Complaints: Model procedure under development
The Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) has come out strongly in favour of law firms telling clients how to complain at the end of a matter as well as the beginning.
It also backed the introduction of a compulsory model complaints resolution procedure (MCRP) that law firms would have to adopt.
Responding to a Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) consultation on its complaints rules, panel chair Tom Hayhoe said there was “ample evidence” that the current rules on the complaints information given to clients “is not working and has not been working for many years”.
While the panel’s annual tracker survey found that 87% of consumers were satisfied with their legal services, “this masks a concerning disconnect in first-tier complaints engagement”, he said.
“Only 51% of consumers say they would know how to make a complaint, and nearly a third would not raise issues directly with providers, citing barriers like fear, mistrust, or concern over delays and costs.
“This suggests that high satisfaction does not equate to a well-functioning complaints system. Instead, it may indicate that dissatisfied consumers are silently disengaging, unable or unwilling to challenge poor service —a potential regulatory blind spot.”
There should be “mandatory provision of standardised complaints communication” at onboarding, service conclusion, on request and when a complaint was initiated.
Mr Hayhoe said the timing of when complaints information was shared with clients should be determined with reference to consumer research and behavioural insights. “Evidence-led policy making is critical here, particularly in understanding what triggers consumers to seek redress and how best to support them at those decision points.”
The Law Society has come out against the proposal, saying it could “cause practical difficulties and lead to unwarranted complaints”.
Mr Hayhoe said the effectiveness of the MCRP currently being piloted by the Legal Ombudsman depended on “robust consumer testing” and it was “imperative” that this was done.
“Once finalised, the MCRP should be mandated across the sector to ensure all consumers receive consistent and fair treatment, regardless of the provider they choose.”
In its response, the Law Society said it would be “extremely challenging” to develop a MCRP that was “both sufficiently high level” to accommodate the diversity of law firm complaints and “sufficiently detailed to provide genuinely useful guidance” across all scenarios.
Mr Hayhoe said law firms should be required under the SRA’s transparency rules to provide complaints information that was “clear and accessible and in a prominent place” on their website.
“Given the scale and persistence of the problem with accessibility of complaints information, requiring it to be clearly visible and in a prominent location on providers’ websites is the absolute minimum necessary.”
Interestingly enough the LSCP doesn’t explain on its website how a complaint can be made about it to it.
Have they ever asked the people who say they don’t know how to complain if they have read the client care letter?