Regulatory Bodies
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Regulating the Personal Injury Claims Industry
The following are the voluntary and government appointed regulatory bodies for claims managements services and solicitor’s firms across the UK. Whichever legal firm you choose to use to help with your compensation claim you should ask who they are regulated by and then check with each regulatory body’s published standards of conduct to find out what level of service you should expect from that firm or individual.
The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales. Their activities include lobbying the profession’s regulators, government and others as well as offering training and advice for those in the legal profession. They also represent solicitors in international organisations that bring together lawyers and their organisations from around the world. They seek to influence the development of law and procedure, campaigning on key issues and comment on proposals for change. The Society plays an active part in the current reform of legal services with The Solicitors Regulation Authority handling the regulatory work and The Legal Complaints Service handling complaints. – http://www.lawsociety.org.uk
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Established in January 2007, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (previously called the Law Society Regulation Board) regulates more than 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales. Their purpose is to protect the public by ensuring that solicitors meet the highest standards whether they are just single-solicitor practices or huge firms with a global presence and thousands of lawyers. All solicitors should follow the same professional principles and code of conduct and the SRA provide advice to help them do so. They set and maintain standards for solicitors with the aim of giving the public full confidence in the profession with schemes such as a compensation fund to help people who have lost money as a result of a solicitor’s dishonesty or failure to account for money they have received. In all of their work, they consult with the public, consumer groups, solicitors and other legal professionals as well as government agencies. – http://www.sra.org.uk
Previously known as the Consumer Complaints Service (CCS) and (before that) as the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS), The Legal Complaints Service (LCS) investigates complaints about solicitors handling over 300 calls a day on a range of legal complaints. Their dedicated staff of 390 aim to help you to resolve your complaint. Their service is independent, impartial and free as sometimes things go wrong when dealing with your solicitor and although they may encourage you to first try to resolve your complaint directly with your solicitor they will investigate complaints fairly primarily to help you and your solicitor agree on a way to resolve your complaint. But, if they find that you have received poor service, they can pressure your solicitor to pay you compensation. – http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk
The Law Society of Scotland is the governing body for Scottish solicitors. It was established by the Legal Aid & Solicitors (Scotland) Act in 1949 with it’s aims set out in the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980. They promote the interests of the solicitors’ profession in Scotland and the interests of the public in relation to the profession. All practising solicitors in Scotland must be members of the Society and must hold a current Practising Certificate issued by them. They provide various services with their Professional Practice Department providing members of the Society with professional practice advice and guidance with over 1,500 telephone calls each month regarding conveyancing, judicial procedure and so on. – https://www.lawscot.org.uk
The Ministry of Justice monitors and enforces the claims management regulation set up to protect consumers and works to improve the standards of those companies providing services relating to claims for compensation. Service providers must be authorised by the MOJ unless they have received exemption. Anyone operating without authority can be prosecuted. The Compensation Act 2006 provides the statutory framework for doing this. They are responsible for the regulation of claims management services including authorising those providing such services and monitoring them to ensure compliance with the relevant rules and legislation. They also provide information and guidance to claims management providers, consumers and legal practitioners. – https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
The Claims Management Regulator website offers more in depth information on the regulations with dedicated staff to answer your questions. The Claims Management Regulation, Monitoring and Compliance Unit is a department within the Ministry of Justice in relation to the Compensation Act with respect to personal injuries, criminal injuries, industrial injuries (including disablement benefit), employment compensation and other financial services. – https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/claims-management-regulator
