Solicitor hails move to make CMCs accountable to Legal Ombudsman

Published: 02/03/2012

Plans to bring complaints about claims management companies under the remit of the Legal Ombudsman have been welcomed by Goldsmith Williams.

Simon Cottrell, senior partner at the legal firm, said: “Subjecting CMCs to the same scrutiny as solicitors is the next logical step in tackling fraud.

“There are a large number of highly ethical, professional CMCs that help bring access to justice to the public. Unfortunately, however, there are some operators out there that are nothing more than cowboys. They flout all ethics, normal business and financial standards, so the quicker they are shut down, the better it will be for the claims industry, its reputation and the wider public who ultimately end up footing the bill through higher insurance premiums.

Simon’s comments come in light of an announcement made at the latest meeting of the Office for Legal Complaints which signed an agreement with the Ministry of Justice earlier this year to share information on breaches of existing rules. In his blog, Chief ombudsman, Adam Sampson said the move had received almost unanimous support from across the legal sector.

Content correct at time of publication