Risk Management · 9 min read · Updated 25 October 2026

Reducing Conveyancing Complaints: What the Ombudsman Data Shows

3,039 accepted complaints in 2025/26. What the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA found, and what a firm can do about it.

By Appan Pathmanathan, Chief Operating Officer, Lex Sentinel

Residential conveyancing produced 3,039 accepted complaints at the Legal Ombudsman in 2025/26, 36% of all it accepted and the highest share of any area of law. The Ombudsman attributes the rise mainly to delay, poor communication and post-completion registration problems. Firms can reduce complaints of this kind by setting expectations early, updating clients when there is no news and handling the first complaint well.

I work at Lex Sentinel, which builds artificial intelligence (AI) tools for conveyancers, and none of the analysis below relies on any product. This is general information for firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in England and Wales and is not legal advice. I update it when the SRA or the Legal Ombudsman publishes something relevant.

How many conveyancing complaints reach the Legal Ombudsman?

In 2025/26 the Legal Ombudsman accepted 3,039 residential conveyancing complaints, up 41% on the year before. Its 2025/26 annual complaints data shows that figure was 36% of all accepted complaints, and that conveyancing accounted for 886 of the 1,209 extra accepted complaints across all areas of law, or 73% of the rise. Conveyancing also had the highest early resolution rate, at 64% against 51% overall.

Evidence of poor service was found in 78% of the conveyancing complaints assessed, 511 of them, against 72% overall. Unreasonable complaint handling was found in 53%, against 46% overall. The 53% finding on complaint handling matters most to a firm, because it measures how the firm dealt with the first complaint, which the firm controls.

What causes conveyancing complaints?

According to the Legal Ombudsman, the rise in conveyancing complaints is driven mainly by delay, poor communication and registration problems after completion. It doesn't put numbers on those causes for conveyancing alone. Across all areas of law, its data lists the five most common complaint types as communication at 24%, delay at 22%, failure to advise at 19%, costs at 9% and failure to follow instructions at 8%, so none of those percentages is a conveyancing figure.

The SRA's own work points the same way. In its thematic review of first-tier complaints handling, published on 14 October 2025, the SRA reviewed 50 complaint files and found delay raised in 27, costs in 18 and failure to keep the client informed in 13. The files covered all areas of law, so none of these counts is specific to conveyancing.

What does the Legal Ombudsman advise conveyancers to do?

The Legal Ombudsman advises conveyancers to explain the whole journey at the start and to keep talking to the client when nothing is happening. Its Spotlight on residential conveyancing groups complaints around three junctures: instructions and expectation-setting, periods with no news, and completion and registration. The detail is to set out the stages up front, update the client even when there is nothing to report, say who you are waiting on, and plan capacity.

That advice matches the SRA's Transparency Rules, which require a residential conveyancing firm to publish the key stages and likely timescales for each stage on its website. A firm that publishes timescales per stage has already done part of the expectation-setting.

What must a firm do when a client complains?

A firm must tell clients in writing at the start that they can complain, handle any complaint promptly and fairly, and tell clients about the Legal Ombudsman. Paragraphs 8.2 to 8.5 of the SRA's Code of Conduct for Solicitors require a complaints procedure, written notice at engagement of the right to complain and of any right to go to the Legal Ombudsman (paragraph 8.3), and written notice if a complaint is unresolved after eight weeks (paragraph 8.4). Paragraph 8.5 requires complaints to be dealt with "promptly, fairly, and free of charge". The Code of Conduct for Firms applies the same provisions to firms through paragraph 7.1(c).

The Legal Ombudsman's scheme rules in their April 2023 version require a provider to tell clients in writing at engagement that they can complain to the provider, and how, and to give notice of the Legal Ombudsman route at the end of the provider's complaints process. A complaint must normally reach the Legal Ombudsman no later than one year from the act or omission, or one year from when the client should reasonably have known there was cause to complain. A six-month limit from the firm's final written response can also apply, and the ombudsman has a discretion to extend. The Legal Ombudsman consulted on changes to the scheme rules in 2026, and the proposals are not yet in force.

The Transparency Rules separately require a firm to publish its complaints procedure on its website, including how and when a complaint can go to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA.

What did the SRA find when it reviewed complaint handling?

The SRA found that some firms were slow to respond to complaints and some were defensive. In its October 2025 review, 30% of the files reviewed had a final response later than eight weeks, although 97% of survey respondents reported sending a final response within eight weeks. Of the 50 files, 28 told the client about the Legal Ombudsman, 25 gave the time limit and 18 gave its contact details. The SRA described some responses as defensive, dismissive or legalistic. It found that 24% of survey respondents with a complaints procedure required a face-to-face meeting to progress a complaint, and 11 of the 25 firms interviewed had no formal definition of a complaint.

The SRA has proposed changes, but they are not in force. It applied to the Legal Services Board in October 2025 to change its rules, and the Board's register shows that application was withdrawn on 9 January 2026. On 3 July 2026 the SRA consulted again, until 1 September 2026, on further rules that would require a timeline for resolution when a complaint is first made and regular progress updates. No effective date has been published. Until that changes, the Code and the Transparency Rules in their April 2025 versions apply.

Where can AI help reduce complaints, and where does it add risk?

AI can help with the routine updates that the Legal Ombudsman says clients feel are missing, and it adds risk where it makes statements the firm is bound by. These are my views, and I found no Legal Ombudsman or SRA statement endorsing AI for client updates.

On the helpful side, a tool that reads the case management system and drafts a status update, flags a file that has had no movement for a set number of days, or tracks post-completion registration can address the three causes the Legal Ombudsman names. The risk is in what the message says. Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 can make a statement about the service a term of the contract where a consumer takes it into account, so a generated message that promises a completion date or a next step could become a commitment the firm has to keep, for consumer clients. A fee earner should review any message that makes a promise.

The Legal Ombudsman's own research shows AI is changing complaints from the other side. In a research release of 1 October 2026, it reports that 54% of people who had made or considered a complaint about a regulated service used AI, and says AI can make complaints longer, more complex and harder to resolve, though its file review found positive and negative effects in roughly equal measure. Its Spotlight on AI says anything that goes out under your letterhead and signature is yours and advises responding to the person and not to the AI-written letter. The SRA's warning notice of 17 August 2026 says the use of AI does not diminish or transfer professional responsibilities.

What should a conveyancing firm do?

A conveyancing firm can reduce complaints with the seven steps below, which follow from the sources above. None is a rule in these words.

Publish stage-by-stage timescales and tell clients at the start what to expect and who they will hear from.
Update every client at a set interval even when nothing has moved, and say who you are waiting on.
Track registration after completion and tell the client when it is done.
Define what counts as a complaint, so a grumble in an email gets logged and handled.
Aim to resolve or give a final response within eight weeks, in plain language, without insisting on a meeting. If a complaint is unresolved at eight weeks, give the written Legal Ombudsman information the Code requires.
Tell clients in writing at engagement and at the end of the process about the Legal Ombudsman.
If you use AI to draft updates, have a person review any message that promises a date or an outcome.

About the author

Appan Pathmanathan is a solicitor and Chief Operating Officer of Lex Sentinel, which builds AI tools for UK conveyancers. He has worked in UK legal practice since 2001, including litigation involving money laundering and fraud, and conveyancing, and has been managing partner of a law firm. He delivers anti-money laundering and compliance training. Connect on LinkedIn.

Sources

Checked on 25 October 2026. The Spotlight on residential conveyancing page is undated, and I could not confirm when it was last revised or whether a later version of the scheme rules is in force.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most common causes of conveyancing complaints?

According to the Legal Ombudsman, the most common causes are delays, poor communication and post-completion registration problems. It doesn't publish a numerical split for conveyancing alone.

How long does a firm have to respond to a complaint?

The Code requires complaints to be dealt with promptly and fairly and sets no fixed deadline for a response. A firm must give written notice, including Legal Ombudsman details, if a complaint is unresolved after eight weeks, and the client can then go to the Legal Ombudsman. The SRA's 2025 review found 30% of the files it reviewed had a final response later than eight weeks.

Does a conveyancing firm have to tell clients about the Legal Ombudsman?

Yes, a conveyancing firm must tell clients about the Legal Ombudsman. SRA Code paragraph 8.3 requires written notice at engagement of any right to go to it, and the Legal Ombudsman's scheme rules require notice of the Legal Ombudsman route at the end of the firm's complaints process.

Can AI reduce complaints?

AI can help with routine updates and file tracking, which address delay and poor communication. A person should review any generated message that promises a date or outcome, because section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 can make such statements terms of the contract for consumer clients.

Is there a time limit for complaining to the Legal Ombudsman?

Yes, a complaint must normally reach the Legal Ombudsman within one year of the act or omission, or one year from when the client should reasonably have known there was cause to complain, under the April 2023 scheme rules. A six-month limit from the final written response can also apply.