The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is seeking views on new proposals for dealing with client complaints, which include changing when relevant information about the process must be provided and displaying the details prominently online.
Although the SRA acknowledges that satisfaction with legal service providers is high, with 82% of all first-tier complaints resolved satisfactorily, it says further improvements to the process are needed and will benefit both firms and clients.
Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, explained:
“When things do go wrong, the way solicitor firms deal with complaints is a key indicator of service quality for consumers and of whether they can have trust and confidence in their provider.
“Solicitors shouldn’t be afraid of encouraging complaints – they are an opportunity to identify areas for improvement and ways to deliver more effectively for clients. Our research suggests that there’s no negative connotations around firms being so open about their complaints process.”
Feedback gathered by the SRA from compliance monitoring and stakeholders has found that some firms fail to publish complaints information correctly, or omit or give incorrect information when signposting complaints to the Legal Ombudsman (LeO). For those complainants who did progress to the LeO, almost half (46%) said they’d had a poor experience before escalating their cases, citing complex processes and defensive attitudes.
To address these issues, the SRA is proposing two key changes for solicitors and firms: providing complaints information to clients at the end of each case, as well as any time it is requested or as soon as a grievance is brought up; a requirement to publish clear, accessible and prominent complaints information on the firm’s website (or on request in the absence of a website).
A recent SRA survey of solicitors and firms found that 96% are already meeting the current requirement regarding sharing information about how to complain at the time of engagement. However, the SRA said it believes ‘there are more opportunities in the client journey when consumers should be provided with information on how to complain’.
Philip added:
“The rule changes we’ve suggested should help firms to help their clients by having clearer triggers for when complaints information is provided and having a clearer definition of what a complaint is. The changes would also provide us with a better idea of how the profession can improve customer service overall.”
While almost all firms meet the requirement to share information at the time of engagement, almost a third don’t publish the complaints procedure on their website – even though this is already a regulatory requirement.
‘This has also been found when we have monitored compliance with our Transparency Rules – where firms are either not always publishing their complaints procedures or not including all the required information in there’, the SRA said. ‘When they do publish them, they are also not always easy to find on their website’.
Under the new proposals, the information about complaints would mirror the guidance on transparency in price and service: it must be prominent, in as clear and understandable as possible, published on the website in a place that is easy to locate, and clearly signposted. For firms without a website, the same information must be readily available on request in another format.
The SRA is also proposing to include the Legal Services Board’s (LSB) definition of a complaint in its glossary of defined terms, and developing new guidance on standards and regulations. The guidance would include examples of how to ensure information is prominent.
Views are also being sought on the collection and publication of additional complaints data and the co-development of a model complaints resolution procedure.
The consultation is open until the 25th July and is aimed at both solicitors and consumers.
