The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) has released new guidance on determining complaints.
After piloting a model for handling complaints in 2018, LeO has released new guidance setting out its approach to determining complaints when deciding what is ‘fair and reasonable’ in all the circumstances of the case.
The guidance also explores some of the common factors which may influence the decision, such as:
- characteristics of the customer such as vulnerability and level of experience
- expertise of the service provider / firm and the standard of service they expect if a firm holds themselves out as experts
- promises, assurances and service level agreements and how circumstances might mean that a provider needs to go beyond their stated agreements
- reliance on the advice of others and the expectation that service providers will use their own expertise to assess the work of others.
