New fees for Ombudsman

The Legal Ombudsman has announced a change to their fees structure which will see an end to free cases for firms.

Whilst previously firms were allowed two free cases per year they will now be charged £400 for the first case.

The new approach will allow the Legal Ombudsman to raise an extra £1.6m through case fees.

Case fee income is set to increase from £212,000 in 2012/13 to £1.8m in 2013/14.

The ombudsman service will take on complaints relating to claims management companies for the first time.

The start-up costs of claims management complaint handling, estimated to be around £3m, will be ringfenced and recovered from the Ministry of Justice rather than the legal profession.

Want to have your say? Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Read more stories

Join nearly 5,000 other practitioners – sign up to our free newsletter

You’ll receive the latest updates, analysis, and best practice straight to your inbox.

Features