Conveyancing is one of the most common legal services people use in their lifetime, with more than one million homes bought and sold every year in the UK. However, there are some concerns about the conduct of some solicitors and the quality of service they are providing, with high proportions of insurance claims and complaints to the Legal Ombudsman relating to conveyancing. There are also increasing risks for users of conveyancing services, as technology enables cybercrime and mortgage fraud.
The UK Government has acknowledged these problems and has committed to reforming the conveyancing process, to make it cheaper, faster and less stressful. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also has concerns that poor transparency about price, service and quality is having a negative impact on consumer choice and competition.
Summary
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) commissioned independent research involving 1,501 people who had bought or sold a property during the previous two years. The research explored people’s experiences at each stage of the process, from how they found and chose their solicitor and their satisfaction with the service, to how they thought technology could improve services in the future.
The research found that 76 percent of legal service users were satisfied with the service they received from their conveyancing solicitor. However, it has also identified several areas where improvements could be made.
One key area for improvement the research highlighted was the need to provide people with better information throughout the conveyancing legal process, from the point when they are shopping around all the way through to when the transaction is completed. This information is particularly important for first time buyers and sellers, and for transactions that need specific detailed advice, such as leasehold purchases.
Key findings
Finding and choosing their solicitor
The SRA found there is an appetite for shopping around, including using comparison websites, particularly among first-time buyers and sellers. But there is a lack of information on price and description of services on firm websites, as well as limited information on regulation and consumer protections.
This is currently obstructing people’s ability to fully research and compare providers, so informed decision making difficult.
- 55% of people rely on recommendations to choose their solicitor, the most common being from estate agents (27%) and friends, family or colleagues (25%).
- 40% of all people surveyed were aware of comparison websites for legal services providers. Of these, approximately 1 in 3 used one to compare conveyancing providers.
- First-time buyers and sellers were more likely to have found their solicitor through recommendation (64% compared to 51% with previous experience).
- Cost (87%) and being a conveyancing specialist (81%) were the most important factors that influenced which solicitor people chose.
Previous SRA research into price transparency found that the vast majority of firms do not advertise price information, and only 15 percent of people were able to obtain prices without having to contact a solicitor directly.
Information and communication
- One in five people did not think their solicitor provided a clear explanation of the legal process, a figure that rises to two out of five among first time buyers and sellers.
- One out of three of people did not remember receiving information on how to complain.
- One out of five of people who had bought a leasehold property did not remember being provided with any information on the length of lease, service charges and other payments, such as ground rent.
Quality of service
- Over three quarters of people were ‘very satisfied’ (46%) or ‘quite satisfied’ (30%) with their solicitor’s service. This compared with 14% who were dissatisfied.
- People were satisfied with the service because of speed and efficiency (25%) and because their solicitor was easy to contact and kept them updated (14%).
- People were dissatisfied because their solicitor was slow and inefficient (37%), communicated poorly and did not keep them updated (22%) or made mistakes (17%). Mistakes typically related to drafting of contracts or errors in the property’s title.
Complaints and redress
- 9% of all survey respondents made a complaint to the firm about their service. This equates to just over one-quarter (26%) of respondents who said they were dissatisfied. This low rate may be linked to the fact that less than a third of people recalled being given information on how to complain in the first place.
- First time buyers and sellers were more likely to complain (20% compared to 5% with previous experience).
- Mistakes made by the solicitor in legal documents or invoices and poor customer service, particularly communication, were the main reasons for complaints.
- Three quarters of people received a positive outcome to their complaint from their solicitor, including committing to progress the work (27%), an explanation to allay concerns (24%) and an apology (23%).
- 14% of those who made a complaint reported that they did not receive a response. This issue was also identified in our previous research into solicitors’ first tier complaints processes, where 20% of complainants reported not receiving a response.
- People demonstrated poor understanding of regulation in the legal services market. Some said they were unaware if their solicitor was regulated when they chose them.
Opportunities and risk of digitisation
- People recognised the benefits of digitisation and automation for conveyancing transactions and were open to the prospect of more technology being introduced, suggesting it could ‘de-mystify’ the process for first timers.
- However, they also identified several risks associated with this continued move towards digitisation, including cybercrime and fraud. Information security and protecting client money are two of the SRA’s priority risks for 2017/18.