LEGAL OMBUDSMAN WARNS OF CONFUSION OVER LEGAL SERVICES

November 2011

A recent report by the Legal Ombudsman highlights the need for greater regulation in some areas of legal services. The Legal Ombudsman is independent of government and the legal professions, but investigates poor service only by regulated lawyers such as Barristers, Solicitors, Legal Executives, Licensed Conveyancers, and Notaries.

The report says: ‘One service which crops up a lot is will-writing.  It’s a service carried out often by will-writing firms which aren’t regulated.  Because of this customers are left with little redress when things go wrong.  We’ve seen similar confusion about claims management companies, with lots of consumers believing they’re getting a legal service even though most of the work is carried out by a non-authorised person.  Again, we can’t help.’

Examples of poor service are given.  One case was Mr & Mrs G, who had asked a will-writing company to prepare their Wills and even paid over £1,500 in advance.  No small sum.  There were delays in the preparation of documents and when they did finally arrive, they were wrong.  A complaint was made to the Legal Ombudsman, but because the will-writing company were not regulated lawyers, there was nothing he could do and no prospect of Mr & Mrs G getting their money back.

There are other cases where the final charges have been much more than the original estimate, or money stolen, or documents lost - in one case 300 wills were found dumped on the pavement.

There are currently no restrictions on who can prepare a will.  Anyone can set up a will-writing business and they do not have to have any legal experience.  Some will-writers are members of trade groups with a complaints procedure, but not covered by the official Legal Ombudsman scheme.  Some 180,000 wills are prepared by unregulated will-writers each year.

Getting appropriate professional advice is extremely important.  Mistakes in wills are very often discovered only after the person has died – too late for correcting. 

So how do you ensure that you have adequate protection and the right to complain to the Legal Ombudsman?  The answer is simple – make sure that you consult a qualified lawyer covered by the scheme, such as a Solicitor or a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives.  All Solicitors are legally qualified, maintain adequate professional indemnity insurance, and are members of a compensation fund.  These requirements are there to protect the public.  If mistakes are made, you have peace of mind that you and your relatives are covered. 

For more information contact Jayne Smith at Rothera Dowson on 0800 124 4012