Consumers are left vulnerable by unregulated companies
02 | 08 | 11
The first Legal Ombudsman report
published in July reveals thousands of people may be receiving
sub-standard services from unregulated companies offering consumer
financial products.
Chief Ombudsman for England and
Wales Adam Sampson has called on the Government to take action to
ensure consumers are not left vulnerable by unregulated services,
after revealing most of the complaints he saw concerned
conveyancing, family law and the writing of wills.
Sampson said: "One service which
crops up a lot is will writing. It is a service carried out often
by will writing firms who aren't regulated. Because of this,
customers are left with little means of redress when things go
wrong.”
This week The One Show also called
for Will writing to be regulated to protect the public. A recent
survey showed that 67% of consumers wrongly believe that all Will
writers are solicitors and 82% of the 1,000 people polled thoughts
that training and qualifications are required before someone can
become a Will writer. In fact anyone can write a Will for
payment.
Alun Jones, Hugh James managing
partner and head of asset management, said “The report highlights
the importance of getting regulated, professional legal advice for
services like preparing a will.”
“We give advice to thousands of
individuals each year on making their will to ensure their wishes
are carried out and issues such as care of family members and
distribution of estate can be handled quickly and efficiently, “
said Alun.
“Though the ombudsman is now in
place to give legal clients help if they feel the service they
received was not acceptable, they can only act on complaints from
those using the services of qualified lawyers.”
Des Hudson, chief executive of the
Law Society for England and Wales, said the gap in regulation was
damaging to solicitors, who faced competition from unregulated
firms.
"It is also damaging to consumers
because the unregulated providers are not insured, do not provide a
compensation fund and are not covered by the legal ombudsman's
scheme for consumer redress," he added.
The full Legal Ombudsman report can
be read on the Legal Ombudsman website.
Hugh James, a top 100 UK law firm,
offers a range of will writing services direct to individuals,
along with a full range of private client services. Its Asset
Management team is described in the Legal 500 as
“superb”.
Find out how Hugh James can assist
you with a will by visiting our write a
will section of the website.