Cavity wall insulation claims: One of key areas of focus for SRA
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is to demand assurances from firms conducting volume consumer claims that they are meeting their professional obligations.
Chair Anna Bradley said “we are determined to address issues in this sector by taking action”.
The growing problems with bulk litigation were in part blamed last week for the significant increase in the SRA’s 2025/26 budget.
The regulator now has more than 80 live investigations across 74 firms with potentially 200,000 plus claims between them, most commonly relating to financial products, housing disrepair and cavity wall insulation.
Writing on the SRA website about its recent board meetings, Ms Bradley acknowledged the “vital role” that ‘no win, no fee’ arrangements can play in delivering access to justice.
“But we have become concerned about poor practice in this space and the resulting serious risks to consumers.
“We have recently conducted a thematic review, visiting 25 firms doing high-volume claims work, and while we found examples of good practice, we also found matters of significant concern.”
She said the SRA was progressing its investigations “at pace and will take enforcement action where needed to protect the public”.
Ms Bradley went on: “We will also shortly be writing directly to firms operating in this area to remind them of their obligations and seek assurance that they are meeting them. This will build on warning notices we have already issued to the whole profession outlining our concerns.”
Last December, the SRA published a warning notice to law firms on marketing their services to the public, having earlier in the year put out a warning notice on high-volume financial services claims, together with guidance on the broader issue of claims management activity.
She added that the SRA has been working with organisations such as Citizens Advice and Consumer Voice to help promote the consumer guide to conditional fee agreements it published in December as well.
“We are determined to address issues in this sector by taking action ourselves, but we think there are some wider systemic issues which we can’t resolve alone in relation to the funding of this kind of claims work, including insurance and the regulation of claims management.
“In order to address some of these wider issues we are working with other regulators and government to help deliver a cross-sector response, so we can make sure this area of the market works more effectively in the public interest.”
It also emerged last week that Ms Bradley had attended a roundtable briefing with the Ministry of Justice and other key stakeholders to discuss bulk claims “with a view to identifying potential measures that could be taken to protect consumers against harmful practices in this area”.
The Ministry of Justice declined to elaborate on what was discussed.
