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Solicitors (Compensation for Inadequate Professional Services) Order 2005

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. The Government have today laid before Parliament the following instrument:"Solicitors (Compensation for Inadequate Professional Services) Order 2005." The order, made under paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1A to the Solicitors Act 1974, will raise the maximum limit on the compensation which the Law Society's Council may direct a solicitor to pay on a complaint of inadequate professional service. The limit is raised from £5,000 to £15,000 with effect from 1 January 2006. From 1 January, consumers seeking compensation for inadequate professional service will be able to benefit from the increased compensation level which the Law Society can order and avoid the necessity of automatically having to take court action in order to claim redress in those cases. The revised limit will apply to those cases where a complaint of inadequate professional service is made   to the Law Society by the complainant after 1 January 2006. My department and the Law Society are in agreement that raising the compensation level would be in the interest of, and welcomed by, the consumer. At present, if the compensation claimed is greater than £5,000 the Law Society cannot deal with it. This means that a complainant frequently has to retain the services of a further solicitor in order to get redress from the solicitor who generated the original complaint. This can be a lengthy and expensive process for a consumer. Raising the limit will enable a far greater proportion of complainants to obtain adequate redress without the need to resort to court proceedings. A copy of the order to raise the compensation limit has been placed in the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office.