By Lucy Caulkett
The Solicitors Regulation Authority paid a total of £18m in the last year, compensating clients were dissatisfied with their professional treatment , its annual report shows SRA The complaints were in response to 11,500 complaints for negligence , incompetence or identity theft
The £18.1m was paid out of the compensation fund up by £2.9m from the previous year. The number of complaints made against solicitors is staggering, and should be far less than the high figures that show an exceedingly high number of discontented clients. The recorded figures may understate the true extent of dissatisfaction by complainants bearing in mind the fact not all unhappy customers go through the process of putting forward a complaint.
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The regulator as a matter of procedure conduct background checks, undertake training, set entry requirements, and ensure applicants are of suitable character before allowing them to join the profession. Altogether, the a robust system is in place to deliver a profession that adequately caters for the public both in terms of professional competence and integrity
Shockingly this has not prevented corrupt solicitors from slipping through the net, in what reveals the limitations of all proper checks in any profession or organisation Individuals always exist who have not displayed the forbidden signs of bad character or dishonesty in their recorded past history, but who suddenly reveal those bad traits in different circumstances.
The SRA has never been shy to strike off solicitors shown to be corrupt, fine them, or in some situations, both fine and strike them off Probate losses were recorded as the most common factor behind a compensation fund paymet, costing the fund £5.3m. Conveyancing fraud cost the fund £3.7m.
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The SRA says it will ‘pursue all avenues’ in recovering costs. This will include taking action against: the intervened-in solicitors or managers; the firm’s insurer; and, in certain cases, the firm’s former partners and directors. In total, some £6.9m was recovered in costs from compensation fund grants in 2017/18, up 25% year-on
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