Solicitors' complaints procedure: what it must contain, the Legal Ombudsman's model procedure and what the proposed case fees would cost

A complaint that a firm leaves unanswered costs it a £400 case fee at the Legal Ombudsman today. Under proposals that closed for consultation on 2 September 2026 the same complaint, taken to a final decision, would cost £1,900.

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Complaint acknowledgement and final response letter maker for law firms

Fill in the complaint, who is handling it and what you found. The acknowledgement gives the eight-week date; the final response gives the six-month Legal Ombudsman date, both worked out from the dates you enter.

Which letterAcknowledgementFinal response Your firm's name, address, phone and emailMarlow and Finch Solicitors, 12 Castle Street, Tonbridge TN9 1BH 01632 960000, complaints@marlowfinch.example Client's name The matter the complaint is about Date the complaint was madeThe day it reached the firm. The eight weeks run from this date. Who is handling the complaint, and how to reach them The issues, as a numbered list1. We did not tell you that the search results were delayed. 2. Your telephone calls in the week of 14 September were not returned. Final response: your conclusion, then each issue in turnOur service fell short of a reasonable standard on the first issue and was of a reasonable standard on the second. 1. You say we did not tell you about the delay. A reasonable service would have told you within a few days of our learning of it. The file shows we knew on 3 September and first told you on 21 September. We uphold this part of your complaint. 2. You say your calls were not returned. The file records three calls from you that week and a return call each time on the same or the next working day. We do not uphold this part.For each issue: the client's position, what a reasonable service would have been, the evidence you looked at, and your finding. Final response: the remedy, if anyWe apologise for not telling you about the delay sooner. We will reduce our bill by £150 to reflect it. The alternative dispute resolution sentencesExample Dispute Resolution Ltd (www.exampledisputes.example) is an approved alternative dispute resolution body that could also deal with this complaint. We do not agree to use it.Name an approved body and its website, and say whether the firm agrees or does not agree to use it. The Legal Ombudsman's contact detailsPO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH, on 0300 555 0333, at enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk and at www.legalombudsman.org.ukCheck these against the Ombudsman's website before each use. If they are missing or wrong the six-month limit does not start.

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• Send the acknowledgement within five working days of the complaint, with a copy of the firm's complaints procedure.
• Send the final response inside eight weeks of the day the complaint was made, and date it the day it goes out: the six-month date is counted from the date on the letter.
• Keep the Ombudsman paragraph and the contact details in full. Check the contact details against the Ombudsman's website before each use.
• Name a real approved alternative dispute resolution body in place of the example, and say whether the firm agrees to use it.
• If the complaint is long or written with AI, agree the list of issues with the client before you investigate.

The rule this rests on: SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors 8.3 to 8.5; Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules 4.2 and 4.4. A draft to check and adapt, not legal advice. Regulated work: a supervising solicitor reviews every draft before it reaches a client, and the firm stays accountable for it (SRA Code 3.5; SRA warning notice on AI, 17 August 2026). The AI assistant drafts, checks and files; it does not advise.

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What the rules require

The second row belongs in the client care letter and the third on the page the transparency rules guide audits.

The Ombudsman's model procedure

On 29 July 2026 the Ombudsman published a Model Complaints Resolution Procedure. It is voluntary and does not change what the SRA requires. A firm that wants to say it uses the model must keep five features:

1. A link to the Ombudsman's resources on the model.
2. An acknowledgement of every complaint, saying what happens next.
3. An early resolution stage: a conversation aimed at settling the complaint, in place of a first formal stage.
4. A full investigation stage for complaints that cannot be settled early.
5. A written outcome, whichever stage produced it.

In the three-month pilot 57% of complaints were resolved at early resolution, in seven days on average against 21 days for those needing a full investigation. The guidance for small providers says the early stage need not be run by a partner. It needs someone with the authority to settle, up to a limit the firm sets, who keeps a record.

The stages inside the eight weeks

The eight weeks run from the day the complaint is made (Scheme Rule 4.2). For a complaint emailed on Thursday 1 October 2026 the model's timings fall like this:

That leaves five weeks for the investigation if early resolution fails. The complaint deadline calculator gives these dates for any complaint, with the six-month and one-year limits that follow the final response.

What the case fee is, and what is proposed

Today the fee is £400 for every chargeable complaint. It is waived only where the complaint was withdrawn or closed in the firm's favour and the ombudsman is satisfied the firm took all reasonable steps under its own procedure (rule 6.2). Separately, an ombudsman can award a client up to £50,000.

The Office for Legal Complaints has consulted on replacing the flat fee. Its paper expects any change, once approved by the Legal Services Board, from 1 April 2027. We found no decision published by 1 October 2026, so the right-hand column is a proposal.

The sum for the worst case: £1,500 plus £400 is £1,900, against £400 now, a rise of £1,500. The £200 would be charged only where poor service or poor complaint handling is found, and the waiver stays. The Ombudsman says about a quarter of the complaints it receives, around 2,300 in 2025/26, come from clients who say they had no final response.

The final response, in the Ombudsman's order

The model's template letter runs in this order:

1. When the complaint was made, who spoke to the client, and the list of issues the firm agreed to investigate.
2. The conclusion: the service was of a reasonable standard, or it fell short and here is the remedy.
3. Each issue in turn: the client's position, what a reasonable service would have been, the evidence looked at, the finding.
4. The remedy, if any.
5. The Ombudsman paragraph, with the six-month warning and full contact details. Scheme Rule 4.4 makes the six-month limit depend on it.

Code 8.4 adds two sentences that the Ombudsman paragraph does not cover:

[Name and website] is an approved alternative dispute resolution body that could also deal with this complaint. We [agree / do not agree] to use it.

Complaints written with AI

The Ombudsman reported on 1 October 2026 that 54% of people who had made or considered a formal complaint about a regulated service had used AI, and that 51% of the complaint files it examined showed signs of it (200 files, on Legal Futures' account). Step 1 above is the answer to a long complaint: write back with the issues as you understand them, ask the client to confirm them, and answer those. The firm's own use of AI on a reply is covered by its AI policy.

In the firm

The Ombudsman's advice to conveyancers is short, predictable updates even when there is nothing new to report, and the client update template costs less than any complaint. Overlyft can set up an AI assistant that drafts those scheduled updates for a fee earner to send. A supervising solicitor reviews and signs anything a tool drafts, a complaint response most of all, and this page is general information, not legal advice.