The only people, by law, who can deal with the legal aspects of conveyancing are solicitors and licensed conveyancers. If you have had poor service from your conveyancing solicitor or licensed conveyancer, and they haven’t dealt with your complaint satisfactorily, you can do the following:
• In the case of a conveyancing solicitor, you can complain to the Legal Complaints Service (LCS). If it agrees with your complaint, the LCS can order your conveyancing solicitor to refund your fees or pay you compensation. If you are not happy with how the LCS handles your complaint, you can then take the complaint to the Legal Services Ombudsman.
• For a licensed conveyancer, you can complain to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers who, like the LCS can order your conveyancing lawyer to refund your conveyancing fees or pay you compensation.
If you suffer a financial loss as a result of negligence (i.e. the conveyancing solicitor or conveyancer didn’t do something they should have done, or did something they shouldn’t have done, and you lost out as a result), you may have a case for compensation. In this situation you need the independent advice of a litigation solicitor to take your case. Neither the LCS or Council for Licensed Conveyancers determine handle negligence claims. The Law Society has a ‘negligence panel’ of solicitors who are prepared to take action against other solicitors. Solicitors and conveyancers must, by law, be covered by negligence insurance, also known as professional indemnity insurance.
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