Handling beneficiary complaints effectively

You are a solicitor in 'Wills 'R' Us LLP''s probate team working towards administering the estate of a deceased to the beneficiaries under the will.

Unfortunately, the matter has been delayed due to a dispute over a piece of land. The conduct of this dispute is being dealt with by another law firm, 'Land Law LLP', as your firm does not have the relevant expertise to deal with it. You keep the executors updated with the progress.

During the delay period you receive a call from one of the beneficiaries of the estate. He is calling to complain that the matter is taking some time and is concerned since you have not kept him informed of progress.

Although the beneficiary is not a client of your firm, it is important to identify that a 'complainant' under the Ombudsman scheme rules includes "a personal representative or beneficiary of the estate of a person who, before he/she died, had not referred the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman", where the complaint, "relates to services which the authorised person provided to (or as) a personal representative/trustee where the complainant is a beneficiary of an estate/trust". Thus this complaint should be dealt with as you would deal with a complaint from a client.

However, given that he is not a client, he will not have received a client care letter and so you must send him a copy of your firm's complaints handling procedure and advise him of his right of recourse to the Legal Ombudsman and the time period for this.

Ensuring resolution

In this example however, the solicitor at 'Wills 'R' Us LLP' did not deal with this complaint and asked the other firm, 'Land Law LLP', to deal with the beneficiary. 'Wills 'R' Us' were fined £200 by the Legal Ombudsman for failing to identify the complainant and failing to send the complaints handling procedure.

The amount of the fine was the same as the solicitor handling the complaint's hourly rate who spent many hours dealing with matter, losing time that could otherwise have been spent on fee-earning work.

Further, 'Wills 'R' Us LLP', were charged a £400 case fee; the Legal Ombudsman now charges this fee for every case it decides in favour of the complainant rather than the firm being given two free cases per year and paying for each upheld complaint thereafter (as was previously the rule). Thus paying, say £200, to the beneficiary to satisfactorily resolve this complaint early without it needing to be referred to the Legal Ombudsman would '¨have been a better result for the firm financially.

Further, identifying and '¨dealing with complaints '¨promptly to ensure resolution prior to any referral to the Legal Ombudsman is not only in a firm's financial interest but also its reputational interest, given that the Legal Ombudsman publishes the upheld complaints record of every firm.

Handling complaints effectively can be complex. It is important to identify a complainant and deal with the complaint in the '¨correct way. SJ