Losing details

[hog-man80]

My son is in the process of buying a house, and was recommended a solicitor, who is based away some where.

 

 

My son has had to send some sensitive information to the solicitor, by post.

 

 

He has sent two lots of info by recorded delivery,

and on both occasions, the solicitor says he didn't receive them,

although they were signed for.

 

 

The solicitor seems incompetent, and is prolonging the purchase of the house,

and causing consternation for my son,

as he worries that the sale may fall through.

 

 

Is there any complaints system to go to, or does my son have to endure this lack of professionalism ?

 

Paul.

[fkofilee]

Hi Hog-man

 

One for you to look at ...

 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-rights/legal-system/taking-legal-action/complaints-about-legal-advisers/

 

Double check they are registsred as a LLP / Legal Professional as well.

 

FYI, have asked other site team members to look in.

[Ganymede]

My son is in the process of buying a house, and was recommended a solicitor, who is based away some where. My son has had to send some sensitive information to the solicitor, by post. He has sent two lots of info by recorded delivery, and on both occasions, the solicitor says he didn't receive them, although they were signed for. The solicitor seems incompetent, and is prolonging the purchase of the house, and causing consternation for my son, as he worries that the sale may fall through. Is there any complaints system to go to, or does my son have to endure this lack of professionalism ?

 

Paul.

 

He should make a complaint using the firm's internal complaints procedure.

[stu007]

I have to agree you need to make a formal complaint to the solicitors involved in writing and to exhaust there complaints procedure.

 

When you have exhausted this procedure and if it is still not resolved you can then go to the Legal Ombudsman: http://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

 

This is the Solicitors Regulation Authority link which also may be of use: http://www.sra.org.uk/home/home.page

[fkofilee]

Your First Port Of Call (Your Solicitor)

 

1. You can complain directly to the solicitor or the conveyancer

 

Any solicitor or conveyancer must have a complaints procedure to be followed in the event of misconduct.

 

Details of how to initiate the complaints procedure can be found on their website or by speaking to the office administrator.

 

You can also contact the legal Ombudsmanicon who will ensure that your complaint is dealt with in a proper manner and will also give you advice on how to lodge your complaint.

 

If you are still not satisfied with how the solicitor or conveyancer deals with you matter, you can complain to the legal ombudsman as explained above, or to the council of licensed conveyancers. The other alternatives are going to the alternative dispute resolution or going to court.

 

 

 

Bring Legal Action

 

Failing that you can always try to bring legal action against your conveyancer with the help of a "Solicitor's Negligence" specialist.

 

2. You can complain to the Council of Licensed Conveyancers (CLC)

 

If you are dealing with a licensed conveyancer you can lodge your complaint with CLC, if the complaint to the conveyancer did not yield any dividends regarding your case.

 

The CLC deals with issues of professional misconduct of the conveyancer. If it is a matter of negligence, the CLC will refer the matter to the conveyancer?s insurers before they can deal with the matter. The CLC can make the licensed conveyancer pay you compensation of up to £5000, repay you the fees you paid or put an error made right.

 

The CLC can also withdraw the conveyancer's licence or suspend them.

 

 

 

Their Regulatory Body

 

3. You can complain to the Solicitors' Regulation Authority (SRA)

 

If one was dealing with a solicitor, one can complain to the SRA- only in instances where your matter has not been resolved by the solicitor or the legal ombudsman.

 

The SRA investigates and deals with matters of professional misconduct like lying to clients, taking unfair advantage of clients, holding onto clients money, breaking an undertaking given to you, discrimination on grounds of race, religion, age or disability by the solicitor, amongst others. The SRA has powers to prosecute a solicitor, and can take steps against a specific solicitor or the whole firm and the solicitor can be struck off from the roll of solicitors. The SRA does not however make the solicitor pay you compensation. For compensation you can try another method of complaint and a different avenue altogether.

 

In conclusion, you have a right to complain and you can enforce this right against your solicitor or conveyancer.

[hog-man80]

Many thanks for all the advice, my son has just sent off more documents to replace those that didn't arrive, but which were signed for, so we'll see what happens. The house purchase is the important thing at the moment, being stressful at the best of times.

Regards Paul.

[fkofilee]

Of course it is

 

Please keep us updated.

[hog-man80]

Many thanks again for all the advice. The house purchase has gone through. Interestingly, the firm of solicitors changed the person who was dealing with my son's case, and very soon it was sorted.

Paul.