Mr C instructed the service provider in respect of a personal injury. The other side accepted liability and, as a result, Mr C thought his claim would be progressed reasonably promptly. Mr C’s claim was settled over three years later.
Mr C complained to the service provider about poor communication, delays and poor complaint handling.
Although there were some communications between Mr C and the service provider, he had not received a final response from the service provider until five months later.
As more than eight weeks had passed since the date of his complaint, Mr C had already escalated the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman.
Whilst the service provider did respond to Mr C’s complaint, this was not until after the complaint had been accepted by the Legal Ombudsman, which meant it had already been added to the queue for investigation.
The service provider did not provide a copy of their response until the matter was allocated to an investigator. The service provider’s response accepted poor service and offered a £250 remedy of compensation for the emotional effects.
As no final response was provided by the service provider until the case was allocated for investigation, this case was not suitable for Early Resolution.
The Legal Ombudsman undertook an in-depth investigation and upheld the majority of Mr C’s complaints. The case decision endorsed the firm’s offer of £250. However, Mr C did not accept the case decision, for a range of reasons, including his extreme frustration at the firm’s poor complaints handling.
The matter therefore passed to an Ombudsman for a final decision. That decision endorsed the case decision and directed a final remedy of £250 of compensation for the emotional effects.
As the service provider’s complaints handling was unreasonable, and the case progressed to in-depth investigation, a case fee of £400 was payable.
This complaint could potentially have been avoided, had the firm provided clear information about the likely time it would take to complete the claim and agreed a timescale and frequency for the updates they would provide.
If the final response had been issued promptly, this complaint could have been resolved by the service provider, without needing escalation to the Legal Ombudsman.
Even with escalation, had the complaint handling been reasonable, this complaint could have been resolved by the Early Resolution Team, as the remedy offered by the firm was reasonable.
The service provider has incurred an additional £400 charge due to their poor complaint handling. This could have been avoided, had the final response been provided in a timely manner.
