Clients relying on insurance least satisfied by legal work

Clients relying on insurance to fund their legal work are the least satisfied with the outcome, a survey for the legal services consumer panel has found.

Generally, 80 per cent of clients were satisfied with their lawyer, the same percentage as last year, but this slumped to 67 per cent when the work was funded by insurance.

This was, however, a big improvement on the just over 50 per cent who said they were satisfied by insurance-funded work in 2011.

The findings formed the third instalment of the panel's annual tracker survey, based on a nationally representative sample of over 1,700 adults and a further 1,460 who had used legal services in the past two years.

Will writing came top of the table for client satisfaction, with a score of well over 90 per cent, followed by powers of attorney with almost 90 per cent.

Conveyancing and family achieved the average 80 per cent satisfaction rating, while personal injury was bottom of the list with 70 per cent.

When it came to value for money, however, personal injury lawyers came second, behind will writers. They were followed by employment and conveyancing services. Probate scored worst on value for money, achieving only 46 per cent, behind family with 50 per cent.

The average percentage of clients satisfied with value of money across all legal services was 57 per cent.

"Value for money matters more than ever at a time when households are really feeling the pinch," Elisabeth Davies, chair of the legal services consumer panel, said.

"Affordability is a key factor when people are deciding whether to get legal advice or go it alone instead, so it's concerning that our survey suggests lawyers are still widely seen as too expensive."

Other aspects of service were rated much more highly, with professionalism and the ability to give clear explanations achieving scores of almost 80 per cent, closely followed by clear information on terms and quality of advice.