CLC responds to Legal Services Board Prices of Individual Consumer Legal Services Report

7 September, 2020

Responding to the publication of the Legal Services Board Prices of Individual Consumer Legal Services in England and Wales 2020 Report Sheila Kumar, Chief Executive of The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) says:

“This research from the CMA and LSB makes an important contribution to our understanding of the initial impact the transparency requirements we and other frontline regulators have implemented. It is good to see that the changes have made a significant difference in the number of practices who are displaying prices on their websites. We know from our own monitoring that most CLC Practices are compliant and where there are issues we are taking a hands-on approach in ensuring they come into compliance while being ready to take other regulatory steps if necessary.

“We continue to believe that while price is important for consumers it is not the only way that users of legal services should select their provider. That is why, as well as supporting the transparency measures currently in place, we are exploring individually and collaboratively how best to further advance this agenda particularly through the use of quality indicators. We are looking at how best to define indicators which are easily understandable and are of true use to consumers. 

“While there will be a range of factors underlying why providers in different part of England and Wales need to charge different prices, we would also point out that there are a number of online only businesses who are competing for business with geographically based providers.

“We support the call for consumers to carry out their own research before selecting the provider they wish to use and, as well as price, we would encourage consumers to consider what else matters to them, be that local knowledge, convenience, type of transaction or recommendations. That is why we have developed and encourage consumers to use our How to Choose a Conveyancer guide to assist them in thinking about different matters to consider in choosing their conveyancer.

“This is a full and detailed report and we will seek to use the information it contains as we further develop our thinking about quality and price.”

ENDS