Although unsurprising as it is the most frequently used legal service, the greatest level of complaints received by the Legal Ombudsman relate to residential conveyancing.
In line with the growing number of market transactions, the volume of complaints increased in both 2013/14 and 2014/15. Despite the continued transaction growth in 2015/16, the level of complaints fell by about 300.
The Ombudsman also compile data based on why consumers complain about their service provider. Often, multiple issues will be the source of a consumer complaint and instead of measuring specific complaints, they are instead recorded into general types. These include costs, delay or a failure to progress, failure to advise, not following instructions and a failure to communicate.
The most common area of complaint since 2012/13 has always been a failure to advise, accounting for almost a quarter of complaints each year.
Delay or failure to progress related complaints have gradually increased on an annual basis, growing from 13% in 2012/13 to 20% last year.
The Legal Ombudsman received 6,399 complaints last year, 22% of these were in relation to residential conveyancing.
