The latest Spotlight article from the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) focuses on early resolution, with practical steps for legal service providers to follow to resolve complaints at first tier.
Clear communication, timely responses and proportionate remedies will all help resolve complaints before they escalate unnecessarily, the LeO says, leading to faster outcomes for customers.
In 2024/25, 28% of complainants who escalated issues to the LeO said they hadn’t received a final response from their service provider. “We know from the Legal Services Consumer Panel’s research that many customers of legal services don’t know how to complain, and that the most common response by those dissatisfied with a service they had received from a legal service provider was to do nothing at all,” the LeO said.
The ombudsman has shared a seven-point checklist for legal service providers to follow after receiving a complaint to promote early resolution:
- Always provide a timely final response.
- Respond to all the issues in the complaint.
- Clearly identify a conclusion.
- Where poor service is identified, set out what the failing was and consider the impact on the customer.
- Use LeO’s remedies guidance when offering a reasonable remedy.
- Take into account the emotional impact of any service failing when calculating a financial remedy.
- Where there is no service failing, clearly explain why the service was reasonable with any supporting evidence.
However, not all complaints are appropriate for early resolution, the LeO said. In one case referred to the ombudsman, there was no clear explanation for a 12-month delay in registering a property purchase. The complaint was investigated by the LeO’s in-depth investigation team, who discovered the service provider had failed to a reply to a Land Registry requisition.
The service provider hadn’t kept the customer informed, and the LeO directed a payment of £350 to be made as a financial remedy. A case fee was also payable.
“Whilst there is no requirement to produce chronologies, they can show that a service provider’s service has been reasonable or highlight gaps which may then lead to a finding of poor service, and enable service providers to make reasonable offers,” the LeO explained.
“We would expect to see service providers provide reasonable updates, even where they are not proactively working on a matter (e.g. when a property is awaiting registration), and a failure to do so is likely to lead to a finding of poor service.
“Identifying periods of delay which the firm has caused, and highlighting any communication failings in a final response, as well as offering a reasonable remedy where one is appropriate, maximises the chances of a complaint being resolved in early resolution.”
The LeO’s website also contains a downloadable PDF which clearly sets out common approaches to early resolution, with a flowchart for firms to follow.
