The Legal Ombudsman Scheme
The Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales was set up in October 2010 to resolve clients’ complaints about their solicitors. It replaces the Legal Complaints Service and is designed for consumers.
Time Limits
The complaint should be brought to the Ombudsman within the following time limits:-
- no later than 12 months from when the problem occurred, or when you should reasonably have become aware of the problem; AND
- within 6 months of receiving a final response from your solicitor after complaining to them.
Both of these time limit rules should normally be satisfied.
Who can complain
The scheme is designed for consumers, including all individuals as well as small businesses and charities.
The Ombudsman will only deal with complaints by clients of the solicitor which have not been satisfactorily resolved by the firm itself. You must first give the solicitor a chance to resolve the issue by writing to the firm, addressing your letter to “The Complaints Partner”. The Ombudsman will not look at your complaint unless you have received a response that you are not happy with, or the solicitor has not replied within a reasonable time.
The Ombudsman will only examine complaints about poor service and cannot deal with negligence claims. If you have a complaint about a mistake that has caused you significant financial loss then you should contact a firm of professional negligence solicitors such as us.
If you are ready to make a complaint to the Ombudsman then you should fill out the complaint form:-
www.legalombudsman.org.uk/downloads/documents/web_complaint_form_v1_110325.doc
You can contact the Legal Ombudsman by:-
• Calling 0300 555 0333
• Emailing enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
• Writing to PO Box 15870, Tamworth, B77 9LE.
Our summary of the Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules can be found here