INTRODUCTION

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has produced a report demanding greater transparency on price and quality in the market for legal services. Specifically they have called for the introduction of:

A requirement on providers to display information on price, service, redress and regulatory status to help potential customers. This would include publishing pricing information for particular services online.

You can read their press release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-demands-greater-transparency-from-legal-service-providers

There are different ways in which the CMA's policy recommendations might be implemented, and we are seeking the views of stakeholders on some of those option. This survey comes at a very early stage in our exploration of these issues, and none of the potential approaches set out here is yet preferred by the CLC. 

You will be presented with several options, and you will be asked to evaluate those options according to the benefits you think that they would provide versus the difficulties they would impose. You will also be invited to comment on the various options. At this stage we cannot be sure about the cost or time implications of any particular option, so some of your responses will depend on your best guesses about how particular options might ultimately be implemented.

The CLC and other frontline legal regulators have been instructed to provide a joint response to the CMA's report by June of this year, so if people who use the services of CLC-regulated Licensed Conveyancers or Probate Practitioners or other stakeholders are to have their voice heard in the coming debate, it is imperative that you provide a quick, considered response to this survey.

The information you provide will play a genuine role in shaping the CLC's contribution to the sector-wide response.

Thank you for your ideas and participation.

PLEASE NOTE: This survey is for external stakeholders only, if you represent an organisation regulated by the CLC, please complete our practices' survey instead.
PRICE TRANSPARENCY

Many CLC-regulated firms already provide price information to potential clients on their websites, sometimes through use of a quote generator that calculates the likely cost of a transaction based on information provided by the consumer.

Please consider the following options for a standardised approach to price transparency.

Question Title

* PRICE OPTION 1

The CLC mandates a template for the generation of estimates stipulating the cost elements that must be included and how the total cost should be broken down. The template would apply to all estimates whether given in person, over the phone or email, or through an automatic estimate generator.

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would help consumers to make better choices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* PRICE OPTION 2

The CLC mandates use by all firms of an estimate generator developed by the CLC or provided by companies accredited by the CLC as meeting certain minimum standards. Those estimate generators would ensure that firms are meeting the standards for provision and breakdown of estimates set by the CLC.

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would help consumers to make better choices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* PRICE OPTION 3

The CLC develops a scheme of accreditation for price comparison websites to ensure they meet CLC standards for the information they provide, and require CLC firms to work with at least one of the accredited websites. (Firms would need to provide the website managers with a breakdown of their charges to generate estimates. They would also pay website managers in some way.)

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would help consumers to make better choices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* PRICE OPTION 4

The CLC develops its own price comparison website and requires all regulated firms to submit the necessary breakdown of their charges to generate estimates. (This could be run on a cost-recovery basis or funded from the licence fee.)

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would help consumers to make better choices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* PRICE OPTION 5

The CLC works with other regulators to develop a price comparison website to cover all conveyancing and probate work delivered by Authorised Persons and requires all regulated firms to submit the necessary breakdown of their charges to generate estimates. (This could be run on a cost-recovery basis or funded from the licence fee.)

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would help consumers to make better choices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* PRICE COMMENTS OR ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

If you would like to make any comments, or suggest alternative approaches, please use this space to set out your ideas:

QUALITY OF SERVICE

Less than 40% of CLC-regulated practices have a systematic approach to seeking consumer feedback on, and evaluation of, the services provided. Increasing the use of consumer feedback should help firms improve service quality. Publication of consumer feedback should also help consumers make better-informed choice of legal service provider, but to ensure comparability of published information, there would need to be a common set of questions put to all consumers.

While providing information on prices was intended to benefit consumers, we expect that the the main beneficiaries of customer satisfaction surveys will be the service providers themselves. This is because such feedback should provide useful information about those aspects of their businesses that work, and those that require improvement, enabling practices to understand and change in response to customer demand. For that reason, in this section we will ask you about the benefits you would expect for practices, rather than the benefits you would expect for consumers.

Please consider the following options for a standardised approach to transparency on quality of service.

Question Title

* QUALITY OPTION 1

The CLC sets out a mandatory minimum set of data for firms to seek to collect from their clients and requires firms to give all clients an opportunity to provide feedback on that basis. (In this model, firms would be able to add their own questions in addition to those required by the CLC.)

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would be useful to practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* QUALITY OPTION 2

The CLC establishes a scheme to accredit companies offering feedback collection tools that meet the CLC’s minimum requirements for data. CLC firms would be required to use one of those companies or demonstrate that they are themselves meeting the minimum requirements.

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would be useful to practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* QUALITY OPTION 3

The CLC develops its own tool, mandating its use by all CLC-regulated firms. Data submitted by clients would be passed back to the relevant firms. The CLC could access trend date for the whole profession to inform the development of training and CPD.

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would be useful to practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* QUALITY OPTION 4

The CLC works with other regulators to develops a sector-wide tool, mandating its use by all CLC-regulated firms. Data submitted by clients would be passed back to the relevant firms. The CLC could access trend date for the whole profession to inform the development of training and CPD.

Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which you think this option would be useful to practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* Using the sliding scale (0-100), indicate the extent to which this option would burden practices:

Not at all Massively
Clear
i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* QUALITY COMMENTS OR ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

If you would like to make any comments, or suggest alternative approaches, please use this space to set out your ideas:

PUBLICATION OF SERVICE INFORMATION

The CLC already provides (1) basic information about the firms it regulates to comparison websites. The same information is available to individual consumers through the Find a Licensed Conveyancer service on our website. It includes:
  • Conditions on individual and entity licences
  • Findings of the Adjudication Panel
The CLC also holds (2) information about conduct complaints made against the firms it regulates, while the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) publishes data about service complaints it receives, and (3) practices themselves hold data about so-called "first tier complaints"' ie. complaints made to and settled by them. 

Should these three kinds of information be published along with price information and consumer feedback to further assist consumers in their selection of a legal service provider and if so, how should it be published?

Please indicate your support or opposition for each of the following suggestions about how different pieces of information might be published.

Question Title

* (1) With regard to CONDITIONS ON INDIVIDUAL AND ENTITY LICENCES and FINDINGS OF THE ADJUDICATION PANEL, indicate your support for the following:

  Strongly oppose Oppose Neither support nor oppose Support Strongly support
Publishing conditions or adjudication panel decisions on dedicated web pages on the CLC website as now
Publishing the information on dedicated web pages as now, but with a link from the entry on Find a Licensed Conveyancer
Publishing the information on the face of comparison websites
Publishing links from comparison websites to the pages of the CLC website

Question Title

* (2) With regard to conduct and service COMPLAINTS REFERRED TO THE CLC OR LEO, indicate your support for the following:

  Strongly oppose Oppose Neither support nor oppose Support Strongly support
Anonymised, generalised information about LeO complaints relating to all CLC-regulated practices, should be published annually on the CLC website
Complaints as a percentage of each firm’s transactions should be published annually on the CLC website
Find a Licensed Conveyancer should have annual data about complaints as a percentage of transactions recorded alongside each firm’s entry
Comparison websites should have annual data about complaints as a percentage of transactions alongside each firm’s price and consumer feedback information

Question Title

* (3) With regard to first tier COMPLAINTS RESOLVED BY PRACTICES, indicate your support for the following:

  Strongly oppose Oppose Neither support nor oppose Support Strongly support
Publishing number on firms’ websites expressed as a percentage of annual transactions
Publishing annually on the CLC’s website expressed as a percentage of annual transactions
Including on each firm’s Find a Licensed Conveyancer entry expressed as a percentage of annual transactions
ABOUT YOU

If you could provide a few details about yourself, we would be happy to share the results of this survey once the analysis is complete.

Question Title

* Please enter your details in the fields below:


Many thanks for taking part in our survey. Your views will help shape our work to respond to the recommendations from the Competition and Markets Authority, support innovation and competition in legal services and enhance consumer choice and protection.

Question Title

* Which of the following best describes your interest as a stakeholder?

T