CILEx regulation
Learning from complaints
Sue Chandler looks at the Legal Ombudsman’s complaint case study publication.
Sue Chandler is CILEx Regulation’s consumer engagement and policy officer
The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has responsibility for investigating complaints and providing information to legal service providers about trends and issues surfacing from their investigations.
LeO has been accepting complaints since October 2010, and reports that trends in types and levels of complaints remain fairly constant. The level of compensation ordered is usually below £250, suggesting consistent levels of minor complaints which have not been resolvable at firm level.
In March, LeO published case studies typical of the types of work it investigates.1 Suggestions are given about how poor service could have been avoided and how firms could have responded more effectively to complaints. The case studies are informative and well worth reading.2
Costs information
Insufficient costs information is often provided to clients. ‘Often the biggest mistake firms make is not putting the information in writing or recording it properly on their case management system. Whether it’s initial quotes, fee reductions or increased costs, it is important to document the information’ , reports LeO. Guidance to help practitioners provide a good costs service is available in An ombudsman’s view of good costs service.3
Finalising conveyancing transactions
Residential conveyancing continues to attract the most complaints. In the case studies reported, the purchase of the property was fine but there were issues with post-completion work. LeO publishes two valuable conveyancing guides: Losing the plot: residential conveyancing complaints and their causes;4 and On the move: a guide for first time buyers.5
Keeping track of documents
LeO investigated a number of cases where firms had either closed down or merged, and clients were unable to access files in storage. Firms must ensure that documents are stored and managed correctly, and have clear, audited systems to ensure that documents can be retrieved when firms close down or merge.
Problems are often seen with the information provided to clients about first-tier complaints handling. Firms misunderstand both the timing for taking complaints to LeO, and the way in which complaints can be made. LeO’s rules allow for verbal and written complaints. If a complaint has not been resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction within eight weeks of the complaint to the firm, it can be taken to LeO.
An example is given where a firm argued that LeO did not have jurisdiction to investigate because the client had e-mailed his concerns to staff rather than following the firm’s complaint procedure. LeO took the view that the client had clearly made an ‘expression of dissatisfaction’ in the e-mail and, having received the e-mail , the firm should have started its complaints process.6 Given that eight weeks had passed since the firm received the e-mail , LeO was able to investigate.
The report warns that expressions of dissatisfaction should not be ignored. Firms must take reasonable steps to resolve complaints. If no action is taken after an expression of dissatisfaction is received, LeO is unlikely to conclude that reasonable steps have been taken. This may lead to an automatic case fee being imposed.
Tone and format of complaint responses
‘We often see complaint responses that use inappropriate language and which can, in a few cases, be offensive’ , reports LeO. The aim of the complaints procedure is to try and settle issues. The approach to responding and the language used should help with this. There will be times when a firm is clear that the complaint has no merit but the response should be measured, with clearly set out reasons.
Putting yourself in the client’s shoes can be helpful in deciding how to reply appropriately. Would the type of response you intend to make encourage you to try and resolve the issues? Complaints can sometimes feel like a personal attack, so it can be useful to consider who is best placed in the firm to respond.
Think about complaints objectively and consider the impact
Guidance is offered about the approach firms should take to compensation where a problem has arisen. LeO explains that they always seek to identify what the impact of any poor service has been, and apply a remedy to try to compensate for this impact. Finalise your complaints process and provide correct signposting information Plenty of complaints are seen where the client has not been informed that the firm’s complaints process has finished, or that the client can take their complaint to LeO. Failure to provide this required information is taken into account by LeO, especially when it considers whether to waive a case fee.
Advice about providing a complaints process can be found in the following LeO publications:
- Listen, inform, respond: a guide to good complaints handling;7
- Signposting consumers to the complaints process;8 and
- First-tier complaints handling. Requirements under s112(2) of the Legal Services Act 2007: Guidance on first-tier complaint handling.9
LeO publishes complaints data on its website and summarises complaint trends. Complaint levels are reported as consistent over the past five years. The data for complaints by area of law for 2014/2015 is recorded in Chart 1 below. Residential conveyancing received the highest number of complaints, representing a rise from 17.5% in 2011/12 to 23% in 2014/15. A reduction has been seen in family law complaints - from 18% to 14% - in the same period.
Chart 2 below shows that the five most common complaints are communication issues, delays and costs. LeO reports that these have remained fairly constant over the past five years.
CILEx Regulation also collects data about complaints through our First-tier complaints handling survey. This collects information about complaints made to firms rather than to LeO. In 2015 the largest proportion of complaints were about dissatisfaction with the outcome of the advice given and delay, followed by failure to advise and costs being too high. Further information about the findings can be found in the report on the CILEx Regulation website.10
In the future, LeO intends to focus on different complaint areas and issues, so if there is an area you would like it to focus on, why not contact the Legal Ombudsman and let them know.11
1 Learning from complaints: case study publication, available here.
2 See note 1
3 A guide for lawyers: an ombudsman’s view of good costs service, available here.
4 Losing the plot: residential conveyancing complaints and their causes, available here.
5 On the move: a guide for first time buyers, available here.
6 See Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules 28 January 2015, rule 1.6, ‘Complaint means an oral or written expression of dissatisfaction …’, available here
7 Listen, inform, respond: a guide to good complaints handling, available here.
8 Signposting consumers to the complaints process, available here.
9 First-tier complaints handling: Requirements under s 112(2) of the Legal Services Act 2007. Guidance on first-tier complaint handling May 2010 Decision document, available here.
10 First-tier complaints handling survey 2015, CILEx Regulation, available here.
11 The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted here