Interventions

You may need to arrange for a new firm of solicitors to act for you. We recommend you do so if your transaction has not been completed. If you do arrange for a firm to act for you, they should contact Devonshires Solicitors as soon as possible.

The Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service can help you find a new solicitor. You can refine your search by location and the field of law relevant to your matter.

If the Firm held money that was yours, you should apply to the Claims Management Unit of the Compensation Fund at the SRA.

If payments have been made for you from these monies, known as disbursements, or if fees have been charged by the solicitor, these will be deducted from any payment made by the Compensation Fund.

For more details about the Compensation Fund please visit the SRA website here.

The purpose of the Compensation Fund is to replace money received by the solicitors that they have failed to pay to you (or on your behalf) or where the money has been improperly taken by the solicitors. If this is what you think has happened, you should contact the Claims Management Unit.

If you are buying a home and contracts have been exchanged and you need the money that was held by your solicitor to complete your transaction, please contact Devonshires Solicitors immediately (contact details above).

If you ask a new solicitor to help you apply to the Claims Management Unit and you receive a payment from the Compensation Fund, we may also pay your new solicitor’s reasonable costs for dealing with us. However, we cannot pay these costs if you are unsuccessful with your claim.

You can download a form from the SRA website here.

Alternatively phone the Claims Management Unit on 0121 329 6830 or email  claims.management@sra.org.uk

They will ask you to fill in an application form. A Claims Investigator will look into your application and let you know if we need more information. The Claims Investigator will answer any questions you may have.

Some applications need detailed investigations and take time to deal with. Others can be dealt with within weeks. The time it takes to deal with your application will depend on how complex it is and how easy it is to get any supporting evidence.

A payment may be made to you from the Compensation Fund where the evidence supports your claim, but you are not automatically entitled to a payment. The Claims Investigator will give you help and guidance about what will be needed to prove your claim.

If a payment is made from the Compensation Fund, they may also pay interest.

If you want to complain about the service you received from your solicitor, you should contact the the Legal Ombudsman on 0300 555 0333 (Phone lines are open 8.30am to 5.30pm Mon-Fri) or email enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk.

You should make your complaint within six months of knowing that there was a problem. (This is likely to be when the intervention took place, at the latest).

The Ombudsman helps consumers who have a complaint about the service provided by solicitors. However, you should consider whether it is worth making a complaint, especially if some of the difficulties you have experienced have been caused by the intervention, rather than poor service by the solicitors before that took place.

Whilst the Ombudsman can award compensation for distress and inconvenience, the amount may be small in circumstances such as yours. There is no guarantee that the solicitors will be able to pay the award. Awards of compensation for distress and inconvenience directed by the Ombudsman are not covered by the Compensation Fund.

For more information about interventions, please visit the SRA website here.