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Data
The Legal Ombudsman received 14,259 new complaints about legal services in 2025/26, 37% more than in 2024/25. Residential conveyancing made up 36% of the complaints it accepted, and the SRA received 15,914 reports about solicitors in its 2024/25 business year.
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In short
The Legal Ombudsman received 14,259 new complaints in 2025/26 (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026), up 37%, accepted 8,412 and awarded £3,700,986 in remedies. Residential conveyancing was the largest area at 36% of accepted complaints (3,039), followed by wills and probate and personal injury at 14% each. The SRA's 2024/25 enforcement report records 15,914 reports about solicitors and firms, the highest in seven years, financial penalties totalling £6,664,152, and 105 cases concluded at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, including 38 strike offs.
These are the latest published figures on complaints about legal services and solicitor discipline in England and Wales. Complaint figures come from the Legal Ombudsman 2025/26 annual complaints data and insight, covering 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Enforcement figures come from the SRA Investigations and enforcement annual report 2024/25, published in October 2026 and based on the SRA business year, which runs from 1 November to 31 October. Tribunal figures come from the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Key Performance Measurements Report 2025, covering calendar year 2025.
| Figure | Value | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| New complaints received by the Legal Ombudsman | 14,259 (up 37% on 10,447) | Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 |
| Complaints accepted for resolution | 8,412 (up 16% on 7,203) | Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 |
| Complaints resolved | 8,199 (down 1% on 8,270) | Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 |
| Total remedies awarded | £3,700,986 (2024/25: £3,708,674) | Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 |
| Residential conveyancing share of accepted complaints | 36% (3,039 complaints) | Legal Ombudsman, 2025/26 |
| Reports about solicitors and firms received by the SRA | 15,914 (2023/24: 11,852) | SRA, 2024/25 business year |
| Cases where the SRA took regulatory action | 1,202 (2023/24: 1,069) | SRA, 2024/25 business year |
| Total value of SRA financial penalties | £6,664,152 | SRA, 2024/25 business year |
| SRA cases concluded at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal | 105 (2023/24: 78) | SRA, 2024/25 business year |
| Cases received by the Tribunal from all sources | 164 (down 10% on 2024) | SDT, calendar year 2025 |
The Legal Ombudsman deals with service complaints about all authorised legal providers, not only solicitors, so its figures also include barristers, licensed conveyancers, chartered legal executives and others. The SRA and Tribunal figures relate to solicitors and SRA regulated firms.
Figures checked 30 October 2026.
Residential conveyancing was the largest area of law by some distance in 2025/26. The Legal Ombudsman says it accepted 3,039 conveyancing complaints, 36% of the total, an increase of 41%, and that conveyancing accounted for 886 of the 1,209 additional complaints accepted in the year.
| Area of law | Accepted complaints, 2025/26 | Points the Legal Ombudsman notes |
|---|---|---|
| Residential conveyancing | 3,039 (36%) | Up 41%; poor service found in 78% of assessed complaints |
| Wills and probate | 1,147 (14%) | Power of attorney complaints up 63%, will drafting up 47%, probate down 3% |
| Personal injury | 1,140 (14%) | Poor service found in 74% of assessed complaints |
| Family law | Not stated as a count | Up 2%; child law complaints up 108% from a small base (51 to 106) |
| Immigration and asylum | Not stated as a count | Up 49% |
| Employment law | Not stated as a count | Up 37% |
Seven of the nine areas of law rose. Only property and criminal law fell.
Among accepted complaints, the most common types were poor communication (24%), delay and failure to progress (22%) and failure to advise (19%), followed by costs (9%) and failure to follow instructions (8%). Among upheld complaints, poor communication (25%) and delay (19%) again led. The Legal Ombudsman found evidence of poor service in 72% of complaints with investigative outcomes (1,667 complaints) and unreasonable complaint handling by the provider in 46% (1,067). A quarter of consumers (25%) said they had not received a final response from their provider.
Early resolution settled 51% of complaints (4,218), 22% needed an ombudsman decision, and 15% were resolved by investigation. Where remedies were awarded, compensation for emotional effects was the most common, averaging £429. Fee refunds, reductions or waivers averaged £3,520, and compensation for direct financial loss, awarded in 14% of cases, averaged £4,553 (2024/25: £5,186).
The SRA report shows a sharp rise in reports and investigations in its 2024/25 business year. It received 15,914 reports about solicitors and firms, which it describes as the highest volume in seven years. Reports from the public rose to 8,694 from 6,394. It referred 2,673 matters for investigation, up from 1,763.
| Outcome | 2024/25 | 2023/24 |
|---|---|---|
| Warnings issued | 437 | 412 |
| Financial penalties, including fixed financial penalties | 197 | 155 |
| SDT cases concluded | 105 | 78 |
| SDT outcome: strike off | 38 | 42 |
| SDT outcome: suspension | 27 | 15 |
| SDT outcome: fine | 29 | 20 |
The SRA puts the total value of financial penalties it issued in 2024/25 at £6,664,152, of which £2,439,265 was against firms and £4,224,887 against individuals. It notes that its own fining limit is £25,000 for traditional law firms and individuals, with higher limits for alternative business structures. Since March 2024 the SRA can impose unlimited fines for breaches relating to economic crime, and the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s fining power is unlimited.
The Tribunal's own 2025 report, on a calendar year basis, says it received 164 cases from all sources, down 10% on 2024, including 102 from the SRA (down 33% from 153). It concluded 127 cases and sat for 275 days, 66 more than in 2024.
Complaint and enforcement figures do not translate directly into PI claims, and whether any matter is covered depends on the policy wording and the facts. With that caveat, a few points stand out:
Firms in other parts of the legal market can find requirements in our guides for licensed conveyancers and CILEX practitioners, and personal injury practices in PI for personal injury solicitors.
How Apex helps: we place solicitors professional indemnity insurance with qualifying insurers and help firms present their complaints and claims history clearly at renewal. Contact us to talk it through.
The Legal Ombudsman received 14,259 new complaints between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, a 37% increase on 10,447 in 2024/25. It accepted 8,412 for resolution, up 16%, and resolved 8,199, down 1%. It awarded £3,700,986 in remedies in total.
Residential conveyancing. The Legal Ombudsman accepted 3,039 conveyancing complaints in 2025/26, 36% of the total and 41% more than the year before. Wills and probate (1,147) and personal injury (1,140) followed, each accounting for 14%.
The SRA's 2024/25 enforcement report shows 38 strike offs from Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal cases it concluded, down from 42 in 2023/24. Suspensions rose to 27 from 15 and Tribunal fines to 29 from 20. The SRA concluded 105 cases at the Tribunal in total.
Regulatory fines are generally not insurable, so SRA and Tribunal fines are not usually covered. Solicitors PI responds to civil liability under the SRA minimum terms. Whether a policy responds to a Legal Ombudsman award depends on the wording and what the award is for, so check with your broker.
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