, which may breach our Code of Conduct. These could include losing your money, acting dishonestly in giving you advice,
continuing to act for you despite a conflict of interests, or discriminating against you because of age, disability, gender, sexuality or any other protected characteristic.
We will always acknowledge initial receipt of your concern and aim to respond formally within 28 days. The CLC monitors its regulated conveyancers to ensure that issues like the above are kept to a minimum, but if you do have to complain then we want to make it as fair and straightforward as possible.
Stephen Ward is director of strategy and external relations at the Council for Licensed Conveyancers
